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Verplanck Colvin

Ed Zahniser On Wilderness & New York State

January 9, 2022 by Edward Zahniser 3 Comments

Catskill Creek by Thomas ColeNew York State’s Forest Preserve lands of the Adirondacks and Catskills are living fossils of the broad 19th-century movement to protect wild forests of the federal public lands in the West as forest reserves and not as national forest sources of fiber, forage, and minerals.

New York State’s Forest Preserve lands therefore are living proof that the wilderness preservation movement is not an upstart 20th-century offshoot of the mainstream American conservation movement. [Read more…] about Ed Zahniser On Wilderness & New York State

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills Tagged With: Adirondacks, Article 14, Catskills, Forest Preserve, High Peaks, Howard Zahniser, https://www.newyorkalmanack.com/tags/high-peaks/, John Apperson, nature, Paul Schaefer, Robert Marshall, Theodore Roosevelt, TR, Verplanck Colvin, wilderness

Jack Sheppard: Civil War Vet, Panther Hunter, Adirondack Guide & Steamboat Operator

November 7, 2021 by Roy Crego 7 Comments

Exhibit 1_Sheppard Portrait Jack Sheppard came to the Fulton Chain region of the Western Adirondacks after roaming the West as a youth and then served in the Union Army during the Civil War.

These experiences equipped Sheppard with the knowledge, skills, and social network to become a successful guide and enabled him to shift his occupation from guide to innkeeper, to builder, to businessman. He never married or raised a family, but when he left the Adirondacks in 1892 he left behind a long list of devoted friends that reads like a virtual who’s who of Adirondack history. [Read more…] about Jack Sheppard: Civil War Vet, Panther Hunter, Adirondack Guide & Steamboat Operator

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: 117th NY Volunteers, Adirondack Guides, Adirondacks, Brown's Tract, Civil War, Environmental History, Fourth Lake, Genealogy, Hamilton County, Herkimer COunty, hunting, Moose River, Mountain Lions, Old Forge, Steamboating, surveying, Verplanck Colvin

Deep In The Adirondack Woods, A Colvin Survey Benchmark Revealed

September 15, 2021 by Noel Sherry 3 Comments

1. Picture of Frank Tweedy, courtesy of Special Collections, Schaffer Library, Union College, 1875 As a boy growing up in the Battle Hill section of White Plains, NY, I remember my excitement at reading a brass memorial telling me “George Washington slept here.” White Plains was the site of a battle during the American Revolution.

Now as an adult I have had the thrill of learning that Verplanck Colvin surveyed Twitchell Lake and took measurements on the shore where my log cabin stands in Big Moose, NY.  That realization launched me on a quest to find a benchmark placed by one of Colvin’s surveyors on an important boundary line nearby. [Read more…] about Deep In The Adirondack Woods, A Colvin Survey Benchmark Revealed

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Adirondacks, Big Moose, Big Moose Lake, Frank Tweedy, Hamilton County, John Brown Tract, Pigeon Lake Wilderness, surveying, Totten Crossfield Tract, Twitchell Lake, Verplanck Colvin

Rediscovering An Ancient Adirondack Survey Monument

December 29, 2020 by Noel Sherry 7 Comments

C1 Colvin's TwnShp 42-41 Corner MapRight out of college as a Civil Engineer, Frank Tweedy spent four seasons as part of Verplanck Colvin’s Southwest Division, producing six  topographically accurate maps of the Beaver River basin and the important Totten and Crossfield Tract border with Brown’s Tract.

His maps and field books received high marks from his boss, and they recorded several moments of exciting discovery on his part, first as he closed ranks with the Eastern Division crew, completing a survey Line from Lowville to Lake Champlain; and then with shouts of victory at finding “The Great Corner” of Totten & Crossfield’s million-acre land Purchase. [Read more…] about Rediscovering An Ancient Adirondack Survey Monument

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Adirondack Park, Adirondacks, Beaver River, Brown's Tract, Frank Tweedy, hiking, John Brown Tract, nature, surveying, Totten Crossfield Tract, Twitchell Lake, Verplanck Colvin, Wildlife

Frank Tweedy: A Tenderfoot Becomes An Experienced Surveyor

December 2, 2020 by Noel Sherry 8 Comments

Frank TweedyFrank Tweedy landed his dream job after graduating from Union College as Civil Engineer in 1875. Verplanck Colvin, Superintendent of the Adirondack Survey, needed a topographer to work under veteran forest surveyor Squire Snell in his Southwestern Division and so he hired Tweedy.

Colvin was taking a big chance on a tenderfoot surveyor, but for Tweedy this was the chance of a lifetime to learn from a renowned cartographer and his expert woodsmen. “Tenderfoot” became the subtitle of the autobiography Frank later penned. [Read more…] about Frank Tweedy: A Tenderfoot Becomes An Experienced Surveyor

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Adirondacks, Beaver River, Frank Tweedy, Hamilton County, surveying, Verplanck Colvin, wilderness

Hudson River Dam History: The Big Hadley And Glen Dams

November 16, 2020 by Mike Prescott 3 Comments

Mike Prescott paddling One day as my wife and I and our dogs walked along River Road at Riparius on the Hudson River, my wife said to me in a folksy manner “just think all this water here, is on its way to New York City.”

It’s true the Hudson River has flowed out of the Adirondack Mountains for millennia, southward towards the Atlantic Ocean. And over the last two centuries or so there have been plans to dam the Upper Hudson for one reason or another. Most of those plans have dealt with using the water resources for some down state endeavor. [Read more…] about Hudson River Dam History: The Big Hadley And Glen Dams

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Nature, New York City, Recreation Tagged With: Adirondack Dams, Environmental History, Glens Falls Feeder Canal, Hadley, Hudson River, Indian River, Nelson Rockefeller, paddling, Political History, railroads, Schroon River, Verplanck Colvin, water quality

In 1883 The Glens Falls News Cycle Was Cut In Half

September 8, 2020 by Maury Thompson Leave a Comment

The Morning Star April 2 1883Breaking news from Sandy Hill was published at 5 am Monday April 2, 1883, the day the Glens Falls news cycle was cut in half from 24 to 12 hours.

“A bout of fisticuffs occurred at the freight depot yesterday afternoon in which several glove handlers were engaged. No less than forty spectators were present. No damage was done beyond desecration of the Sabbath,” The Morning Star of Glens Falls reported in its debut issue. [Read more…] about In 1883 The Glens Falls News Cycle Was Cut In Half

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Arts, History Tagged With: Glens Falls, Journalism, News, Newspapers, Queensbury, Verplanck Colvin

Adirondack Survey Markers: A Conservation Minute

August 28, 2020 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

On many hikes, I never truly feel like I have reached the summit of a peak until I’ve found a tiny metal disc set into the rock.

These small plates of metal are called survey markers, or benchmarks, and they are put in place by surveyors to mark important points on the Earth’s surface. [Read more…] about Adirondack Survey Markers: A Conservation Minute

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Adirondack Park, Catamount Mountain, Environmental History, High Peaks, hiking, Lake Placid Land Conservancy, Maps, nature, surveying, Verplanck Colvin, Wildlife

Adirondack Mapping Exhibit in Ticonderoga, Program Planned

August 17, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

mapping the adirondacks exhibitThe Ticonderoga Historical Society is set to present a free public program “Mapping the Adirondacks,” on Friday, August 21st at 7 pm at the Hancock House in Ticonderga.

“Mapping the Adirondacks” will open the museum’s newest exhibit, featuring more than 18 military, political and romance maps from its collection, some on display for the first time. [Read more…] about Adirondack Mapping Exhibit in Ticonderoga, Program Planned

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Events, History Tagged With: exhibits, Maps, Ticonderoga, Ticonderoga Historical Society, Verplanck Colvin

Verplanck Colvin’s Survey of Twitchell Lake

May 12, 2020 by Noel Sherry 3 Comments

Verplank Colvin Memorial at Beaver RiverCamp owners at Twitchell Lake in the Adirondacks have made a tradition of hiking the seven-mile trail north to the isolated hamlet of Beaver River for an annual Octoberfest celebration.

On our 2007 excursion, I stopped at a large stone with a bronze plaque reading: “In Tribute to Verplanck Colvin (1847-1920), Land Surveyor, Founder and Champion of the New York State Forest Preserve and the Adirondack Park, remembered by his friends and admirers on the Centennial of the Adirondack Park, May 20, 1992.” [Read more…] about Verplanck Colvin’s Survey of Twitchell Lake

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, Nature Tagged With: Adirondacks, Beaver River, camping, Frank Tweedy, hiking, surveying, Twitchell Lake, Verplanck Colvin

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