Glens Falls, New York, once a hamlet in the town of Queensbury, has been known by several names – Chepontuc, reputedly a native name for “a difficult place to get around”; Wing’s Falls, in honor of its founder, Abraham Wing; and Glenn’s or Glenville after landowner Col. Johnnes Glen. However, at first it was called simply “The Corners,” the local name for that place where roads converged at the bend by the falls in the Hudson River.
In a broader sense, a corner is any location where roads intersect – places where people meet and a community develops. Our blog Places & People is about the history of local places and the social networks that are connected to them. It features stories from the past of Glens Falls, Queensbury, Oneida Corners, French Mountain, Harrisena, Sandy Hill and other nearby places where roads crossed and history happened.
Articles are written by museum staff and volunteers. Researchers are invited to submit articles electronically. Requirements: 2000 words max. Images should be in jpg format with a width resolution of 1024. Submissions are reviewed by an editorial committee.
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This is a story of two men who lived in Glens Falls in the late 1800’s and had very different lifestyles but did share one thing in common. They were Charles Christian, a resident of Crandall Street, then called Uncas Street, and John M. Holmes, a resident of Pine Street. Charles Christian was born in…
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When that toothache gets to be too much, you call your dentist and, if you live in New York State, there’s at least a forty percent chance that your dentist is a woman. This was not always true as the dental field, as well as most of the medical field other than nursing, was mostly…
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One of my favorite activities of the Christmas season is driving around the area and gazing in wonder at the holiday decorations and colorful displays. I’m inspired by how ordinary facades and front yards are magically transformed into theatrical stages, the temporary settings for someone’s imaginative and light festooned play. Porch railings dazzle with white…
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The Glens Falls Bank opened in 1851, making it the first bank in Warren County. In 1864, the fire that destroyed 112 buildings in Glens Falls also destroyed the bank. They rebuilt following the fire and re-opened as the Glens Falls National Bank in 1867. Only a few years later, this bank would be home…
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“Architecture is the biggest unwritten document of history.” — Daniel Libeskind It doesn’t take much effort to love architecture when you consider it to be beautiful. It makes both the motivation to learn more about a building’s history, as well as the desire to save it should it be neglected, much easier. But what if…
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You may be familiar with the story of Alexander Hamilton, one recently popularized by the musical Hamilton. Alexander Hamilton’s father-in-law was Philip Schuyler, a United States senator from New York, who resided in Albany. During the American Revolution, Schuyler worked closely with an ordinary man who became a spy; that man was Moses Harris —…
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Born into a family of Glens Falls entrepreneurs, Frank Lapham’s life came with both responsibility and privilege. His grandfather and uncle had established a grist mill along the Hudson River in South Glens Falls and as a young man, Frank also joined the business. This did not mean, however, that he was given an office…
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Welcome to the Post Card Chronicles. If you’re like me, it’s just too hard to resist a stack of old postcards. There’s a need to pick them up and look at all the images of far-off places, important sites, unusual events, or exotic themes. Once you’ve stopped on a particular card that catches your eye,…
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Most of us are probably familiar with the old saying “your home is your castle”. During the late Victorian period, many architects wanted to make your home look like one as well…at least sort of. From the 1880s to the early 1900s, the architectural style known as Queen Anne swept America. Although named after Queen…
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When Richard VanDusen Jr. established his nursery and garden supply business on West Mountain Rd. in 1963, it is highly unlikely he would have considered it as a roadside attraction. Yet, I cannot help but think that it would be quite comfortable in that niche. Roadside attractions are meant to draw attention and are…
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