-
Content with Modern Schenectady
•
The Pageant of Schenectady, presented in 1912 in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the town, was really quite something. In it, founder Arent Van Curler is schooled in the ways of progress by Mr. Modern: Arent Van Curler. Who are these? [The Spirits of Light, radiant, mystical figures appear.] Mr.…
-
The Spirit of Schenectady
•
In 1912, Miss Elsa Case appeared as The Spirit of Schenectady in a dramatic pageant celebrating the 250th anniversary of the founding of the Electric City. The pageant, directed by Constance D’Arcy Mackay with dances by Gertrude Colby, was performed on the grounds of Union College. It featured various imagined historical vignettes from Schenectady…
-
The Markers Speak: Simon Schermerhoorn
•
Ever since I was young, this has been one of my favorite historical markers. It’s in Schenectady’s Stockade, commemorating the ride of Symon Schermerhoorn (or Simon Schermerhorn, or any other set of spellings you please). As the Schenectady Massacre was underway, Schermerhoorn, with a musket shot in his thigh, rode his horse to Albany…
-
The Markers Speak: Ska-Nek-Ta-De
•
In the land of the bad kerning (roughly the former location of the Ingersoll Home in Niskayuna) stands this sign for the Albany Path, the ancient and modern way to get to Ska-Nek-Ta-De, one of about a million spellings for Schenectady. With the development of even more big box stores on what was once…
-
The Markers Speak: Aqueduct
•
When the Erie Canal was originally constructed, it didn’t use any of the existing rivers – natural waterways didn’t work well with the need for predictable water levels and mule paths for hauling barges. But the layout of the canal required crossing rivers, and so there were aqueducts. One of them was at a…
-
Dr. Edith Boldebuck
•
One of the newer historical markers in the area, and one you’re unlikely to see unless you work at the GE R&D center in Niskayuna or use the bike path that runs just outside of it, is this marker in honor of Edith M. Boldebuck: “A leading GE patent holder, played a key role…
-
The markers speak week!
•
Having grown up in Schenectady and Scotia, I’ve always had an incredible fondness for the New York State historical markers that dot our landscape. In just a few words, they remind us that something came before us, and that the history of this area is significant. One of my favorite books when I was…
-
Merry Christmas!
•
What would Hoxsie like for Christmas? Perhaps the first commercial Christmas card in the U.S. Printed right here in Albany, of course. Learn about it from All Over Albany. Then read about how the legendary poem “A Visit From St. Nicholas” was first published right here in Troy. Then think about what it would…
-
Schenectady, 1906
•
Again, unfortunately, the scan of Robson & Adee’s 1906 map of Schenectady and environs loses some of the image in the fold, but still here is a nice view of the city that lit and hauled the world. The streets are largely unchanged. The General Electric Works, while greatly reduced, still sits on the…
-
George Washington Slept Here
•
In fact, he did. This historic marker from Schenectady’s Stockade tells you just where, too: the northeast bedroom, on the second floor. The “History of the County of Schenectady, N.Y.” tells us that: The ‘Father of Our Country’ visited Schenectady at three different times. The first occasion was soon after the revolutionary war, in…