It was a cold February night, 322 years ago, that 200 French, Sault and Algonquin warriors descended on the stockaded village of Schenectady. It’s unlikely that the story of the […]

Shout that out on an elevator today, and the kids won’t understand what you’re talking about. Literally. I’ve done it with my kids, and they thought I was insane. So, […]

I’ve always been vaguely aware of this classic Greek revival building on the lower block of Union Street in Schenectady’s Stockade. For as long as I could remember, it housed […]

As I’ve said before, back in the late ’50s my grandfather owned a small restaurant in Aqueduct. Here’s the receipt from his application to the Town of Niskayuna for a […]

In 1935, Niagara Hudson was only about 6 years old, having consolidated 59 little utilities into an electric and gas behemoth that reached across the state. In this area it […]

According to “The Empire State: Its Industries and Wealth,” published in 1888, the One Price Clothing House was originally established at Rochester, N.Y. by W.H. Spafford, who in 1887 “transferred […]

While we’re looking at Barney’s this week, let’s look across the street. Well, if you look there today, you’ll just see a giant hole where the former Robinson’s furniture buildings […]

Howland Swain Barney was born in Greenfield, Saratoga County, March 23, 1822, to Dr. Zadoc and Eliza Swain Barney. (The Swains were among the original nine families of Nantucket.) His […]

It’s been more than 40 years since Howland S. Barney’s department store closed. Somehow, however, its sidewalk inset still survives. Sometimes our cities are richer for a little benign neglect, […]

Someday soon I’ve got to write about H.S. Barney Co., once Schenectady’s premiere department store. It catered to what was called the carriage trade, the higher end customers. It sold […]