Join us for another great year of Putman Porch Music at Yankee Hill Lock!
We welcome musicians and listeners to Yankee Hill Lock for this canawler experience!
An Americana Folk and Roots Music style jam session on the porch of the old Putman Canal Store happens each Thursday in June. Come play some fiddle, guitar, banjo, sing, or whatever instrument you may bring, to this lively time along the historic Erie Canal!
*Please note the 6:30pm start time for 2024*
Tag: history
Events
Putman Porch Music
Join us for another great year of Putman Porch Music at Yankee Hill Lock!
We welcome musicians and listeners to Yankee Hill Lock for this canawler experience!
An Americana Folk and Roots Music style jam session on the porch of the old Putman Canal Store happens each Thursday in June. Come play some fiddle, guitar, banjo, sing, or whatever instrument you may bring, to this lively time along the historic Erie Canal!
*Please note the 6:30pm start time for 2024*
Putman Porch Music
Join us for another great year of Putman Porch Music at Yankee Hill Lock!
We welcome musicians and listeners to Yankee Hill Lock for this canawler experience!
An Americana Folk and Roots Music style jam session on the porch of the old Putman Canal Store happens each Thursday in June. Come play some fiddle, guitar, banjo, sing, or whatever instrument you may bring, to this lively time along the historic Erie Canal!
*Please note the 6:30pm start time for 2024*
Erie Canal Songs with Cosby & Tom
Join us as we host the amazing Cosby Gibson and Tom Staudle for this history song program!
Cosby & Tom will perform canal songs and share the history of the Erie Canal with you inside the Enders House at Schoharie Crossing.
The Erie Canal was the most important advancement in the 1800’s for the transportation of goods in New York state. Running from Buffalo to Albany and connected to the Hudson River, it allowed New York City to become the largest trade port in the nation. And, it was born from an idea of a merchant in debtor’s prison, because they couldn’t receive their goods fast enough to pay bills!
For adults and older children, about 40 minutes.
This program is free and open to the public. Donations are graciously accepted to help support the Friends of Schoharie Crossing, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and sharing the history of the Erie Canal at Schoharie Crossing.
Schoharie Crossing Museum Opening Day 2024
We’ll open the Visitor Center & Museum for the 2024 season on Wednesday, May 1st! Come check out the exhibit and explore the history of the Erie Canal!
Our season runs from May 1st to October 31st and the Visitor Center/Museum is open regularly Wednesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm and Sunday 1pm t0 5pm. The Visitor Center/Museum will also be open by reservation or for special events at other times.
The Historic Site grounds are open every day of the year from Sunrise to Sunset.
Christmas at the Fort
Christmas at the Fort – Saturday, December 2, 2023 – 11 am – 5 pm
The Museum is Located at 389 Canal Street, Fort Plain, NY 13339
40% – 50% Off Clearance Book Sale – Many Titles to Choose From – All other books and gift shop items 20% Entire Purchase
German Beer will be served by Eisenadler Brauhaus – There will be plenty Refreshments and Christmas Cheer!
2023 Author Fair (Authors will be selling their books):
***NEW BOOK RELEASE***
Defeating Slavery: Hamilton’s American System Showed the Way by Nancy Bradeen Spannaus
Also by Nancy – Hamilton Versus Wall Street: The Core Principles of the American System of Economics
Wanda Easter Burch – The Home Voices Speak Louder Than the Drums: Dreams and the Imagination in Civil War Letters and Memoirs
Ken Jones – Sam’s Sam the Gallows Bird – Ken also has other local titles too
Kiersten Marcil – Witness to the Revolution
Rosemay Nichols – Building the Erie Canal – Murder in Rome – Stolen – Civil War Series Volume 1
Jeff O’Connor – Skohere and the Birth of New York’s Western Frontier 1609 – 1731 Volume I 1609 – 1686 and Volume II 1687 – 1731 – The Old Stone Fort: Guardian of Schoharie County History Since 1772
Veronica Pastecki – Whipponnock Creek: The Life and Times of Will Traylor
Don Rittner – Watervliet Historic Images – Remembering Albany: Heritage on the Hudson – Albany Through Time – Schenectady: Frontier Village to Colonial City – Troy Through Time – & many others on Local History!
Heidi Sprouse – Whispers of Liberty – Liberty’s Promise – Liberty’s Legacy – Liberty’s Price
Phillip D. Weaver – The 3rd New Jersey in New York: Stories from The Jersey Greys of 1776
Don Williams – Grandfather’s Tool Chest – Saga Of Nicholas Stoner, Or, A Tale Of The Adirondacks: Saga Of Nicholas Stoner – Don Williams’ Inside the Adirondack Blue Line & many other titles on the Adirondacks and Local History
Wayne Lenig – Fort Plain, Fork Plank, Fort Rensselaer: The Revolutionary War Forts of Canajohary
Norman J. Bollen – George Washington and the Mohawk Frontier
Thank you for supporting the Fort Plain Museum & Historical Park, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. All book sale proceeds go to historic preservation, artifact acquisition, exhibit building and educational programming.
NYS History Month Series At Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site
Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site announces that it will conduct the eighth annual Tuesday Talk series to recognize New York State History Month this October. Each week a speaker will present on regional or New York State related history. All presentations are free and open to the public. They will begin at 6:30 PM in the Enders House adjacent to the Schoharie Crossing Visitor Center, 129 Schoharie Street, Fort Hunter. Refreshments will be provided, and donations are always appreciated.
On October 4th, Anne Clothier from the Saratoga Historical Society at Brookside Museum will present, “Medicine, Maladies, and Mortality.” This presentation will include a display of medical instruments as Clothier discusses how illnesses influenced the lives of our ancestors. Her focus will be toward medical technology and at home practices between 1750-1920.
Tuesday, October 11th Cassandra Castle from the Herkimer Historical Society will discuss some of that county’s history. Discover some curious facts about its people and places. Castle will cover how Herkimer County was founded, who it’s named for and some of the mysterious events that have happened in its history. The program is designed to be a wicked good time, showing how Herkimer County is a diamond in the crown of the Mohawk Valley.
October 18th, Brad Utter, a Senior Historian and Curator at the New York State Museum will be discussing the Button Fire Engine Company. For much of the 19th and 20th centuries, New York State was a hotbed of fire engine and apparatus manufacturing. One of the main players in that industry was Lysander Button of Waterford. Starting around 1831, Lysander Button worked his way up the ladder from mechanic turned inventor to owner of the firm that would eventually take his name. Utter will present the results of his latest research on Mr. Button, his company, and the engines they made, which were said to set the “Standard of the Age.”
Rounding out the series, on Tuesday, October 25th is Caitlin Sheldon, who is an independent historian that focuses on clothing of by-gone eras. She will present, “Dress in the Gilded Age.” Learn about the fashions that inspired the HBO show, “The Gilded Age,” and watch a dressing demonstration of the many layers and pieces that make up the lady’s fashionable ensemble. Caitlin Sheldon is a public librarian by day and hobby historical costumer in any bit of spare time she has. Sheldon has been sewing historical costumes since 2014 and takes inspiration from movies and shows as well as from the historical documents she finds in her library’s archives.
New York State History Month:
October is designated as New York State History Month by the New York State Legislature with the addition of Section 57.02 to the state’s Arts and Cultural Affairs Law. “The purpose of this month shall be to celebrate the history of New York State and recognize the contributions of the state and local historians.” New York State History Month represents an opportunity for historians, cultural institutions, and the public to assert the vital importance of preserving and learning about our state’s history.
For information about this program, please call the Visitor Center at (518) 829-7516, email SchoharieCrossing@parks.ny.gov, or visit our Facebook page.
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation oversees more than 250 individual state parks, historic sites, golf courses, boat launches and recreational trails, which are visited by 78 million people annually. For more information on any of these recreation areas, call 518-474-0456 or visit www.nysparks.com, connect on Facebook, or follow-on Twitter.
Not Just for Kids Storytelling Series Returns for 30th Year
The Friends of Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site are excited to announce that the 30th Annual Not Just for Kids Storytelling series will occur at the Erie Canal historic site in 2022. Award winning storytellers from the region will perform tales to intrigue, legends to compel, and stories that illustrate how we are all connected as human beings. The series is open to the public and is meant for all ages. It runs on Sunday evenings at 6pm from July 31st to August 28th outside the Schoharie Crossing Visitor Center, 129 Schoharie Street in Fort Hunter, New York.
Eileen Mack and Claire Nolan will begin the series on July 31st with a set of stories they call “Blessings of Trees & Earth: Stories Honoring the Natural World.” These talented and accomplished tellers are from the Capital-Region with years of experience engaging audiences of all ages.
On August 7th, Lale Davidson will perform “Folktales and Family Tales: Quaking Bogs, Fairy Queens, and Mystery on the High Plains.” Davidson comes from a strong line of storytellers, from Kentucky cousins telling family tales around the kitchen table to her mother conjuring Greek gods on camping trips across Europe. This program combines Irish fairy tales about chasing corpses through quaking bogs with true family tales of mysterious lights on the high plains in South America, taken from her magical realist novel, Blue Woman Burning. She’ll also tell stories from her collection, Strange Appetites, published by Red Penguin Books.
August 14th, the multi-talented Tim Van Egmond will dazzle the audience with, “The Eye of the Beholder,” a program of tales about epiphanies of beauty and insight. Have you ever had an experience in which something suddenly raised your awareness and appreciation, and it’s as if curtains were pulled away or you were seeing with new eyes? Including folktales and a personal tale, these stories have shifts in perspective like this, openings for the mind and the heart that lead to new understanding.
Turtle Clan member of the Onondaga Nation, Perry Ground has been telling stories for more than 25 years as a way of educating people about the culture, beliefs, and history of the Haudenosaunee (sometimes known as Iroquois) Confederacy. Ground will be at Schoharie Crossing on August 21st with “Stories from the People of the Longhouse.” This presentation is filled with traditional Haudenosaunee legends that have been told for hundreds of years. These stories teach about the beliefs, customs, and history of the Haudenosaunee people.
Concluding the series will be The Storycrafters on August 28th. Barry Marshall, and Jeri Burns, PhD have been working together as The Storycrafters since 1991 and have been the recipients of the National Storytelling Network’s “Circle of Excellence” Award. They believe in the time-tested wisdom of traditional stories and share that wisdom with today’s audiences. They strive to honor world cultures by telling the old stories in respectful ways, often integrating the musical instruments, songs or dances indigenous to that region. Then of course, look out for their original modern renditions of the oldest stories … some of their most requested material.
This free series is rain or shine. Please bring a lawn chair or blanket to enjoy the outdoor performances. If raining, we will hold performances inside the Enders House adjacent to the Visitor Center. Donations are always greatly appreciated and gladly accepted.
The grounds for the site are open all year from sunrise to sunset. Visitor Center hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 10am to 4pm and Sunday 1pm to 4pm. Group reservations available for off hours.
For information about these events or what is available at Schoharie Crossing, please call the Visitor Center at (518) 829-7516 or email SchoharieCrossing@parks.ny.gov. Find and like us on Facebook. For more information about New York State Parks, visit the website at www.nysparks.com.
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation oversees more than 250 individual state parks, historic sites, golf courses, boat launches and recreational trails, which are visited by 78 million people annually. For more information on any of these recreation areas, call 518-474-0456 or visit www.nysparks.com, connect on Facebook, or follow on Twitter.
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Cheese Factory System Lecture offered by Schoharie Crossing
Schoharie Crossing will be hosting the first of their Third Thursday Winter Lecture series on January 20th at 7pm via the online platform WebEx. Patrick Reynolds from the Oneida County Historical Center will discuss Jesse Williams and the Cheese Factory System.
Just North of Rome, NY, the modern cheese industry was born in 1851. Jesse Williams was a successful farmer and cheese maker but believed by working together as cooperative dairies, farmers could maximize their profits. This led him to start the first cheese factory in the United States, a move that revolutionized agriculture not only locally, but across the nation.
On the 100th anniversary of Jesse’s cheese factory, John H. Kraft, president of Kraft Foods, proclaimed that “pioneers like Jesse Williams… [fathered] the ideas and tools that have made America great.” This man, Kraft said, “exemplified the spirit which has made the dairy industry the largest agricultural industry in America.”
Jesse Williams died in 1864 at age 67. At that time Oneida County was making over eight million pounds of cheese per year. Williams never patented his cheese-making inventions but gave them to the agricultural world.
Patrick Reynolds is Director of Public Programs at the Oneida County History Center. He is a graduate of the Cooperstown Program in Museum Studies. He has worked in museums throughout the United States including Hanford Mills Museum, Berks County Historical Society, Rome Historical Society, and The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation.
This program is free and open to the public. No registration is required. A link to the WebEx can be found on the Schoharie Crossing Facebook or by contacting the site directly. For more information about these programs, please call the Visitor Center at (518) 829-7516, email SchoharieCrossing@parks.ny.gov, or visit our Facebook page.
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation oversees more than 250 individual state parks, historic sites, golf courses, boat launches and recreational trails, which are visited by 78 million people annually. For more information on any of these recreation areas, call 518-474-0456 or visit www.nysparks.com, connect on Facebook, or follow on Twitter
Winter Presentations from Schoharie Crossing
The Erie Canal historic site, Schoharie Crossing will host several online programs this winter on a variety of history related topics. Presentations will be offered in two series: Lunchbox Lessons and the Third Thursday Lectures. Both series will be offered live online and most will be recorded for later viewing on YouTube.
In January, the Lunchbox Lesson will be on Tuesday the 11th at 12noon featuring site staff discussing the importance and history of broom manufacturing in the Fort Hunter area. On the Third Thursday, Patrick Reynolds from the Oneida County Historical Society will discuss Jesse Williams and the Cheese Factory System at 7pm on the 20th.
During the month of February, the Lunchbox Lesson will discuss food preservation and its impact on westward expansion at 12noon on Tuesday the 8th. Bill Merchant will discuss the D&H Canal for the Third Thursday Lecture at 7pm on the 17th.
For March, the Lunchbox Lesson will discuss Women’s Suffrage on Tuesday the 8th at 12noon. Former NYS Archives staff, Craig Smith will speak on fascinating facts within the historic canal contracts held in the state’s collection on the 17th at 7pm.
On April 21st, Derrick Pratt from the Erie Canal Museum will present on the historic Weighlock building in Syracuse. That program starts at 7pm and wraps up our Third Thursday Lecture series.
These programs are free for the public and available on the Webex meeting platform. No registration is required, and links can be found on NYS Parks website or social media. If you would like a direct link email, please contact the site. For more information about these programs, please call the Visitor Center at (518) 829-7516, email SchoharieCrossing@parks.ny.gov, or visit our Facebook page.