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Upper Nickey’s and Lower Nickey’s
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We were covering some of the ten original historical markers that were initially put up in Glenville through the efforts of its original historian, Percy Van Epps, in 1935. One was for Van Patten’s hotel, also known as “Upper Nickey’s.” The marker read: An Early Hotel Known as “Upper Nickey’s” Built and Kept by…
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That Wasn’t Hoffmans Ferry!
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Just one last mention of Hoffmans Ferry – a story from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Oct. 31, 1894, in which our favorite largely lost community figures at least slightly. The Eagle tells the tale of the history of the Post Office, as it was related by Postmaster Andrew T. Sullivan. Part of the story…
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A Legendary Local Business that Began in Hoffmans
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So we talked about the entirely lost community of Hoffmans, and then then we talked about Hatcher’s greenhouses that used to be there. But there was another business that got its start in Hoffmans, and went on to be one of the Capital District’s legendary enterprises in certain circles. Thanks to Dean Splittgerber, who…
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Hatcher’s Greenhouses at Hoffmans
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Last time, we talked about the completely lost hamlet of Hoffmans, née Hoffmans Ferry, née Vedders Ferry, and wondered at all the life and business it once held, where now there is barely a trace. One of those businesses was a complete surprise to us – we had no idea that a fairly major…
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The Lost World of Hoffmans Ferry
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We posted this marker for Hoffmans on our Instagram account (@signsandmarkers) a little while back. Hoffmans is one of those places that, during our lifetime, always used to be a place, a name from history that probably couldn’t have been identified as anything, not even a hamlet, were it not for this historical marker.…
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Sacandaga Road and the Battle of Beukendaal
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Where else do you get a triple threat, two NYS Education Department historical markers and a monumental plaque, and with it the story of an ambush and a corpse tethered to a crow? The first: SACANDAGA ROAD CUT THROUGH THE PRIMITIVE FOREST BY EARLY SETTLERS, ALONG AN INDIAN TRAIL LEADING TO THE SACANDAGA REGION…
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Wolf Hollow
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Another of the historical markers placed in Glenville in 1935 through the efforts of Percy Van Epps, town and county historian for something like 25 years. This one was for Wolf Hollow, “A rent and displacement of 1,000 feet in earth’s surface rocks. Here in 1669 the Mohawks ambushed their Algonquin invaders.” As we…
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Percy Van Epps and the Historical Markers of Glenville
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Over on our Instagram account for signs and markers (called, with blinding directness, @signsandmarkers), we’ve been featuring a number of the historical markers that we grew up around. While anyone who grew up in Scotia, Glenville and Schenectady might think these historic markers are scattered just everywhere, that turns out not to be true…
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The rural school nurse
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In 1916, Schenectady County schools were dissatisfied with the use of physicians to give students medical inspections: “cards were filled out and filed and nothing further was done; no attempt was made to correct defects discovered and no emphasis placed upon healthful habits of living, diet and sanitation.” So they appointed Miss Mildred B.…
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The limekilns of Glenville
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Over on Flickr we’ve been having a little discussion about Glenville’s Dawson family and their connection to a lime kiln in the western part of the town, a decent distance from their family home on Saratoga Road. I always think of Glenville as lousy with shale, but it turns out there’s some significant limestone…