Solomon Northup Day has been set for Saturday, July 20, 2019 at the Willsboro School, 29 School Lane, Willsboro, from 4 to 5:30 pm.
Solomon Northup was a free black man living in Saratoga Springs, New York, who was lured from home in 1841, abducted and sold into slavery in the South. After years as a slave, he was rescued and authored the book Twelve Years a Slave. The book was the basis for the Oscar-winning film, 12 Years a Slave. » Continue Reading.
Historic Saranac Lake (HSL) is set to host a public meeting to gather input for the expansion of the history museum for the Saranac Lake Region on Wednesday, July 17, from 6 to 7:30 pm.
The public is invited to share their vision for the new expanded museum campus on the corner of Church and Main Streets in Saranac Lake. » Continue Reading.
For the past three years the Green Mountain Boys Project have been researching the celebrated military unit, which lived and served along what was then the New York and New Hampshire border (modern day Vermont) from the 1760s until 1779.
The Green Mountain Boys, led by Ethan Alllen and his brother Ira, controlled the area of disputed land grants. Based at a tavern in Bennington, they evaded arrest warrants from New York State and harassed settlers from New York, surveyors, and other officials, often with severe beatings and destruction of their belongings. » Continue Reading.
“Al Marlowe, ‘the French Cyclone,’ returned yesterday from Alburg, Vt. where he wrestled Leo Desbriches, champion of the New England states, to a draw…. The Ogdensburg man is proving himself one of the best wrestlers in this section….”
On November 28, 1919, this was the reportage in Ogdensburg’s Republican Journal’s sports section regarding the city’s 21 year old professional grappler’s two hour match. His career was marked by two championships, and many print sources referred to Marlowe as “an artist of the mat.” Today he is recognized as one of the last legitimate professional wrestling champions in the North Country as well. » Continue Reading.
A further examination of Adirondack Park population trends brings us to age group analysis. The two previous population articles looked at long-term trends from 1970-2010 and short-term trends from 2000-2010. U.S. Census data have shown that the population in 61 Adirondack Park Towns 100% within the Blue Line grew at a higher rate than that of New York State, though it lagged behind most other similar rural areas.
While these comparisons to state and national trends are useful, they do not tell the full story about what’s happening inside Adirondack population trends. The full story is revealed by studying the experiences of different age groups.
Fort Ticonderoga is set to celebrate Independence Day with special events and programming during an extended holiday weekend, July 4-7, 2019. Fort Ticonderoga is the very ground on which the American Revolution occurred.
Over the Fourth of July Weekend museum staff and costumed interpreters will recreate and explore the events of the year 1777. » Continue Reading.
On Saturday, June 15, the Keene Valley Library welcomed 35 members of the public to celebrate the launch of myadirondackstory.org, a website for the multi-year history project Adirondack Community: Capturing, Retaining, and Communicating the Stories of Who We Are.
Anyone with an internet connection can access the project’s collection of audio stories and related photographs. To date, the website hosts 34 accounts told by Keene residents about the rich social and cultural history of their community in New York State’s Adirondack Mountains. » Continue Reading.
Because of their intended function, horse blocks were accessible to anyone and there was no reason to guard them — except for one night of the year. Pranksters annually targeted them in several ways on Halloween: flipping them if they were too heavy to carry off, piling several on the property of an unsuspecting owner, or placing them in unusual locations, like in the middle of road intersections.
A drastic change in transportation technology — the automobile — marked the beginning of the end for horse travel and several related items that were present just about everywhere: horse blocks, hitching posts, and watering troughs. Progress required the removal of many horse blocks, which had become obstructions to pedestrians and were frequently struck by cars, sometimes causing fatalities. (Driving skills were seriously lacking early on, and there were few regulations, so accidents were common.) » Continue Reading.
The Clinton County Historical Association will host “Sunday on Valcour Island” on Sunday, July 14th, 2019.
The day include tours of the historic Bluff Point Lighthouse on Valcour Island. The trip requires the physical ability to disembark and board from the island’s natural landing, walking on uneven surfaces over rough terrain and climbing stairs. » Continue Reading.
Chimney Point State Historic Site in Addison, Vermont, and Crown Point State Historic Site in Crown Point, New York are set to host a guided walk on Saturday, June 22 from 11 am to 1 pm. Site administrator Elsa Gilbertson (VT) and Lisa Polay, Crown Point site manager, will lead this “Points of Interest” guided bridge walk. » Continue Reading.
After a decade of disuse, the 116-year-old National Historic Landmark on Eagle Island will again be a children’s summer camp. Eagle Island Camp is starting small and with two one-week sessions of day camp for 4th, 5th, or 6th graders.
Eagle Island Camp is a Great Camp designed by architect William Coulter that contains some of his most notable rustic work. The 30-acre island is located below Upper Saranac Lake’s narrows east of Gilpin Bay. The camp was built in 1903 for Levi P. Morton, U.S. Vice President under Benjamin Harrison and later Governor of New York. » Continue Reading.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced they have renamed the State Tree Nursery in Saratoga Springs the “Colonel William F. Fox Memorial Saratoga Tree Nursery.”
Born William Freeman Fox on January 11, 1840, in Ballston Spa, just miles from the tree nursery on Route 50, he studied engineering at Union College for three years. In 1862, at 22, Fox joined the Army of the Potomac as a Captain commanding Company C of the 107th New York Volunteer Infantry. Shortly afterward, he saw his first combat in at the Battle of Antietam, considered among the bloodiest days in U.S. history. Fox was wounded in this battle, as well as at the Battle of Chancellorsville, where he served as a Major, and the Battle of Resaca, where he served as a Lieutenant Colonel. He was discharged from the U.S. Army on July 8, 1864.
The most popular genre by far on nighttime television through the 1960s? Westerns. While children were allowed to watch some of them, several shows specifically geared towards the younger set were shown on Saturday morning. Watching heroes — Roy Rogers, the Lone Ranger, and Zorro, three of the best — escape tense situations and catch bad guys was unforgettable.
Among the skills of any cowboy star (or stuntman stand-in) worth his salt were the hurried mounting and high-speed dismounting of horses (usually their own faithful steed, of course). It’s an impressive feat when you consider that horses are pretty high off the ground — which brings us to our main subject: how to get down off a horse. » Continue Reading.
Great Camp Sagamore in Raquette Lake is hosting Community Day brunch this Sunday, June 16, from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm. The trails will be open to the public for hiking, with tours of the property and the historic buildings available from 10 am to 4 pm. » Continue Reading.
Historic Saranac Lake has announced an opening reception for “The Art of the Cure,” a new exhibit in the John Black Room of the Saranac Laboratory Museum, located 89 Church Street.
This exhibit highlights Saranac Lake’s rich history of the arts. The Trudeau Sanatorium and the Study and Craft Guild offered groundbreaking occupational therapy programs to tuberculosis patients, many of whom went on to become accomplished artists, writers, and craftspeople. » Continue Reading.
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