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Whitehall

New York State Canals Bicentennial: Some History & Plans For Celebrations

March 23, 2023 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

Erie Canal BicentennialThe Champlain Canal turns 200 this year and the Erie Canal will celebrate its 200th anniversary in 2025.

The Champlain Canal between the Hudson River and Lake Champlain at Whitehall was the first to open. Worked started on the Champlain Canal in October, 1816. The first boats operated in November, 1819, and was fully completed in 1823, two years before the Erie Canal was finished. [Read more…] about New York State Canals Bicentennial: Some History & Plans For Celebrations

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, Mohawk Valley, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: Albany, Albany County, Buffalo, Cayuga-Seneca Canal, Champlain Canal, Erie Canal, Erie Canalway Heritage Corridor, Hudson River, Lake Champlain, Lake Erie, Maritime History, Mohawk River, NYS Canal Corporation, Oneida County, Oswego Canal, Rensselaer County, Rochester, Rome, Saratoga County, Transportation History, Troy, Utica, Washington County, Waterford, Whitehall

339-Mile Power Line Construction Beginning In Washington County

December 5, 2022 by Editorial Staff 3 Comments

Champlain Hudson Power Express RouteConstruction is beginning in Washington County, NY, on the 339-mile Champlain Hudson Power Express transmission line, being developed by Transmission Developers Inc, between Hydro-Québec in Canada and and New York City. The massive power line is expected to be fully operational in the spring of 2026. [Read more…] about 339-Mile Power Line Construction Beginning In Washington County

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Nature, New York City Tagged With: energy, Lake Champlain, NYSERDA, Putnam, Washington County, Whitehall

The War of 1812 in the Capital District

August 8, 2022 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

USS Constitution vs Guerriere in the War of 1812 by Michel Felice Corne (1752-1845)The War of 1812 began on June 18, 1812, when President James Madison signed a declaration of war which began: “Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That war be and is hereby declared to exist between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the dependencies thereof, and the United States of America and their territories.”

The causes of the war are quite clear. [Read more…] about The War of 1812 in the Capital District

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Albany County, Battle of Queenstown Heights, East Greenbush, James Madison, John E. Wool, Maritime History, Military History, Naval History, Rensselaer County, Samuel Wilson, Schenectady, Schenectady County, Schenectady County Historical Society, Utica, War of 1812, Whitehall

Henry Burleigh, Benjamin Harrison’s Peacock Feather & Political Reporting

May 26, 2021 by Maury Thompson 1 Comment

 Henry G. BurleighSing along with me to the tune of a familiar nursery rhyme song.

Everywhere that Burleigh went, Burleigh went, Burleigh went – everywhere that Burleigh went the press was sure to follow.

The press followed H.G. Burleigh, a 19th century State Assemblyman, Congressman and political power broker from Whitehall and Ticonderoga, because reporters knew there would always be an entertaining story that more often than not came with a nugget of breaking news. [Read more…] about Henry Burleigh, Benjamin Harrison’s Peacock Feather & Political Reporting

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Essex County, Herkimer COunty, Newspapers, Political History, politics, Rensselaer County, Ticonderoga, Troy, Washington County, Whitehall

Warren Co Historical To Mark Tragic Railroad Accident

September 1, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Delaware and Hudson Passenger Train headed toward Lake George from Queensbury in 1948 by Charles E AubreyOn September 5, 1915, five members of the Nelson Norton family of Whitehall, NY were killed when the car in which they were riding was struck by a train as they crossed the railroad tracks at Bay Road in Queensbury, Warren County, NY.

The crossing was part of the Delaware & Hudson Railroad’s line between Glens Falls and the village of Lake George, now part of the Warren County Bikeway. [Read more…] about Warren Co Historical To Mark Tragic Railroad Accident

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Events, History Tagged With: Delaware & Hudson Railroad, Queensbury, railroads, Warren County, Warren County Historical Society, Whitehall

Empire Trail Historic Assessment Being Conducted, Utica to Whitehall

October 20, 2019 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

empire state trailThe Preservation League of NYS has received a $33,000 grant from the 1772 Foundation. This grant is expected to allow the League, in partnership with Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor, to identify and study vacant and underutilized historic buildings along a portion of the NYS Canal System and Empire State Trail that could be sensitively repurposed to provide services for recreational travelers along that corridor.

The survey area will focus on a 90-mile radius around the League’s Albany headquarters, from Utica to Whitehall, all within the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor. [Read more…] about Empire Trail Historic Assessment Being Conducted, Utica to Whitehall

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, Mohawk Valley, Western NY Tagged With: Champlain Canal, empire state trail, Erie Canal, Erie Canalway Heritage Corridor, Grants, Historic Preservation, Mohawk Valley, Preservation League of NYS, Tourism, Waterford, Whitehall

Exhibit: 1800s Photos of Troy, Whitehall African-Americans

May 3, 2015 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

IMG_0363The Rensselaer County Historical Society (RCHS) has opened a new exhibit titled “John Henry & the Baltimores of Troy.” The exhibit is  free and open to the public.

“John Henry & the Baltimores of Troy” features over a dozen 19th century photographs of the Henry family who lived in Whitehall, New York. The photographs were re-discovered a few years ago at the Whitehall Library when Clifford Oliver, a photographer who lives in Greenwich, NY, was alerted to their existence. The photos tell the story of the Henry family who were related by marriage to the prominent abolitionist Baltimore family of Troy, NY. Some of the individuals are identified and others are awaiting further research to connect names to their faces. [Read more…] about Exhibit: 1800s Photos of Troy, Whitehall African-Americans

Filed Under: Events, History, New Exhibits Tagged With: Abolition, Black History, Photography, Troy, Underground Railroad, Whitehall

Warren Harding’s Chair: A Battle of Valcour Island Relic

May 6, 2014 by Lawrence P. Gooley 1 Comment

Warren Harding LOCIt’s remarkable how two unrelated historical events sometimes converge to form a new piece of history. In one such North Country connection, the job choice of a future president became linked to a famous encounter on Lake Champlain. The future president was Warren Harding (1921–23), and the lake event was the Battle of Valcour Island (1776). The results weren’t earth shattering, but the connection did spawn coast-to-coast media stories covering part of our region’s (and our nation’s) history.

In 1882, Harding (1865–1923) graduated from Ohio Central College. Among the positions he held to pay for schooling was editor of the college newspaper. In 1884, after pursuing various job options, he partnered with two other men and purchased the failing Marion Daily Star. Harding eventually took full control of the newspaper, serving as both publisher and editor. [Read more…] about Warren Harding’s Chair: A Battle of Valcour Island Relic

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: American Revolution, Battle of Valcour Bay, Fort Ticonderoga, Historic Preservation, Lake Champlain, Maritime History, Media, Military History, Plattsburgh, Political History, Whitehall

September 1777: The Last Attack on Fort Ticonderoga

September 6, 2012 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Fort Ticonderoga courtesy Carl Heilman IIIn September 1777, with the bulk of General Burgoyne’s Army at Saratoga, a small garrison of British, German, and Loyalist soldiers, kept watch at Fort Ticonderoga.

On September 13th a mission was launched from Skenesboro (now Whitehall) against Fort Ticonderoga by two American detachments of about 500 men each under the command of Brigadier General Jonathan Warner and Colonel John Brown. Their goal was freeing American prisoners held at the Fort by the British, destroying British provisions, and if possible, attacking the Fort. [Read more…] about September 1777: The Last Attack on Fort Ticonderoga

Filed Under: History, Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga Tagged With: American Revolution, Battle of Saratoga, Essex County, Fort Ticonderoga, Lake Champlain, Lake George, Military History, Ticonderoga, Whitehall

Whitehall Filmmaking: The Girl on the Barge

July 24, 2012 by Lawrence P. Gooley Leave a Comment

Following is the story of a movie that was filmed long ago on the barge canal in Whitehall, New York, where the canal links with Lake Champlain. The details were researched and written by my partner, Jill McKee, after following up on a recollection of her beloved elderly aunt, Mary Barber (now deceased). This fortunate collaboration led to the addition of an exhibit in Whitehall’s Skenesborough Museum.
In 1929, Universal Pictures released a film called The Girl on the Barge. The movie was about Erie McCadden, the illiterate daughter of a crusty, alcoholic barge captain. Erie falls in love with Fogarty, the pilot of the tugboat that is towing her father’s barge from New York to Buffalo on the Erie Canal. Captain McCadden is not at all pleased when he discovers the romance, and his anger is escalated further by the fact that Fogarty is teaching Erie to read.

[Read more…] about Whitehall Filmmaking: The Girl on the Barge

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Arts, Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Barge Canal, Champlain Canal, Cultural History, Film History, Glens Falls, Performing Arts, Pop Culture History, Washington County, Whitehall

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