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Early June marks the one-year anniversary of one of the biggest crime stories in the Adirondack region during the past century. The final days of the manhunt for Richard Matt and David Sweat played out in northern Franklin County, focusing mostly on Malone and the large forest south of the village. By coincidence, one of the biggest crime stories of the 1800s unfolded in the same area and shared some key components: murderers on the loose, a manhunt, and Dickinson Center. Both stories rocked a sparsely populated region, where little of consequence ever seemed to happen. » Continue Reading.
Sweat And Matt Deja Vu: Another Dickinson Center Manhunt
Farrand Benedict: Crossing The Adirondacks
A few years ago I learned of a fascinating but rather forgotten individual in Adirondack history. Along with his slightly older mentor Ebenezer Emmons and his younger contemporary Verplanck Colvin, he was among the first to accurately survey much of the Adirondacks. His name was Farrand Benedict.
Farrand Northrop Benedict was born in New Jersey in 1803, the oldest of seven. His parents died in the early 1830s and he became something of a father figure for his younger siblings. Graduating from Hamilton College in 1823, Benedict studied law and engineering and taught surveying and mathematics in Virginia and in Western New York before taking a professorship at the University of Vermont in Burlington in 1833. Teaching mathematics and surveying, Professor Benedict was known affectionately as “Professor B” or “Little Ben”.
Farrand Benedict first arrived in the Adirondacks in 1835, exploring and working in the Adirondacks, often bringing his wife and his brothers. He visited every year, often several times a year, until 1855. » Continue Reading.
2016 Adirondack Coast Museum Days This Weekend
The Adirondack Coast Cultural Alliance (ACCA) again celebrates Museum Days throughout the Adirondack Coast from June 4-5, 2016, inviting visitors and residents to explore the area’s wealth of museums, galleries, and cultural organizations.
For these two days, participating locations will offer free admission, including demonstrations, exhibits, hands-on activities, and more. As the backdrop for many historical events and happenings, lakeside villages, charming hamlets and the historic city of Plattsburgh, the Adirondack Coast offers visitors the opportunity to relive some of the most pivotal moments in our country’s history. » Continue Reading.
Dannemora Escapee Jack Williams: At First, Too Big to Succeed
As the one-year anniversary of the infamous Dannemora prison break approaches, here’s the story of an inmate linked to a pair of unusual breakouts, excerpted from my book, Escape from Dannemora.
Despite media stories claiming early on that Richard Matt and David Sweat were the first-ever escapees from Clinton Prison, some in the past did it in even more spectacular fashion, and overall, hundreds managed to escape under various circumstances. Among them was Jack Williams, a participant in two Clinton exits involving unusual components featured in no other Dannemora escapes. » Continue Reading.
Losing a Dear Friend and Valued Historian
Lyon Mountain is mourning the loss of an important community member, one who also meant very much personally to me and my wife, Jill Jones. Rita Kwetcian, 85, passed away late last Thursday. Recently, when caring for her home became too difficult, she moved to 260 Lake Street: A Senior Resort Community in Rouses Point. Otherwise, her entire life was spent in Lyon Mountain, which happens to be the subject of my first book published through our new company twelve years ago. » Continue Reading.
Railroad Seeks To Block Adirondack Rail Trail
The Adirondack Railway Preservation Society has asked a judge to prohibit the state from moving forward with a plan to remove 34 miles of railroad tracks between Tupper Lake and Lake Placid.
In a lawsuit filed in State Supreme Court, the nonprofit organization contends that the plan to divide a state-owned railroad corridor into a rail segment and trail segment violates the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan and the state Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation Law.
It names as defendants the Adirondack Park Agency, APA Chairwoman Lani Ulrich, the state Department of Environmental Conservation, and Basil Seggos, the DEC acting commissioner.
Two Jefferson County Men Who Made Good in Illinois
A pair of North Country men, born just a few miles apart in Jefferson County, left New York in their adult years and settled about 65 miles apart in Illinois, where each left his lasting mark. Together, their names were also attached to an institution in Arkansas that lives on nearly a century and a half later.
John Budlong was born in February 1833 in Rodman, New York, about eight miles south of Watertown. The Budlong family has many historical connections dating back to the Revolutionary War. John attended several of the best schools in the region: the Rodman Seminary, the Jefferson County Institute at Watertown, the Adams Institute, and Falley Seminary at Fulton in Oswego County. At the age of 18 he began a wide-ranging teaching career, working in North Carolina, Texas, and Missouri before returning to Rodman, where he continued teaching and began studying law. » Continue Reading.
Saranac Lake ‘History Matters’ Speaker Series Expanded
Historic Saranac Lake announces an expanded “History Matters” Speaker Series beginning this month. This new series will feature an event each month for the rest of 2016. The expanded series will include presentations by Dr. Ian Orme on the state of tuberculosis today, Dr. Neil A. Holtzman on Dr. Norman Bethune, and Mary-Nell Bockman on historic preservation in Cuba. Dates for each of the presentations will be announced soon.
The series will kick off this Thursday, May 18, with a presentation entitled “Mythbusting the National Register of Historic Places,” which aims to help the owners of historic properties understand the benefits of the register. Rich in history and architecture, Saranac Lake is home to six historic districts and numerous individually-listed properties on the National Register of Historic Places. This means that most of the historic homes or businesses in Saranac Lake are eligible for or already on the National Register. The Register recognizes properties that are historically and architecturally significant in communities across the country. » Continue Reading.
Free Historic Walking Tours in Potsdam, Ticonderoga, Bluff Point
Adirondack Architectural Heritage (AARCH), the historic preservation organization for the Adirondack region, will host a series of walking tours this spring in three communities with unique architecture. Free and open to the public, the tours will take place in Potsdam on May 14, Ticonderoga on May 21, and at Clinton Community College at Bluff Point on Lake Champlain on June 4.
Participants will join local experts and historians in exploring the distinct styles, materials and building designs, and the fascinating history of these very different Adirondack places. » Continue Reading.
Warrensburg-Glens Falls Trolley Program, Ceremony May 15
A program on the early 20th century trolley route from Warrensburg to Glens Falls will be presented at the Richards Library in Warrensburg on Sunday, May 15, at 3:30 by Paul Gilchrist, PhD.
Warrensburg was the northern terminus of the Hudson Valley Railway’s trolley line from 1902 until 1928. The presentation of photographs, maps, and aerial photos will follow a ceremony unveiling a roadside plaque marking the location of the Schroon River hydroelectric plant that supplied the trolley line » Continue Reading.
Aviation History: Air Marking The North Country (Conclusion)
Shortly after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, it was realized that airmarks could be used by enemy planes, so the order was given to remove 2,500 airmarks that stood within 150 miles of the nation’s coasts. Six weeks later, those marks were obliterated, undoing six years of labor—but shortly after, the blanket order was modified. Why? The absence of airmarks was causing military pilot trainees to become lost. The new order allowed airmarks within 50 miles of flight training airfields.
The national program resumed after the war, with improved methods (including government-supplied plywood templates for lettering) and greater participation, but it’s truly remarkable that despite historic advances in communications and airplanes, the airmark system remained in use into the 1970s.
If you’re old enough to have flown locally back then, you might recall some North Country rooftop markings, some of which are listed below with their year of origin. Most were maintained until the system became outdated. » Continue Reading.
Aviation History: North Country Airmarks
We take navigation for granted today, what with Siri, GPS, radio communications, radar, and services like Google Maps. But imagine you were a pilot in upstate New York back in the 1920s, when aviation was first coming into its own. If you took to the air, as many citizens did, how would you avoid getting lost?
The answer quite often was — you probably wouldn’t, and with potentially fatal consequences. Many pilots died in crashes after running out of fuel while trying to find a destination. » Continue Reading.
Camp Santanoni: Past, Present, And Future
Steven Engelhart, Executive Director of Adirondack Architectural Heritage, will give a presentation on Camp Santanoni: Past, Present and Future at the Lake George Community Garden Club on May 18th.
The Adirondack region of New York State is well known for a rustic style of architecture, best represented by a series of building complexes known as Great Camps. One of the largest of these is Camp Santanoni in Newcomb, Essex County Town.
Exhibit On Explorer Floyd Bennett Opening In Ticonderoga
The Ticonderoga Historical Society opens its third exhibit of the 2016 season this Friday, May 6, at 6:30 pm at the Hancock House. “From the Adirondacks to the Arctic” examines the life of local resident Floyd Bennett, who piloted Admiral Richard E. Byrd on his controversial and historic 1926 flight over the North Pole.
Also included in the exhibit is a broader discussion of local connections to exploration, including the USS Ticonderoga’s (CVS14) role in spacecraft recovery. The ship participated in the Apollo 16 and 17 and Skylab programs during the early 1970s. » Continue Reading.
POW Labor Camps in the Adirondacks
The word Adirondack calls to mind many things — natural beauty, family playground, sporting opportunities, colorful history — but nothing so dark as prisoner-of-war host.
Yet during the last world war (let’s hope it was the last), followers of Hitler and Mussolini populated the North Country. Volumes have been written about the suffering endured in POW camps, but for countries adhering to the Geneva Conventions, there was a clear set of rules to follow. Among them was that prisoners must receive adequate provisions and supplies (food, clothing, living quarters), and if put to work, they must be paid. » Continue Reading.
Latest Adirondack News
- Opposition to Propane Proposal in Placid
- Flooding, High Waters Threaten Property
- APA Backpedals On Updating Energy Plan
- Cause for Concern in Census of Agriculture
- 3 Climbers Feared Dead in Banff
- Call Center Shuttering; Hundreds Laid Off
- Bova Indicted Magen Goyette's Murder
- Route 73 Parking Closures Expanding
- Cobb Announces Second Bid at Congress
- Black Bears Returned To Rehab Center
Latest Adirondack News
- Opposition to Propane Proposal in Placid
- Flooding, High Waters Threaten Property
- APA Backpedals On Updating Energy Plan
- Cause for Concern in Census of Agriculture
- 3 Climbers Feared Dead in Banff
- Call Center Shuttering; Hundreds Laid Off
- Bova Indicted Magen Goyette's Murder
- Route 73 Parking Closures Expanding
- Cobb Announces Second Bid at Congress
- Black Bears Returned To Rehab Center
The Adirondack Almanack
The Adirondack Almanack's contributors include veteran local writers, historians, naturalists, and outdoor enthusiasts from around the Adirondack region. The Almanack is the online news journal of Adirondack Explorer. Both are nonprofits supported by contributors, readers, and advertisers, and devoted to exploring, protecting, and unifying the Adirondack Park.
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