WATERTOWN — A 19th century H.H. Babcock Co. horse carriage, lovingly restored by a craftsman in Pennsylvania, has been donated to the Jefferson County Historical Society. Read More ⇒

The oldest community of any note in the town of Croghan, the hamlet of Belfort, dates back tothe 1830s. The site for the Settlement chosen because of the availability of waterpower. Here the Beaver River flows through a narrow gorge, which believed, would attract industry and a sizable villa… Read More ⇒

In my job as “overseer of the archives” of the Watertown Daily Times (otherwise known as “librarian”), I’m often asked if I’m from the area. My answer is “kind of.” Read More ⇒

North Country Remembered Read More ⇒

SACKETS HARBOR — A symbol of this village’s firefighting heritage has rung in a new era after being moved to a more visible location in the village. Read More ⇒

OSWEGO — Oswego Welcomes Refugees will present an online panel discussion at 7 p.m. on Sept. 10 via Zoom that provides an overview of Oswego’s rich history and ties to immigration. The presentation, titled “Parallels between Past and Present Immigration Influxes: County of Oswego” will inclu… Read More ⇒

North Country Remembered Read More ⇒

MADRID — The St. Lawrence Power and Equipment Museum welcomed a new piece of history on Saturday to honor nearly 6,000 St. Lawrence County residents who left home to serve during the Civil War. Read More ⇒

ALEXANDRIA BAY — The postcards, historic snapshots of the Thousand Islands area, sat in Frederick H. (Frtitz) Hager’s Wellesley Island basement for two decades — a treasure trove of river history entombed and hidden away in steel boxes. Read More ⇒

BLACK LAKE — Beneath a cloud-covered sky Tuesday afternoon, Bob J. Gordon mowed an expansive field — at the bottom of a lake. Read More ⇒

When I saw that a faculty member of Tuskegee Institute visited Watertown in May 1920 to raise money for the university, I wondered about the connection between a historically Black university in Alabama, and a small city in Northern New York. Read More ⇒

North Country Remembered Read More ⇒

DEXTER — This village’s original fire department was disbanded in 2012, but the embers of its legacy were not extinguished. They have kindled an idea for a project that could preserve that legacy for generations to come. Read More ⇒

DEXTER — This village was on its way to becoming a boom town when its fire department was established more than 130 years ago. Read More ⇒

The north Read More ⇒

In 1922, the Adirondack Mountain Club had completed an epic hiking trail that passed through a pristine primeval forest from the remote hamlet of Beaver River to Wanakena. The trail passed through one of the largest tracts of old growth forest remaining in the Eastern U.S. This trail was cal… Read More ⇒

SACKETS HARBOR — The Battlefield State Historic Site here has added to its History on the Lawn series with poster panels created by the Smithsonian and National Portrait Gallery on the subject of the women’s suffrage movement. Read More ⇒

NORFOLK — The Yaleville Road Bridge spans not only the Raquette River, but also a stretch of history, which saw two world wars, 22 presidents, six new states and two global pandemics. Read More ⇒

I took my children to the Thompson Park Zoo, recently renamed Zoo New York last week. It’s a charming little zoo with a catch: all of its animals are native to New York State. It’s fitting, then, that the zoo’s origin story is equally charming. Read More ⇒

North Country Remembered Read More ⇒

The north Read More ⇒

World War II has always interested me endlessly. When I’d tell that to classmates in my college history program, they’d start discussions of famous battles, warplanes and General Eisenhower. But actual war talk never interested me. No disrespect to the veterans of WWII, but I wanted to know … Read More ⇒

North Country Remembered Read More ⇒

The north Read More ⇒

SACKETS HARBOR — An innovative program at the Battlefield State Historic Site that was created as a way to bring bits of history to the public during the pandemic has been so popular that it will continue indefinitely. Read More ⇒

MASSENA — When Andrew Szarka graduated from high school, joined the U.S. Marine Corps and headed to basic training, a friend he knew as “Stevie Balazy” — real name, George Stephen Balazy — wanted to do the same, but wasn’t old enough. Read More ⇒

CANTON — As the wind whispers and sometimes whips through the village green, farmers market vendors pitch tents and birds call from the oaks, one sound is missing. Read More ⇒

The corner of Fulton and School streets in Carthage was for many years the center of education in the village. Today, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks Lodge 1762 stands on this spot, but in 1884, the time of the Great Carthage Fire, the wooden high school of the day stood on the s… Read More ⇒

Did you know that Albert Einstein spent several summers vacationing in the Adirondack village of Saranac Lake? Since this week marks the 75th anniversary of VJ-Day — that’s “Victory over Japan Day,” the day Japan surrendered and essentially ended World War II — it seemed like a good time to … Read More ⇒

Albert Einstein was vacationing near Saranac Lake in 1945 when the first of two bombs, the type he warned against in 1939, was dropped, changing the world, devastating Japan and leading to that country’s surrender, ending World War II. Read More ⇒

OSWEGO — The H. Lee White Maritime Museum at Oswego is open daily, Monday through Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Read More ⇒

OSWEGO — Two centuries ago this July an extraordinary woman named Malvina Dean entered the world on a farm in Fabius. Despite her humble beginnings, Dean went on to amass a fortune as a pioneer businesswoman, at a time when women rarely left the confines of their homes. Read More ⇒

Leyden is Lewis County’s oldest town, existing well before the county sprang forth in 1805. Today’s tale focuses on one of the first, and most accomplished, of the early Leyden families: the Merriams. Read More ⇒

If my topic were a person, I think I’d describe them as “famously private.” It’s a ubiquitous summer staple, has been featured in design magazines worldwide and can be purchased at Walmart for $20 and Pottery Barn for $400. But its Wikipedia page is five sentences long. Read More ⇒

North Country Remembered Read More ⇒

The north Read More ⇒

From July 4 through July 15, 1911, a severe heat wave hit New England in a natural phenomenon that is still considered one of the worst weather disasters in the country. For 11 days, the temperature hardly dipped below 90 degrees. Read More ⇒

The north Read More ⇒

MASSENA — The latest exhibit at the Celine G. Philibert Cultural Centre and Museum is a trip back in time to some of Massena’s historical lodging. Read More ⇒

Hardly anyone likes to see beautiful, old buildings demolished to make way for modern replacements. Negative reaction poured in quickly recently when I shared a photo of the 1969 demolition of the White House Inn, the Washington Street tourist home built in the 1800s, razed to make way for t… Read More ⇒

LOWVILLE — After being in business for three generations, a local car dealership is putting another third generation family businessman in the driver’s seat. Read More ⇒