New York Almanack

Rapping with the Dead: New York’s Spiritualist Fox Sisters

Thomas Rosenthal, MD — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 19:00:05 +0000

The first indication that the Fox Sisters had spiritualist talents occurred on the evening of March 31, 1848 when 11-year-old Kate and 14-year-old Maggie Fox claimed they heard knocking sounds coming from the east bedroom of their parents’ rented farmhouse in Hydesville, Wayne County, NY, about 30 miles east of Rochester.

The next night, the young ladies revealed this strange knocking spirit to their mother and older sister, Leah. The family’s excitement about communicating beyond the grave took no note that the inaugural demonstration had been staged on April first.

New York & The Struggle to Finance the Revolutionary War

Guest Contributor — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 17:20:23 +0000

One of the earliest acts of the New York Provincial Congress was the promise on May 24, 1775, to repay all monies advanced for the resistance to British domination. When the old colonial government was gradually superseded in 1774 and 1775 by an extra-legal government of committees and congresses chosen by the people, these bodies were met immediately by the problem of financing both the political activities and the military operations. The latter began with the plans to seize Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point, shortly after the colonists had been electrified by the news of Lexington and Concord.

Fort Drum’s World War II Combat Con Artists

Editorial Staff — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 15:00:42 +0000

During the final year of World War II, more than 1,000 soldiers, including artists, engineers, radio operators, and sound technicians, used inflatable rubber tanks, fabricated radio transmissions, recorded sound effects, and carefully staged visual illusions to convince enemy forces that large American combat units were stationed where they were not. Many of the troops trained in Northern New York at Fort Drum in Jefferson County, then known as Pine Camp, before deploying to Europe.

The unit, armed with nothing heavier than .50 caliber machine guns, included future celebrated artists and native New Yorkers such as painter, sculptor, and printmaker Ellsworth Kelly and fashion and music photographer Art Kane.

Seagle Festival Plans 250-Seat Theatre, Year-Round Campus

Anthony F. Hall — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 14:15:32 +0000

A planned year-round performing arts center for the southern Adirondacks has advanced a step or two further: the Seagle Festival (formally known as Seagle Music Colony) has been awarded a $1.8 million grant from the New York State Council on the Arts’ Capital Projects Fund.

According to Tony Kostecki, the Seagle’s General Director, the state grant will help fund the construction of a new dining and conference hall at the rustic music education center – one component of a new, $30 million year-round campus in Schroon Lake, NY.

Genealogy Workshop: 19th-Century Immigrant Ancestor Travel

Editorial Staff — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 13:49:53 +0000

In colonial times Americans encouraged immigration, even in the Declaration of Independence.

“He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither,” Patriots wrote in reference to King George III’s limits on immigration to the colonies.
It wasn’t until the Steerage Act of 1819, which established basic safety standards aboard passenger ships, that the Federal Government even required ships to submit official passenger manifests.

Dr Helen Hosmer’s Rural Healthcare in the US & Canada

Dave Waite — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 19:00:43 +0000

In 1934, Doctor Helen Hosmer opened a physician’s office on West Street in the Village of Galway, in Saratoga County, NY. Originally from Billerica, Massachusetts, when Hosmer arrived in Galway, she was 50 years old, and though an experienced chemist and scientist, she was just beginning her career as a physician.

Helen Hosmer graduated in 1906 from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a degree in chemistry. She then worked in the General Electric Research Laboratory in Schenectady for eight years.

Avalanche Pass Trail Reopens After Massive Landslide

Editorial Staff — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 18:06:23 +0000

The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the reopening of the popular Avalanche Pass Trail in the High Peaks Wilderness Area in the Adirondack Park. In July 2025, intense rock and mud slides from Mount Colden swept across the width of the pass, making the trail unusable and temporarily flooded. DEC closed the trail, conducted an assessment of the damage, and began the trail work planning and approval processes to reopen Avalanche Pass.

Region 5 Regional Director Joe Zalewski said, “DEC Region 5 is proud of our staff, contractors, and volunteers who have worked tirelessly and strategically to allow us to reopen the trail earlier than anticipated.

New Bridges Closing Some Genesee Valley Greenway Trail Gaps

Editorial Staff — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 17:28:21 +0000

Construction has begun on four new pedestrian bridges along the Genesee Valley Greenway State Park in Allegany County, NY that will restore connections where former railroad bridges had been removed, allowing trail users to remain on the Greenway rather than detouring onto local roadways, including busy Route 19. Together with targeted resurfacing, the $6.25 million improvements will provide 22 miles of continuously surfaced recreational corridor.

The improved trail extends from the Erie Canalway Trail in Rochester’s Genesee Valley Park to the Village of Cuba in Allegany County, eventually it will be resurfaced to Hinsdale in Cattaraugus County.

Rochester’s Clothesline Art & Fine Craft Festival This Weekend

Editorial Staff — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 15:30:12 +0000

One of the longest-running arts festivals on the East Coast returns to Rochester’s Memorial Art Gallery (MAG) on August 29 and 30, 2026. The 69th Clothesline Art & Fine Craft Festival will welcome thousands of art lovers, families, foodies, and craft enthusiasts, transforming MAG’s grounds into a two-day celebration featuring nearly 400 artists, live music, food trucks, family activities, a signature craft beer, and one-of-a-kind art from across the region.

Clothesline festivalgoers can enjoy live music throughout the weekend with performances from a lineup of regional artists.

How Lake George Became A Vacation Destination

ADK Taste — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 14:26:15 +0000

After the Second World War, Lake George underwent a remarkable transformation. In this episode of the ADK Talks podcast, Lisa Hall of The Bolton Museum and Tony Hall, publisher of the Lake George Mirror and a regular contributor to New York Almanack, explore how rising prosperity, automobiles, roadside motels, Storytown, and the Adirondack Northway helped turn Lake George into one of the Northeast’s great family vacation destinations.

Inspired by the museum’s popular “Vacation Paradise of the 50s & 60s” exhibit, the conversation goes beyond nostalgia to examine how the tourism boom — and concerns about the development it unleashed — helped shape the modern Adirondack environmental movement.