Honoring the Past
Revisiting Poignant Memories of Mt. Beacon
Although it stands alone today as a natural wonder, for part of the 20th century Mt. Beacon hosted a man-made dazzler that many remember fondly: the Mt. Beacon Incline Railway. Family video footage and vintage postcards unearthed recently have only...
The Old-School Charm of the Irish Alps
As a child, Boston filmmaker Kevin Ferguson spent nearly every summer in the Catskills among a clan of Irish immigrants and first-generation natives in what was known as the Irish Alps. What the Borscht Belt was to Jews, the area...
For Olmsted’s 200th Birthday, Appreciating Newburgh’s Downing Park
Farmer, merchant, seaman, journalist — nothing on Frederick Law Olmsted’s résumé before 1857, when he turned 35, even hinted that he would become America’s foremost landscape architect. Yet throughout 2022, to mark the bicentennial of Olmsted’s birth on April 26,...
#ValleyPathbreakers: Seven Women Who Improved Life Here
They fought for working women’s rights, advocated for vulnerable children, even rescued drowning sailors. And of course, they called for cleaner river water and greater public access to the Hudson Valley’s natural abundance. To celebrate Women’s History Month, reflect on...
The Hudson Valley, Violet Capital of the World
At the turn of the 20th century, a wealthy lady in New York City wouldn’t think of leaving home for a grand celebration or event without pinning a corsage of violets on her gown. Chances are, that bunch of blooms came...
#BlackHistoryMonth: Valley Gardening Godfather James F. Brown
I went to church at Fishkill village and returned home through the rain and got very wet but heard a very good sermon preached. Mr. J D L Verplanck, Mr. W S Verplanck and Miss A L Verplanck attempted twice...
Bridging an Iced-Over Hudson
Streets and roads! Who cares for either, while we have the river? We often use the river here, weeks at a time, when the snow has left us. The ice has been remarkably even the whole of this winter….James Fenimore...
The Valley’s World-Beating Natural Cement Industry
Along with brick-making and ice harvesting, the manufacturing of natural cement earned the region national renown in the 19th century. It also helped fuel the growth of the Ulster County community, Rosendale, that was blessed with an abundance of the natural resource essential to...