tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1156580901362681268Thu, 19 Dec 2024 03:32:35 +0000New NetherlandTroyEventsHudson RiverRenssealer County Historical SocietyFort OrangeNative AmericansVanRensselaersArchitectureBrunswickEconomicsGreenbushMohicanMuseumsPoestenkillThomas ChambersAgricultureAlbanyArcheologyArt HistoryBeverwijckBooksChurchesCity of RenssealerHenry HudsonHoosic RiverHoosick StreetKing Williams WarLen TantilloMapsMount IdaNew FrancePerforming ArtsPiscawan KillPoesten Kill High FallsQueen Anne's WarSchaghticokeSchenectadyTourismVanVelsonVanderheydensWatervlietWynants KillHistory and Culture of a powerful stream that scours its way downhill from 1,600 feet in the Petersburg Mountains, through the farms of the towns of Poestenkill and Brunswick, over Mount Ida Falls and onto the sea level flats of the Hudson River at Troy, New York.http://poestenkill.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Editorial Staff)Blogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1156580901362681268.post-7758225237688591419Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:05:00 +00002009-10-18T14:05:57.104-04:00EventsRenssealer County Historical SocietyJohn Warren (yours truly) has written the first history of the Poestenkill ­which flows through the center of Rensselaer County and enters the Hudson River at Troy, will offer a book talk and signing this Thursday (October 22nd, 6:30 to­ 8 pm) at the Rensselaer County Historical Society in Troy (57 Second Street, Troy). The event is free and open to the public. Copies of The Poesten Kill will be http://poestenkill.blogspot.com/2009/10/rensselear-county-historical-society.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Editorial Staff)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1156580901362681268.post-3658415549231673442Mon, 28 Sep 2009 10:00:00 +00002011-11-03T14:55:15.425-04:00City of RenssealerFort OrangeGreenbushHudson RiverWatervlietBetween the more formidable island of Papscanee (previously spelled Papsickene, now a peninsula nature preserve) and where the Hoosac River meets the Hudson, more than a dozen streams flow into the Hudson. Only at the Poesten Kill was there enough farmland, room to grow, and sufficient water-power for the earliest industries.An early outlying farm built across the Hudson River from Fort Orange http://poestenkill.blogspot.com/2009/09/other-early-settlements-along-upper.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Editorial Staff)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1156580901362681268.post-2878890469612482563Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:00:00 +00002009-09-14T06:00:07.086-04:00Hoosic RiverKing Williams WarNative AmericansNew FranceQueen Anne's WarSchaghticokeSchenectadyIn the 1680s and 1690s the latest in a long string of European wars broke out. The War of the Grand Alliance, also known as King Williams War (1688-1697), pitted France against England, the Netherlands, and Austria and quickly and naturally spilled over to a bitter conflict of raids and counter-raids which mostly took place between New France and frontier settlements of eastern New York and http://poestenkill.blogspot.com/2009/09/early-warfare-king-william-and-queen.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Editorial Staff)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1156580901362681268.post-4061232215330798292Mon, 07 Sep 2009 10:00:00 +00002009-09-07T06:00:01.171-04:00BeverwijckFort OrangeNative AmericansNoted local historical archeologist David R. Starbuck has said that the interconnected routes from the Richelieu River at the north end of Lake Champlain to Albany has the highest density of military sites in North America in the 1700s. The large military encampments that attended the big campaigns of that era were among the largest cities in America, albeit for short intervals. Considering the http://poestenkill.blogspot.com/2009/09/settler-fears-of-indian-conflict-on.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Editorial Staff)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1156580901362681268.post-3173887218135252797Mon, 31 Aug 2009 10:00:00 +00002009-08-31T17:50:15.928-04:00Hoosick StreetNew NetherlandPiscawan KillVanderheydensVanVelsonFarmer-trader-craftsmen dominated the people who settled along the Poesten Kill, and later, the poorer soils and cooler climate on the plateau above. After 1640 the company monopoly on the fur trade was reduced and settlers were allowed to participate provided they gave about half their profits to the Patroon. The settlement and trade increased so by 1641 the patroon thought it necessary to http://poestenkill.blogspot.com/2009/08/english-takeover-and-new-settlers.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Editorial Staff)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1156580901362681268.post-8835915417933748436Mon, 10 Aug 2009 10:00:00 +00002009-08-10T06:00:00.342-04:00ArcheologyArchitectureNew NetherlandThomas ChambersVanRensselaersWhat the earliest farms on the Poesten Kill looked like is only conjecture at this point as there has been virtually no archeology aimed at the Dutch period along the kill. Two similar farms in the East Manor have been found and excavated however, but neither may reflect the kind of buildings that the English carpenter Thomas Chambers built on the Poesten Kill.The Van Buren Site was discovered inhttp://poestenkill.blogspot.com/2009/08/early-dutch-farms-on-poesten-kill.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Editorial Staff)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1156580901362681268.post-7635786331913739996Tue, 04 Aug 2009 10:00:00 +00002009-08-04T06:00:01.957-04:00BooksBrunswickPoestenkillTroyThe first detailed history of the Poesten Kill from the Petersburg Mountains to the Hudson River is now available at Amazon.,com. I hope you'll enjoy the book and check in here to comment.http://poestenkill.blogspot.com/2009/08/poesten-kill-now-available-for-purchase.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Editorial Staff)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1156580901362681268.post-6730472741728545983Mon, 03 Aug 2009 10:00:00 +00002009-08-03T06:00:01.877-04:00MohicanNew NetherlandThomas ChambersWynants KillThe earliest settler on the Poesten Kill was Thomas Chambers. The Chambers farm was positioned for commercial success in part because it was ideally situated to serve as an intercept point for the furs of Mohican traders as they made their way from the eastern and northern woodlands toward the river and along the Hudson to Albany. Also, with no streams capable of supplying enough water for http://poestenkill.blogspot.com/2009/08/thomas-chambers-first-to-settle-poesten.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Editorial Staff)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1156580901362681268.post-879213974563853201Mon, 27 Jul 2009 10:00:00 +00002009-07-27T06:00:10.014-04:00AgricultureHudson RiverMapsMohicanNative AmericansNew NetherlandVanRensselaersIn the 1620s, Albany was known as Gastanek; Green Island was Nehanenesick; Van Schaick Island, Quahemesicos; Cohoes was called Nachawinasick. The Minuit map, produced about 1630, showed five Mohican villages near Fort Orange. One substantial community was located at the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson and was known as Monemin’s Castle, after the Mohican chief killed in battle with the Mohawk http://poestenkill.blogspot.com/2009/07/in-1620s-poesten-kill-was-already.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Editorial Staff)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1156580901362681268.post-4256198474908459911Mon, 20 Jul 2009 10:00:00 +00002009-07-20T06:00:01.940-04:00Mount IdaPoesten Kill High FallsTourismSterling Goodenow noted the presence of “Mount Ida Falls” in his 1822 Topographical and Statistical Manual of the State of New-York. Horatio Gates Spafford’s 1824 Pocket Guide for Tourist and Traveler however, acknowledged Mount Olympus on the north side of Troy but of the Poesten Kill only noted that it was home to “Mills & c.” Mount Olympus became a regional attraction that was exploited http://poestenkill.blogspot.com/2009/07/mount-idas-early-rival-mount-olympus.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Editorial Staff)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1156580901362681268.post-8609890585487152590Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:00:00 +00002009-07-13T06:00:03.190-04:00AlbanyFort OrangeGreenbushNew NetherlandVanRensselaersCulturally, the Poesten Kill might seem to be just one of the many westward-flowing streams that drain Rensselaer County, a county dominated by waterways that divide rolling hills. On close examination however, the Poesten Kill holds a special place.Consider the earlier outlying farm built across from Fort Orange by 1632 on the south side of Mill Creek at de Laetsburgh, later known as t’greynen http://poestenkill.blogspot.com/2009/07/de-laetsburgh-later-known-as-tgreynen.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Editorial Staff)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1156580901362681268.post-5601335653796545693Sat, 11 Jul 2009 15:04:00 +00002009-07-11T11:18:36.336-04:00EconomicsMuseumsRenssealer County Historical SocietyTroyThe Albany Times Union is reporting today that the beleaguered Rensselaer County Historical Society (RCHS) is losing the interim executive director, Rachel Tooker, less then six months after she took the post. Members of the organization, including Renssealer County Historian Kathy Sheehan, (who also serves as the society's Registrar) touted her as the leadership necessary to steer the non-profithttp://poestenkill.blogspot.com/2009/07/rensselaer-co-historical-society.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Editorial Staff)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1156580901362681268.post-5807354157049588214Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:00:00 +00002009-07-06T12:11:16.453-04:00Art HistoryEventsHenry HudsonHudson RiverLen TantilloThe Rensselaer County Historical Society (RCHS) will host the Times Union's 2009 Best Local Artist and Historian Len Tantillo for a dinner cruise on board the Captain JP II, leaving from Troy and sailing south to the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse. The event will take place on Sunday, July 19th, 2009 from 3 to 9PM; the cost is $85.00 per person for RCHS Members, $95.00 per person for http://poestenkill.blogspot.com/2009/07/hudson-river-dinner-cruise-with-len.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Editorial Staff)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1156580901362681268.post-946440502613252427Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:44:00 +00002009-08-03T13:31:10.963-04:00BrunswickHudson RiverPoestenkillTroyThe first detailed history of the Poesten Kill from the Petersburg Mountains to the Hudson River is due out in July. At the head of Hudson River navigation the mouth of the Poesten Kill was located at the eastern end of the Erie Canal, the southern end of the Champlain canal, and an important center of the very early Rensselaer & Saratoga and later Troy & Greenbush and New York Central http://poestenkill.blogspot.com/2009/06/poestenkill-will-arrive-in-stores-this.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Editorial Staff)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1156580901362681268.post-8095830039266716925Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:00:00 +00002009-06-29T16:39:53.570-04:00EventsMuseumsPerforming ArtsRenssealer County Historical SocietySince the news broke in early March that the Rensselaer County Historical Society (RCHS) was in serious financial trouble, there has been an outpouring of support from the community. RCHS board and staff have been working hard to make the most of many offers and come up with a plan to "Keep the Lights On and the History Alive."For the first public event of this campaign, ticket proceeds from the http://poestenkill.blogspot.com/2009/04/help-out-rensselaer-county-historical.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Editorial Staff)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1156580901362681268.post-2793910920650426691Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:01:00 +00002009-06-29T16:40:40.611-04:00EconomicsRenssealer County Historical SocietyTroyThe Rensselaer County Historical Society has announced that they may be forced to close due to economic hardship. I will reprint here the message they sent:We Need Your Help!Keep the lights on and history alive!To our members and friends,As you may have read in [yesterday's] Times Union, RCHS is currently experiencing severe financial difficulty. The organization been running annual deficits for http://poestenkill.blogspot.com/2009/03/rensselaer-county-historical-society.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Editorial Staff)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1156580901362681268.post-881539155103375548Fri, 13 Feb 2009 15:58:00 +00002009-06-29T16:43:46.615-04:00ArchitectureChurchesEventsTroyHere is an announcement from the Rensselaer County Historical Society about an upcoming event looking at the threatened churches of Troy:Many of our downtown churches are threatened by declining attendance and the demands of maintaining historic structures.In Troy, the Roman Catholic Church plans to close six of the fourteen churches in Troy; two of the five Episcopal Churches are for sale, and http://poestenkill.blogspot.com/2009/02/threatened-churches-of-troy.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Editorial Staff)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1156580901362681268.post-6210250183720213267Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:48:00 +00002009-06-29T16:45:02.337-04:00On the Hudson River along upstate New York’s eastern border within the natural boundaries of river and mountains lies the rough rectangle of Rensselaer County. It is literally cut in half by the Poesten Kill, a powerful stream that scours its way downhill from 1,600 feet in the Petersburg Mountains to the sea level flats of the Hudson River. The Poesten Kill splits the county across the middle http://poestenkill.blogspot.com/2009/01/new-book-about-poesten-kill.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Editorial Staff)0