Washington County

Big Hogs In The Paper: A Collection Of Pig Tales From Historic Newspapers

September 16, 2020 by Maury Thompson 1 Comment

A hog weighing in at 1,200 pounds raised in Greenwich, in Washington County, was spared the slaughter, at least temporarily, in order to be put on display as an oddity.

“G.V.P. Lansing, a resident of the town of Greenwich, has the unique distinction of having raised and marketed the largest hog ever grown in the world,” The Post-Star reported on March 12, 1919. “The hog was sold last week to Bennett Brothers of Albany, and shipped to that place.” [Read more…] about Big Hogs In The Paper: A Collection Of Pig Tales From Historic Newspapers

Portion of Lake George Tributary Protected

July 15, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Lake George Land Conservancy (LGLC) has protected 25 acres on County Route 6 in the Town of Dresden on the east side of Lake George in Washington County, NY.

The property includes 1,300 feet of Fairy Brook, a small tributary of Lake George which drains north into Lake Champlain at Ticonderoga and ultimately into the Richelieu and then St. Lawrence Rivers into the North Atlantic. [Read more…] about Portion of Lake George Tributary Protected

Wally Foote: ‘The Most Handsome Man in Congress’

May 10, 2020 by Maury Thompson Leave a Comment

The Plattsburgh Daily Press in late 1894 fact-checked the boasts of M.W. Howard, age 32, of Alabama, and George M. Southwick, age 31, of Albany, who each claimed to be the youngest member of the incoming U.S. House of Representatives.

Actually, it was local Representative-elect Wallace T. Foote Jr., who would still be 30 when he took office, that would have the distinction. Foote represented New York’s 23rd District, which included Essex, Clinton, Franklin, Warren and Washington counties. [Read more…] about Wally Foote: ‘The Most Handsome Man in Congress’

Suffragist Betty Wakeman Mitchell of Washington Co

March 26, 2020 by Maury Thompson Leave a Comment

The Post-Star of Glens Falls received first-hand accounts of the 1920 Republican National Convention from Washington County suffragist Betty Wakeman Mitchell, who had a choice seat in Section 70 of the Chicago Coliseum, where she could hear the nominating speeches.

Two years earlier Mitchell had run unsuccessfully in a Republican primary for the state Assembly seat representing Washington County (once the home of Susan B. Anthony). [Read more…] about Suffragist Betty Wakeman Mitchell of Washington Co

New Warren, Wash Co Suffragists Exhibit Open

March 1, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Warren County Historical Society (WCHS) has announced a new exhibit, “Warren and Washington County Suffragists: 1883-1920,” set to run through May 26, 2020. [Read more…] about New Warren, Wash Co Suffragists Exhibit Open

The Prophet Matthias and Elijah the Tishbite

December 23, 2019 by Miguel Hernandez 7 Comments

Long before the fictional and shocking “Peyton Place” of TV and film fame came along in the late 1950s, and early 1960s there was an actual suburban community where its residents were roiled by rampant scandal, moral and religious hypocrisy and a sensational a murder in their midst. [Read more…] about The Prophet Matthias and Elijah the Tishbite

Claims of Witchcraft In Salem, Washington County

October 28, 2019 by Marie Williams 3 Comments

There have been quite a number of witchcraft trials in what is now New York State, including in Westchester County, and on Long Island. In the midst of the American Revolution, in the town of Salem (now near the New York-Vermont border in Washington County, NY), there was another witch trial, of a sort.

Salem, NY, much like Salem, MA, has a very religious past. The community is said to be founded by Presbyterian Rev. Dr. Thomas Clark, who had emigrated from Ireland in the mid-1760s with his congregation, part of a Presbyterian schism. Clark’s congregation first settled in nearby Stillwater, on the Hudson River but eventually landed in what is now Salem, NY, where they purchased a 25,000 acres among the mostly New England settlers already established there. [Read more…] about Claims of Witchcraft In Salem, Washington County

Washington Co History Fair Set For Sept 28

September 2, 2019 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Washington County Historical Society’s 2019 History Fair, “It Happened in Washington County (History In Your Own Backyard!)” is set for Saturday, September 28th, from 10 am to 4 pm.

The day will feature exhibits by Town and Village Historians, Historical Societies, and re-enactors and programs for all ages. [Read more…] about Washington Co History Fair Set For Sept 28

Washington County Battles and Brews Tour

August 21, 2018 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Washington County Historical Society is set to conduct a Battles and Brews Tour through Northern and Central Washington County, on September 8th, from 9 am to 5 pm. The trip’s focus is the contribution Washington County’s people made to the Civil War effort.

Traveling north from Greenwich, the tour bus will visit Salem, Granville, and Whitehall. After lunch in Whitehall, the tour will continue on to the Hartford Recruiting Center where a first person performance of Rice Bull, a Union Army Soldier in the Civil War and author of the book, Soldiering: The Civil War Diary, will take place. The trail turns south to Hudson Falls to visit memorials at Union Cemetery. [Read more…] about Washington County Battles and Brews Tour

History of Warren and Washington County Course

September 13, 2016 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

SUNY Adirondack in Queensbury is offering a credit course in the history of Warren and Washington counties for the 2016 Fall semester.

The course spans from Native American occupation and the Colonial Wars, to the establishment of communities by Europeans and African-Americans, finally covering the homefront of the World Wars, the suburbanization, and the rise of tourism.