LOCAL
HISTORY -
ORGANIZATIONS AND HISTORIC SITES
(The following
lists show places and sites I have information
about. It makes no claims to be all-inclusive.)
This site,
on the Upper Hudson Library Association web page has a list of Local
History organizations. In addition, I've included several
below that I know something about, either from visiting or from my
research for this web page. Please feel free to contact me
with further links.
Choose
your municipality
of interest
CITY
OF ALBANY
- Albany
Institute of History and Art
125 Washington Avenue
Albany, New York 12210
(518)463-4478
This museum,
founded in 1791 is one of the oldest in the
Untied States. It's diverse collection reflects the
significance of Albany and the Upper-Hudson Valley region in American
history and art history.
The museum also house a permanent
collection of paintings from the Hudson River School landscape
paintings as well as Albany and New-York made objects from the 18th and
19th centuries, documents from the New York Central Railroad Company
and an 18th century Dutch colonial groote kamer
(from the brochure, Albany Institute of History and Art). It's a lovely
museum and was extensively renovated in 2001.
- Albany Heritage Area Visitor Center
25 Quackenbush Square
Albany, N.Y. 12207
(518) 434-0405
This site is located near the Clinton Ave. exit of
Interstate 787. There is a planitarium in addition to a small museum of
the history of the city of Albany. There is a very good self-guided walking tour
pamphlet available as well as guided tours as specified hours. There is
always a volunteer available to answer questions.
-
Cherry Hill
523 South Pearl Street
Albany, New York
Phone: 518-434-4791
Cherry Hill was
home
to the Van Rensselaer family for five generations It is
unique in that it represents continuous
family living from the 18th through the 20th centuries. The volunteers do a very good job with the tour.
- New York
State Museum
Albany, N.Y.
(518) 474-5877
This museum in downtown Albany is dedicated to New York's
natural,
cultural and human history. There are both permanent, such as the
Adirondack and New York City exibits (which are wonderful) and my
mother's favorite, the Birds of New York, as well as frequently
changing special exibits. See this
page in particular for information about the Durham Project
which is researching early transportation systems in New York State and
the Colonial Albany Social History Project which is
a model community history program formed to understand pre-industrial
community life by studying the contributions of the diverse peoples who
lived in the city of Albany during its formative years.
- Ten
Brock Mansion
9 Ten Brock Place
Albany, NY 12210
(518) 436-9826
The house was build
in 1798 by General Abraham
Ten Broeck. It is restored to reflect an 1830 Greek Revival style.
Study the directions carefully, the one-way streets can make
navigation in the area tricky, but it's worth it.
- USS
Slater DE-766
P.O. Box 1926
Albany, NY 12201-1926
This vessel was a Destroyer Escort in WWII. The ship is
docked at the Snow Dock in downtown Albany and tours are available as
specified hours in season. A group of dedicated volunteers, many of them former sailors, brought the ship to
Albany and restored it. They run tours and conducts fund-raisers.
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TOWN
OF BERNE
- The Town of
Berne Historical
Society
The web site
and content, according to its' webmaster, "was developed by
and is maintained by a group of volunteers with ties to the area. The
site contains historic pictures of the area, stories of local residents
and historical events and is the home of the Berne Historical Project."
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TOWN
OF COLONIE
- The
Historical Society of
the
Town of Colonie
Memorial Town Hall
Newtonville, NY 12128-0508
Town Hall: (518) 782-2593
Pruyn House: (518) 783-1435
According to their brochure, the purpose of the organization
is "to stimulate an appreciation of the historical heritage
of
the Town of Colonie; to discover, collect and preserve any material
which may help to illustrate the history of the Town of Colonie; to
bring about the preservation of historic buildings, monuments and
sites; and to disseminate historical information. They offer
programs which cover a wide variety of subjects ranging from
early Dutch settlements to Indian Affairs, Archaeological Reserach,
Military History, Music and many other cultural topics of local interest."
- The Pruyn
House Cultural Center
Friends of Pruyn House
207 Old Niskayuna Road
Newtonville, NY 12128
(518) 783-1435
The Pruyn
House is located near exit 5 of Interstate 87. The grounds
house a complex which consists of the Casparus F. Pruyn House, build in
1825; the Buhrmaster Barn, featureing many early architectural features
such as hand-hewn beams and wooden pegs; the Verdoy Schoolhouse, built
in 1910; beautiful herb and flower gardens (really - I've seen them,
small but exquisite); and several other outbuildings. The Friends hold
many events during the year, including various lectures on Historical
and Cultural Topics, Educational Programs and Military and Colonial
Days.
- Shaker
Heritage Society
1848 Shaker Meeting
House
Albany Shaker Road
Albany, NY 12211
(518) 456-7890
This is a great site to visit on a sunny afternoon. The first
Shaker settlement in America was in 1775-76 in what was then called
Wisdon's Valley, Watervliet. The site is now in the town of Colonie,
near the Albany International Airport and exit 4 of Interstate 87. The
site contains several Shaker buildings, including the Meeting House; an
herb garden; the Shaker cemetary where founder Ann Lee is buried and
trails on the nearby Ann Lee Pond Nature Preserve. The buildings are
open almost all year with guided tours available in season. There are
special events year around.
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CITY
OF COHOES
P.O. Box 375
Cohoes, N.Y. 12047
According to their
brochure, the mission of this society is "helping to promote and
encourage original historical researcxh, to encourage greater
understanding of the istory of the State of New York, particularly of
ooes and its surrounding area; to gather, preserve, dispaly, and make
available for study artifacts, relics, books, manuscripts, papers,
photographs, and other records and material relating to the history of
the New York state and this region; to encourage the suitable marking
of places of historic interest; and to promote the maintennce of the
historical character of Cohoes by encouraging preservation and
restoration of its physical structures". This organization has a
varied
program which includes preservation of sites of historic importance via
buyer searches and other technical help, participation in
beautification and educational effors locally and encourging original
historical research. To this last end, the society publishes a
newsletter which always includes at least one article on local history,
sure to be of interest to anyone interested in the history of Cohoes.
- Van Schaick Mansion
The Van Schaick
Mansion Project
General Peter Gansevoort Chapter, NSDAR
1 Van Schaick Avenue
Cohoes, NY 12047
This mansion, purchased in
part by a grant from New York State, was "built ca. 1735 and
served as military headquarters for British genreals during th French
and Inddian War and, later, for leading American generals planning the
pivotal Battle of Saratoga"2.
- Schuyler
Mansion State Historic Site:
32 Catherine Street
Albany NY, 12202
(518)
434-0834
- This site is managed by the New York State Office
of Parks, Recreation
and Historic Sites. Information is available on their web
page. The house was built by
Philip Schuyler (1733-1804), a descendant of Albany's earliest
settlers, on an 80-acre parcel of farmland just south of the city of
Albany as the site for his home. Completed in 1763 and built in the
elegant Georgian style, Schuyler's mansion evoked the praise of many
travelers who described it in their journals. George Washington,
Benjamin Franklin, and Benedict Arnold were among Schuyler's visitors.
Alexander Hamilton, who married Schuyler's daughter at the mansion in
1780, stayed at the house frequently.
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