Jefferson County

Walking Guide Features Sackets Harbor History

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With sponsorship from Watertown Savings Bank, the Sackets Harbor Historical Society has published an updated edition of its Harbor Walk: A Guide to the History & Architecture of Sackets Harbor, NY. The book is available from the Sackets Harbor Historical Society and at several venues in the village that was a shipbuilding center during the War of 1812.

The 44-page illustrated guide celebrates the historic architecture as seen at homes, businesses and buildings in the waterfront village, at Madison Barracks, and on a 17-point Town of Hounsfield Driving Tour in western Jefferson County, NY.


Sackets Harbor Historical Society President Jan Maas says, “This guidebook interprets more than 200 years of our cultural, economic and military history by showcasing the architectural quality of our built environment and serves the Historical Society mission to educate the public about the unique heritage of our community.”

The book’s front cover features the Sackets Harbor Bank Building at the corner of West Main and Broad Streets. Watertown Savings Bank operates a branch in the building that dates to c.1836 and includes the Sackets Harbor Historical Society. The Sackets Harbor Bank housed here in 1836 was the county’s second bank.

The book’s back cover highlights the Union Hotel, at West Main and Ray Streets, now owned by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and housing the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Discovery Center. Frederick White, reputedly the wealthiest man in Jefferson County, built the hotel in 1817-18 to take advantage of the post-War of 1812 hotel trade. The guidebook notes that the building’s “well-preserved interiors are counted among the finest of any Federal-era public buildings in New York State.”

The guide includes a short history of Sackets Harbor, a guide to 13 architectural styles, a glossary of architectural terms, and a bibliography.

The original text was prepared by Michael D. Sullivan and updated by Sackets Harbor Historical Society President Jan Maas. Local historians Bob and Jeannie Brennan, Sackets Harbor State Historic Battlefield Manager Connie Barone, the staff at the Pickering-Beach Historical Museum, Flower Memorial Library and Olin Library at Cornell University contributed to the Harbor Walk guide’s development. Sackets Harbor artist Lawrence Barone provided the new cover design and updated several maps.

The Northern New York Community Foundation and the Heritage Area Program of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation provided funding for the first edition of the guide. Sackets Harbor is a New York State Heritage Area Community.

Sales benefit the Historical Society’s interpretive projects. Call 315-646-1708 for more information.

War of 1812 Bicentennial Plans Announced

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From Sackets Harbor, NY, site of two big War of 1812 battles that are cause still today for gatherings of troops – of living history reenactors for festivals and educational events in the Lake Ontario shoreline village, Seaway Trail, Inc. has announced a full complement of War of 1812 Bicentennial plans to promote travel along the 518-mile National Scenic Byway that runs alongside New York’s and Pennsylvania’s freshwater coast.


“This project has federal funding to accomplish many planned tasks, so we are seeking both financial and historical knowledge partners in U.S. and Canada. Based on our success with the French & Indian War Bicentennial commemoration, we expect the War of 1812 plans to result in immediate and long-term tourism and economic benefit,” said Seaway Trail, Inc. President and CEO Teresa Mitchell.

The Great Lakes Seaway Trail 2011-2014 War of 1812 Bicentennial Plan includes provisions for:

· Adding 20 40 inch x 30 inch War of 1812 themed panels to the Great Lakes Seaway Trail “outdoor storyteller” signage system

· A short-term tourism impact brochure guide to War of 1812 sites along the byway in NY and Pennsylvania and in Plattsburgh, NY

· A new Seaway Trail War of 1812 guidebook to replace the 1987 edition that was among the Seaway Trail travel guides that received “Best of the Byways” honors from the American Recreation Coalition

· Incorporation of War of 1812 historic site into the Great Lakes Seaway Trail GeoTrail high tech treasure-hunting travel adventure

· A War of 1812 reproduction theme quilt show and challenge competition at the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Discovery Center in Sackets Harbor, NY, in March 2012

· War of 1812 public programming at the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Discovery Center in Sackets Harbor, NY

· A marketing campaign in historic and heritage travel publications

· War of 1812 themed travel itineraries for families and groups

· A series of War of 1812 feature stories in the annual Great Lakes Seaway Trail Travel Guide over next four years

· Great Lakes Seaway Trail War of 1812 travel focus at the US Travel Association annual international travel trade show.

Seaway Trail, Inc.’s current War of 1812 projects funding partners include the New York State Department of Transportation, Empire State Development, the Erie County (PA) Department of Planning (Seaway Trail Pennsylvania), the Plattsburgh Convention & Visitors Bureau, Key Bank, and the Federal Highway Administration National Scenic Byways Program.

Seaway Trail, Inc. plans to hold two spring 2011 meetings to provide 1812 Bicentennial promoters throughout the War’s northern theatre, including Canada, to share information and discuss opportunities for collaboration and the creation of War of 1812 “Signature Events” similar to those recognizing the 250th French and Indian War anniversary commemoration.

More information on the Great Lakes Seaway Trail — also a National Recreation Trail — is online.

Quilters to be Featured at Seaway Trail Quilt Show

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Quilters who live in the Great Lakes Seaway Trail region of New York and Pennsylvania and have published their own patterns, books or designs, or been showcased in quilting publications, will be featured at the March 19-20, 2011 Great Lakes Seaway Trail Quilt Show held at the Seaway Trail Discovery Center in Sackets Harbor, NY.

The Seaway Trail Foundation has announced that the works of following featured quilters will be on exhibit at the 2011 Great Lakes Seaway Trail Quilt Show:

Betty Alderman of Betty Alderman Designs, Palmyra, NY, is known for her applique quilts influenced by 19th century folk art designs. Betty is author of Precious Sunbonnet Quilts.

Judy Allen of Watertown, NY, is the author of The Art of Feather Quilting with more than 100 pattern choices using graceful curved crosshatching.

Linda Glantz, of Holley, NY, is co-owner of Peace Quilts, Inc., Rochester, NY, and co-founder of the International Sister Guild Partnership Program. Her latest book is Flowercolor Inspirations.

Holly Knott of Finger Lakes, NY, is a contemporary art quilter creating designs based on her mother Diane Knott’s watercolor paintings. The pair has co-authored Quilted Garden Delights. Holly publishes quilt and accessory patterns.

Mary Knapp of Watertown, NY, is the designer of the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Lighthouse patterns and has had her award-winning quilts featured in Quilters Newsletter Magazine.

Nancy Murty of Bee Creative Studio in Palmyra, NY, is a quilter-artist-author and fabric designer blending the contemporary with the traditional. Her quilt of her grandfather is on the cover of 500 Art Quilts.

Three of the featured quilters will also speak at the March 19-20, 2011 Great Lakes Seaway Trail Quilt Show that includes demonstrators, and vendors in the nine rooms of the three-story historic former Union Hotel (1817) that now houses the Seaway Trail Discovery Center. The building is accessible and has an elevator.

Show admission is $5 for the two days and includes speakers’ presentations on both days- those with active or retired military ID receive $1 off admission.

The show is co-sponsored by Orleans County Tourism and the Country Barn Quilt Trail, a 22-mile loop tour off the Seaway Trail to more than 40 barns and buildings adorned with painted quilt block patterns. Learn more about the Great Lakes Seaway Trail and the Country Barn Quilt Trail online at http://www.seawaytrail.com/quilting.

Fort La Presentation to Develop Schools Project

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A grant of $10,000 has been awarded to the Fort La Presentation Association by the telecom giant AT&T to develop and implement a five-year educational outreach project to elementary schools in the St. Lawrence Valley region.

The curriculum-based Hands-On-History project will provide reproduction 18th- and 19th- century heritage items, interpretive materials and lesson plans which will intrigue students and help teachers meet state and national standards for history and social studies.

Hands-On-History will run as the name suggests. Students will be able to handle, hold or try on the clothes, tools and other gear which will help them explore the history of Fort de la Presentation under the flags of France, Great Britain and the United States from 1749 to 1813.

“We are very grateful to AT&T for the generous funding,” said Barbara O’Keefe, President of the Fort La Presentation Association. “The donation significantly maximizes the Fort Association’s modest financial and in-kind resources to allow us to reach a major goal of our educational strategy.”

“Our thanks also go to our long-time supporter, former State Senator Darrel Aubertine,” O’Keefe continued, “who drew the attention of AT&T to our plans to enrich our children’s learning.”

To ensure the project continues beyond the first year, the Fort Association’s contribution is $4,700. Fort Association board is committing $300 annually in year’s two to five. The $1,200 investment is to maintain printed materials and replace lost or damaged items.

In-kind services worth $3,500 &#8211 volunteered by museum, history and education professionals affiliated with the Fort Association – will help develop evaluation criteria, meet curricular goals and promote the new education opportunity to schools across the region.

“By autumn 2011, Hands-on-History should be available to teachers,” said O’Keefe. “We look forward to students experiencing their local history and discovering a first-hand connection to early days in the St. Lawrence Valley region.”

Sackets Harbor French and Indian War Lecture

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On Friday, June 4, historian, colonial-style blacksmith, and authentic artifact supplier Jack Vargo will present the exciting tale of “The Last Battle of the French and Indian War.” The final struggle to control the North American continent in 1760 was waged at Fort Levis on Chimney Island in the St. Lawrence River. The program begins at 6:30pm at the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Discovery Center at the corner of Ray and West Main Streets in Sackets Harbor, NY.

Vargo is co-owner and head artisan for the Beaver River Trading Company, a Croghan, NY, business that provides historically accurate museum-quality 17th and 18th century colonial artifact reproductions to historic sites and living history reenactors.

Vargo says, “My background in mechanical engineering, an interest in the early technologies of Native American and Colonial populations and knowledge gathered through archaeological studies and publication development support our efforts to preserve and interpret history, much of which occurred throughout the Great Lakes Seaway Trail shoreline region.”

In 2009, Seaway Trail, Inc. published “Waterways of War: The Struggle for Empire 1754-1763, A Traveler’s Guide to the French & Indian War Forts and Battlefields along America’s Byways in New York and Pennsylvania.”

The New York State Signature Event commemorating the 250th Anniversary of the French and Indian War is set for July 16-18 at Fort la Presentation as part of the Ogdensburg, NY, Founder’s Day celebration.

There is a $5 fee for the June 4 program at the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Discovery Center to benefit the Seaway Trail Foundation. For more information, call 315-646-1000.

War of 1812 North American Grand Tactical Gathering

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The Sackets Harbor Battlefield Alliance, Inc. and the Village of Sackets Harbor, New York are proud to host the War of 1812 North American Grand Tactical, July 31-August 1, 2010. The Grand Tactical is the annual gathering of all 1812 American and Crown Forces recreated units, showcasing a wide range of living history traditions including 1812 camp life, clothing, cooking, dance, etiquette, music, period games, military dress and tactics, and weaponry.

One of the largest living history weekends for re-enactors, this is the dress rehearsal for the 2013 Bicentennial living history event scheduled for Sackets Harbor. Grand Tacticals annually alternate between the United States and Canada, attracting large numbers of participants and spectators. This is the first War of 1812 Grand Tactical for New York State’s north country. The Sackets Harbor site was selected for its battlegrounds authenticity and ranking by the National Park Service as one of the top ten War of 1812 sites in the nation.

Experience life during the War of 1812 as living history re-enactors and sutlers (period merchants) gather at the Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site. A full schedule of demonstrations fills Saturday from 9am to 8pm and again on Sunday from 9am to 3pm. There is a nominal admission fee.

This gigantic Grand Tactical kick-off to the upcoming War of 1812 Bicentennial will give everyone a taste of what’s to come during the three-year cross-border observance starting in 2012.

For more information, contact the Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site (NY) at 315-646-3634 or online at www.sacketsharborbattlefield.org

Fort Ontario: Cannibalism, Battles & Sieges, and Rum

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Cannibalism? Daring battles and sieges? Rum becoming river water? All a part of Fort Ontario history? Yes, says author Rev. George A. Reed, who will share his enthusiasm for the history of Fort Ontario at the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Discovery Center in Sackets Harbor, NY, this Thursday, August 6, at 6pm. Reed is the author of Fort Ontario: 250 Years of History. His program is part of the 2009 Great Lakes Seaway Trail Experience Series.

“My research includes an overview of all the eras at Fort Ontario from the French and Indian War through World War II. There are tales of cannibalism that always make 4th graders eyes get big. Descriptions of daring battles and sieges at the fort, and stories of how rum turned into river water,” Reed says. According to the author cannibalism is indeed part of the Fort’s history, but he has debunked a bit of other folklore associated with the historic, star-shaped fort that overlooks Oswego Harbor and Lake Ontario.

A lifelong historian, Reed worked with the National Park Service at the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials in Washington, DC. He managed the North Creek Depot historic site near Gore Mountain where Vice-President Teddy Roosevelt learned that U.S. President McKinley had been shot, and served as executive director of the Pratt House Museum in Fulton, NY.

While volunteering with the Fort Ontario Guard at the State Historic Site in Oswego, NY, Reed realized that no one had ever written a comprehensive text on the history of the fort. Reed will sign copies of his new book Fort Ontario: 250 Years of History as part of the August 6 program at the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Discovery Center. Program admission benefits the nonprofit Great Lakes Seaway Trail Foundation. Discount applies to active and retired members of the military.

Saint Lawrence Seaway Celebrates 50 years

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July 9-12, 2009 marked the 50th anniversary of the engineering feat that created the Saint Lawrence Seaway. The best way to see the seaway is to take the 518-mile Great Lakes Seaway Trail which parallels the St. Lawrence River, Lake Ontario, Niagara River and Lake Erie in New York and Pennsylvania. A journey along the Great Lakes Seaway Trail offers an authentic American experience of the fresh waters and shoreline landscapes that has shaped much of America’s history.

Fifty years ago Queen Elizabeth II and Dwight D. Eisenhower opened the manmade waterway route into the North American interior. Since then, rhe Saint Lawrence Seaway has been called “the Gateway to North America” and the 120-mile east-to-west start of the Great Lakes Seaway Trail is its road-based parallel. The byway then continues another 398 miles to the Pennsylvania-Ohio border along Lake Erie.

The Dwight D. Eisenhower Locks Visitor Center, from which you can watch the world’s oceangoing vessels rise and lower the equivalent of a six-story building in the locks at Massena, NY, is one of many iconic destinations on the Great Lakes Seaway Trail. Other popular destinations include the 1000 Islands, small harbors along the Lake Ontario and Lake Erie shorelines, Niagara Falls, and the Seaway Trail Pennsylvania Erie Bayfront. Learn more online at www.seawaytrail.com.

Experience War of 1812 Sinking of Hamilton & Scourge

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Thursday, July 16, 2009, at 6 pm, War of 1812 sailor Ned Myers will be telling his lively tale of the sinking of the Hamilton & the Scourge at the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Discovery Center in Sackets Harbor, N.Y. To be completely accurate, an authentically costumed James H. Fischer will relate the story of the famous shipwrecks’ survivor in this presentation for the 2009 Great Lakes Seaway Trail Experience Series. Fischer’s presentation will also include a series of Jacques Cousteau slides of lake bottom vessels.


Seaman Myers lived to tell his story to noted American author James Fenimore Cooper. Fischer, a marine consultant who has studied the underwater history of Lake Ontario for 22 years, draws on Myers’ narrative as told to Cooper for A Life Before the Mast. Fischer shares fascinating details of the moments before a squall surprised captain and crew.

The wrecks of the two merchant ships &#8211 Hamilton, built as Diana in Oswego, NY, and the Scourge, originally Lord Nelson, were discovered in 1973 and are considered to have national historic significance to both the U.S. and Canada.

The $5 program fee benefits educational programming at the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Discovery Center, Ray and West Main Streets, Sackets Harbor, NY. For more information, visit www.seawaytrail.com or call 315-646-1000.

Photo: James H. Fischer in 19th century sailor’s dress is seen below the bust of U.S. merchant ship Diana purchased in Oswego and converted in Sacketts Harbour in 1812 as the US naval warship Hamilton.

2009 Great Lakes Seaway Trail Experience Series

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A presentation by acclaimed French & Indian War reenactor Major George A. Bray III will present “Struggle for an Empire, The French and Indian War along the Great Lakes Seaway Trail, 1755-1760” at 6 pm at the Sackets Harbor Battlefield this Thursday, May 21, 2009. Bray will relate tales of the 250-year-old conflict to open the 2009 Great Lakes Seaway Trail Experience Series. Bray will appear in period costume, portraying an officer of Rogers’ Rangers, an elite rapid response light infantry unit known for its bold military tactics. Rogers’ Rangers became the chief scouting unit of the British Crown forces during the war fought from 1754 to 1760.

In addition to being a respected French & Indian War historian, Bray is a Fellow of the Company of Military Historians, and an author writing for such publications as Early America Review. He has written about various aspects of the war from the use of poisoned bullets by the French to scalping. Bray’s historic collection includes original newspapers, documents, books, prints and weaponry.

As event commander at historic Fort Niagara in Youngstown, NY, Bray will welcome hundreds of reenactors for the July 3-5 New York State Signature Event for the 250th French & Indian War Anniversary Commemoration. Bray says, “My mission is to portray 18th century military life for the education of visitors to historic sites and to perpetuate the significant history of the French and Indian War and Rogers’ Rangers.”

Bray serves with Seaway Trail Foundation President Teresa Mitchell on the New York State French and Indian War 250th Anniversary Commemorative Commission. The $5 admission for May 21st presentation will benefit the nonprofit Seaway Trail Foundation that promotes learning experience tourism along the Great Lakes Seaway Trail, one of America’s Byways noted for authentic American experiences. Learn more at www.seawaytrail.com or call 315-646-1000.