The Glory Days of Hudson Valley Ice Harvesting
Block ice was once a can’t-live-without-it piece of American culture. For about a century beginning in the 1830s, keeping food and beverages cold in and around New York City depended on this ice — and on harvesting it from the...
FDR’s Deft Civil Rights Advocate, Elizabeth McDuffie
Shortly after Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt moved into the White House in 1933, leaving behind the family’s beloved home on the Hudson River, Elizabeth “Lizzie” McDuffie arrived there as well. Hired as a maid, McDuffie was actually a college graduate...
Newburgh: the Cradle of American Speed Skating
Back in the days when people could count on the Hudson River freezing over nearly every year, skating on it was a popular pastime. In Newburgh, people took to it with particular zeal. As early as 1815, hometown skaters like...
Celebrating the Scenic Hudson Decision
When the 6 people who founded Scenic Hudson gathered to protect Storm King Mountain in 1963, they knew they faced an uphill battle. When it came to big industrial projects like the hydroelectric plant Con Edison proposed to build on...
New Life for Old Bridges
In the early 20th century, access to the Hudson River in upper Dutchess and southern Columbia counties was confined largely to those wealthy families whose sprawling estates lined its banks. To reach the shore, and in some cases their mansions, many...
Why the Headless Horseman Lives On
This year marks the 202nd anniversary of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” which appeared in Washington Irving’s The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. in 1820. Many literary authorities consider it our nation’s oldest ghost story. For sure, it’s a Halloween staple....
Remembering the Night Boats
It’s 5 p.m. at a Manhattan pier on the Hudson River. Your carriage is stowed below deck, and your luggage has been delivered to your stateroom. After freshening up in your private bath, you make your way to the grand...
The CCC’s Hudson Valley Legacy
Earlier this year a New York Times op-ed called for the U.S. to dust off one of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal programs, the Civilian Conservation Corps, to boost the pandemic economy by creating jobs that benefit the environment. That...