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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Category: Queensbury
88 Acres Nursery and Garden Shop: An Accidental Roadside Attraction
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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Queensbury’s Apples
Fall in the North Country brings with it some much anticipated events…the vibrant colors of the changing leaves, the back-to-school routines, and of course, apple season. New York has a rich history of apple production dating back to the 1600’s. Traditions such as going picking as a family, cold cider and warm cider donuts on…
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French Mountain in 1875
Maury Thompson recently shared with me a link to a short newspaper article about the photographer Seneca Ray Stoddard. On the same page I noticed a letter from a reader, which decried the lack of coverage for French Mountain, at that time a hamlet in the Town of Queensbury. Now the site of the Factory…
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A Legacy of the Land – Stone Walls continued…
Our last blog covered the remarkable story of 19th century stone builder and preacher, Reverend George Brown. But what about the many stone walls around the area whose builders remain anonymous and whose histories are unknown? Is it possible to learn anything about those walls, or from them? The answer is “yes”. Though we may…
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Made to Last: Stone Walls and a Man with a Mission
Many, many years ago I bought a book called Sermons in Stone – The Stone Walls of New England and New York, by Susan Allport. In this Covid-19 world of quarantine, isolation, and a work-from-home mandate, I went looking through my bookcase for inspiration and pulled it from the shelf. While it seems that my…
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