Transportation

Symposium: Early Transportation in The Mohawk Valley

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The 2009 Western Frontier Symposium, &#8220Moving Frontiers: Early Transportation in the Mohawk Valley,&#8221 will be held this weekend, October 17 &#8211 18, 2009, at Fulton Montgomery Community College in Johnstown. This year’s symposium will explore the ways that transportation changed the culture, economy and social life in the Mohawk Valley from 1700 to 1890. As turnpikes, canals and railroads made it easier to move people and goods, New York?s colonial frontier became the central corridor into America’s midlands.

The events keynote speaker will be Daniel Larkin, noted author of books on railroad and canal engineering, and editor of Erie Canal: New York’s Gift to The Nation. He will talk about the central role of Mohawk Valley transportation and technologies in shaping the New York State we know today.

Other symposium scholars will present fascinating insights into various aspects of the region’s transportation history &#8211 from native American trails and early canals, through the glory days of the Erie Canal and into the railroad age and the first bicycle craze.

Participants can learn about early roads, the businesses that served merchants and travelers, and the impact of these movements on the Palatine and Dutch settlements of the Mohawk Valley and then spend a day at historic sites throughout the region, viewing special exhibits related to transportation history and discussing specific topics with additional speakers in the field.

All presentations are free and open to the public, thanks to the generosity of the New York Council for the Humanities a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities

Tickets for Special Events & Packages are available for a fee. (Pre-registration required.)

The event is sponsored by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Fulton-Montgomery Community College, NYS Archives Partnership Trust, Mohawk Valley Heritage Corridor Commission, Arkell Museum at Canajoharie, Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor & related Mohawk Valley historic sites

For additional details visit the website: www.oldfortjohnson.org/symposium.html

Call For Proposals For Maritime Environments Conference

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Continued concerns over depleted fish stocks, piracy, changing climate, global shipping policies, and the safety of merchant mariners and port communities have all recently converged to remind scholars, policy makers, and citizens alike that we ignore our relationships to the marine world at our peril. More than just recent phenomena, however, each of these ties between human society and the marine environment has deep historical roots. The event will be held May 12-16, 2010 at the University of Connecticut, Avery Point and Mystic Seaport.

Under the theme &#8220Maritime Environments,&#8221 the 2010 annual meeting of the North American Society for Oceanic History (NASOH), the Council of American Maritime Museums (CAMM), the National Maritime History Society (NMHS), and The Steamship Historical Society of America (SSHSA) seeks papers exploring the scholarly contexts of these contemporary crises in the world’s oceans.

All interested scholars, especially historians, marine environmental historians, museum professionals, archaeologists, historical ecologists, and graduate students are invited to submit proposals for papers examining the &#8220maritime&#8221 environment.

The Conference Call defines the terms &#8220Maritime&#8221 and &#8220Environments&#8221 broadly to include the widest range of human relationships to the sea. How have human labor practices affected ties between human communities and natural resources? How and where did humans experience the oceanic realm and how did those sites frame experiences? What economic, defense, commercial, and foreign policy initiatives drive human efforts
in the maritime environment? And, of particular interest, how have human actions affected the world’s oceans, and what can historical records tell us about the changing health of the fisheries, climate, or other natural forces? Finally, how do scholars convey these lessons to a larger public?

Individual papers are welcome, but full sessions with three papers and a chair are preferred. Proposals should include a brief abstract of 500 words for each paper, plus a one-page abstract for proposed panels, and a brief bio of 200 words for each participant, including chairs. Graduate students are strongly encouraged to submit
proposals for presentations. Accommodations for PowerPoint presentations
will be provided- however, any other requirements, including audio-visual equipment, special outlets, or accommodations for disabilities should be included in the proposal. Scholars interested in chairing sessions are welcome to send a brief bio to the Program Committee Co-chairs. Please note that all participants must register for
the conference.

Specific questions may be directed to Program Committee Co-Chairs, Matthew McKenzie ([email protected]), Brian Payne ([email protected]), or Vic Mastone ([email protected]).

The deadline for submissions is January 31, 2010.

Photo: 1904. Erie Canal at Salina Street, Syracuse, New York.&#8221 Detroit Publishing Company glass negative, Library of Congress.

Roundtable to Discuss Cortland County Railroad History

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A panel of railroad scholars and buffs will give a presentation on “Railroads in Cortland County: Past, Present and Future” from 8-9:45 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 1, in SUNY Cortland’s Park Center Hall of Fame Room. Sponsored by the President’s Office and the College’s Center for Educational Exchange (CEE), the community roundtable is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served at 7:45 a.m.

All Community Roundtables are recorded and available as Webcasts on SUNY Cortland’s central Webcasting page at cortland.edu/webcast.


This special, extended roundtable will explore the historical uses of rail service in this area as well as current and potential tourist destination opportunities. The speakers will include Sharon Todd, an associate professor of recreation, parks and leisure studies at SUNY Cortland, and Tom Trencansky, executive director of the Cayuga Nature Center.

Following the discussion, Vince Minnella, director emeritus of instructional resources at SUNY Cortland, will briefly introduce and then show the popular, 30-minute locally produced video, “That Lonesome Whistle: The Railroads of Cortland County,” to attendees who wish to stay beyond the usual ending time of 9 a.m.

The history of railroads in Central New York is rich and varied. Even decades after the railroad industry’s decline, a variety of small tourist train operations have continued intermittently in this region.

Todd will summarize results of a two-year study completed for the New York State Department of Economic Development by students in the Recreation, Parks and Leisure Studies Department at SUNY Cortland. The study explores the extent to which citizens would support and use a local tourist excursion train between Binghamton, N.Y., and Cortland. Todd will share results from a survey about ridership on the Central New York Maple Festival train, and ideas for other excursion trains and their psychological, economic, educational and community benefits.

Trencansky, a photographer of trains and railroads and the founder of the Cornell Railroad Historical Society, will share an entertaining musical presentation that highlights the scenes and long history of New York state and Cortland County railroads.

“That Lonesome Whistle” was produced by the Sperry Learning Resources Center in 1979 as a project supported by a SUNY Faculty Grant for the Improvement of Undergraduate Instruction.

A nostalgic look back at the rich history of railroads in Cortland County, the video highlights the vitality and economic impact of freight and passenger travel from the 1850s through the 1900s and on to its decline following World War II. Archival photographs take the viewer to the thriving passenger stations on Central Avenue and South Avenue. They will enjoy a virtual ride on the Cortland-Homer Horse Railway, which after becoming the Cortland and Homer Traction Company extended from South Avenue in the city to Little York in Preble.

Minnella, who produced and wrote the video script, was associate director of the Sperry Center when the video was taped. Marcia Carlson, SUNY Cortland professor emerita of recreation and leisure studies, directed the video with the help students in her Recreation Administration class. Morris Bogard, SUNY Cortland associate vice president emeritus for academic affairs, narrated the film.


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Hudson River Brickers Focus of New Exhibit

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There will be an opening reception of the Haverstraw Brick Museum’s new exhibit, Moving Bricks on the Hudson, on September 20, 2009 between 1 and 4 pm at the museum at 12 Main Street in Haverstraw, Rockland County, New York. In celebration of the Hudson River and the Hudson Fulton Champlain Quadricentennial, the exhibit highlights sloops, schooners, towboats, tugs, and barges that transported bricks on the Hudson in the 19th and early 20th centuries. At its peak the brick industry was the dominant industry on the Hudson River and diverse boats carried one billion bricks annually. Visitors will learn about the brick boats and their boatmen and women, the dangers of river transport, and the shipyards that built and repaired the “brickers.”

The exhibit was inspired by the donation of the papers of the Reilly & Clark brick company to the museum. This collection, along with documenting the manufacturer, contains extensive records for the schooners that carried the firm’s bricks to market between 1885 and 1905. Items range from hundreds of receipts for tows, dock fees, and night watchmen to detailed accountings of the number of bricks carried each trip. The exhibit’s curator, T. Robins Brown, has a personal connection to cargo-carrying sailing ships as her great-grandfather, William T. Robins, was the owner and captain of the schooner Ella Worden on the Chesapeake Bay.

Moving Bricks on the Hudson is open on Sunday, September 13 from 11 am to 4 pm for the Annual Haverstraw Street Fair and until January 31, 2010 during the museum’s regular hours Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 1-4 pm. It is also open by appointment by calling 845-947-3505 or emailing haverstrawbrickmuseum.org.

The mission of the Haverstraw Brick Museum is to collect, preserve, research and exhibit materials and cultures of the brick making industry within the Hudson River Valley.

Photo: On Minisceongo Creek, a “bricker,” a brick-carrying schooner, awaits its cargo of bricks from the Shankey brickyard. On board are brickyard workers as well as the brick boat’s crew. The two women, the wives of the captain and first mate, were likely part of the boat’s crew. They lived aboard and cooked, watched tides, pumped bilge water, and performed other tasks that required less strength. Photograph from de Noyelles, Within These Gates.

Replica Ship Half Moon Seeks Volunteers

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Captain W.T. &#8220Chip&#8221 Reynolds of the replica ship Half Moon has put out a call for volunteer sailing crew, cooks, and dockside tour guides for the rest of August, September, October, and early November. The 85-foot replica of the ship Henry Hudson sailed while exploring the Hudson River in 1609 has a volunteer crew of 15 and was built in Albany, N.Y. in 1989 to commemorate the Dutch role in exploring and colonizing America. The Half Moon replica has six sails on three masts, sporting 2,757 square feet of canvas. It’s equipped with six cannons and four anchors.

The original ship, called the Halve Maen, was commissioned on March 25, 1609 for the Dutch East India Company. The company hired Hudson, an Englishman, to search for a passageway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. He thought he had found that passage when he sailed up the river that now bears his name. In making his trip up the river, Hudson claimed the area for the Dutch and opened the land for settlers who followed. His voyage came 10 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. For general information about the replica Half Moon check the 2009 Event Schedule at
www.halfmoon.mus.ny.us.

Contact Karen Preston by e-mail at [email protected] if you are interested in volunteering with any of these activities:

August 23-27, the Half Moon will sail from Athens, NY, to Staten Island (see
item 2). A cook is needed for the voyage to Staten Island, and while
dockside in Staten Island- most sailing crew positions are filled, but one
or two slots may open.

August 27-September 1, help is needed with a variety of activities,
including set-up of ship on August 28, 30, 31 and Sept. 1- help with
managing or leading tours of the Half Moon on Saturday, August 29 and 31.

September 5-26, a cook is needed to help with the Voyage of Discovery from
New York Harbor to Albany.

September 23-28, help is needed to set up the Half Moon and prepare for the
festival on Sept. 26, and to help manage visitors and lead tours in Albany
on Sept. 26, and to help break down the ship and historical displays on
Sept. 28.

October 8-16, a cook is needed to help with the Masters Voyage of Discovery
to Yonkers, NY.

October 16-31, volunteers are needed to help set up the Half Moon for public
tours from October 16-31, and to help lead tours both weekdays and weekends
in Yonkers, NY.

November 1-10, volunteers are needed to help set up the Half Moon for public
tours on November 1, and to help lead tours daily from Monday, Nov. 2
through Sunday, Nov. 8, and to help break the ship down on November 9 and
10.

November 10, volunteer crew are needed to help move the Half Moon to winter
berthing at King Marine, Verplanck, NY.

Historic Vessels Arrive in Plattsburgh For Events

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The historic canal motorship Day Peckinpaugh arrived in Plattsburgh today as it travels the Champlain and Hudson Corridor on its 500-mile Quadricentennial Legacy Voyage. The 259-foot canal boat, built in 1921, will be joined by the replica 1862 canal schooner Lois McClure and 1901 Tug Urger at the Wilcox Dock in Plattsburgh on August 11-12 and at the Burlington waterfront on August 14-16. The public is invited to step on board free of charge (see tour schedule below for hours).

The Day Peckinpaugh was the first canal motorship ever built and is the only one that remains. Rescued from the scrap yard in 2005, it is now the largest single item in the collection of the New York State Museum. The tour marks its first voyage in its new role as a traveling museum.

Tour Schedule

Tuesday-Wednesday, August 11-12
Plattsburgh, Wilcox Dock
Free tours: 11 am &#8211 7 pm
Experience the breadth of maritime history on display with vessels including the canal schooner Lois McClure, Tug Urger, and the Day Peckinpaugh together on the dock at Plattsburgh. Enjoy music and food on shore throughout the day.

Friday, Saturday & Sunday, August 14-16
Burlington, Perkins Pier
Free tours: Friday 4 – 7 pm- Saturday-Sunday10 am &#8211 6 pm
Working on Water Weekend- Tour the Day Peckinpaugh, Tug Urger, replica Canal Schooner Lois McClure, and Tug 8th Sea on Vermont’s own “great lake.” Also visit the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum to learn about the history of Lake Champlain boating from the 1600s to the present.

Wednesday, August 19
Crown Point, Crown Point Pier
Free tours: 11 am &#8211 7 pm
Join the festivities as the Day Peckinpaugh is welcomed to the newly refurbished Crown Point Pier at the DEC campground in Crown Point. The Champlain Memorial Lighthouse also invites visitors to examine and explore its recently renewed sculpture and structure. A climb to the top offers breathtaking scenic vistas.

For more information and schedule of events at fourteen ports of call, visit: www.eriecanalway.org.

Photo: The Day Peckinpaugh docked at Albany’s Corning Preserve on it’s maiden voyage in 1921. The D&H Building can be seen in the background.

Lake Champlain Maritime Museum Small Watercraft Fest

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&#8220Messing About in Boats&#8221 the annual Small Watercraft Festival at Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, August 8-9 from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. The festival is a celebration of clean, green, sustainable boating.

On Saturday morning at 11 a.m., explorers Samuel de Champlain and Henry Hudson will meet for the first time at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum &#8211 400 years after their first exploration of the region! The life-sized puppet of Hudson is traveling from Albany, NY in the company of Carol Margolis of the Albany Heritage Area Visitors Center (www.albany1609.com), while Champlain will arrive in the company of Rebecca Goldberg of Burlington’s Fletcher Free Library. The great explorers will greet the public and are happy to share stories of their historic travels and recent adventures. Young visitors will also enjoy hands-on activities with smaller puppets of Henry Hudson and friends.

The festival has also been chosen by Black Dome Press as the official gala launch for the new book, &#8220A Kayaker’s Guide to Lake Champlain.&#8221 Authors Cathy Frank and Margy Holden will be at the museum at noon on Saturday, August 8, to describe their adventures paddling the entire perimeter of Lake Champlain. This journey of many summers has been transformed into a book filled with illustrations of &#8220fifty different watery paths of adventure.&#8221 Cathy and Margy will share photographs and memories of some of the best kayaking spots and unique water’s-edge views that the lake has to offer.

Throughout the weekend, the historic 1901 tugboat Urger, the flagship of the New York State Barge Canal fleet, will be in port at the Basin Harbor Club, next door to the Museum and a dozen boat makers will exhibit both classic and innovative small watercraft on the Museum grounds and offer try-outs at the museum’s waterfront. Middle Path Boats of Edinburg, PA, will bring for display and trial a 16’ fiberglass Skua rowing cruiser, which has the distinction of being the first sub-100 lbs., fixed-seat boat to win a major open-water rowing race in modern times. Edey and Duff of Mattapoisett, MA will privied an 11’ catboat for tryouts. The Little Boat Shop from Lincolnville Center, Maine, will be introducing an unique little electric boat and boat building program- Tim McShane of Vermont Electric Boat Works, Allburgh VT, is also bringing an electric boat for demonstrations. Concept II, Inc, will bring a four-person sectional, rowing tour boat. Little Creek Strip Canoes and Kayaks from Greensboro Bend, VT builders of canoes, kayaks, and wooden boats, and Skywoods Canoe, Scott Barkdoll of Shoreham, VT builders of wood and canvas canoes will also be exhibiting. Al Stiles will exhibit an ultralight canoe- and Classic Boatworks of Lake Placid will exhibit Adirondack Guideboats. Hillary Russell and his wife Jenny, of the Berkshire Boat Building School, will be putting together a skin-on-frame, double paddle canoe. Bob Dollar will demonstrate rope work.

Umiak/Canoe Imports will offer on-water demonstrations, and on Saturday they offer classes in elementary and intermediate kayaking skills. You can learn to make a paddle or a set of oars in the great workshops taking place throughout the weekend. A workshop in forging sculpture with Lynn Newcomb is offered in the Blacksmithing Arts Center. Sign up early to reserve your spot. Stop by to watch participants in the Family Boatbuilding Workshop craft a Bevan’s Skiff in three days – completed boats will be launched on Sunday afternoon.

On Saturday, kids and their families can design, build and launch a cardboard boat big enough to ride in, during the popular annual &#8220Duct Tape Regatta.&#8221 Start construction at 1:00 and be ready to launch at 3.

See a shipwreck without getting wet – archaeologists on board the tour boat Escape will take you to a shipwreck site and “dive” with a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) on Saturday at 1:00. Tour costs $22 for adults and $18 for children- seating is limited so advance registration is recommended. Call 802 475-2022 for information and to reserve your place.

Also on Saturday, a water taxi making morning and afternoon runs will link LCMM with the Westport Heritage Festival in New York.

Sunday includes the Lake Champlain Challenge Race &#8211 participants bring their own non-motorized boat, kayak, or canoe to compete in this three-mile race from the museum’s North Harbor. Registration begins at 10, the race begins at 11, and awards ceremony is held in mid-afternoon.

Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, located on the shore of Lake Champlain seven miles west of Vergennes, VT, is open daily from 10-5 through October 18, 2009. For more information, log on to www.lcmm.org or call (802) 475-2022.

VPR Looks At Historic Lake Champlain Sinkings

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All last week Vermont Public Radio (VPR) has been running a series of reported entitled &#8220History Under the Waves&#8221 looking at five historic wrecks that lie at the bottom of Lake Champlain. Over 300 shipwrecks lie at the bottom of Champlain, and VPR looked at what sent five of them to their fates, including a Revolutionary War gunboat, a lake schooner, two steamboats, and a sailing canal boat. The reports also feature a photo gallery.

Much of what is known about the extend of underwater remains of Champlain shipwrecks comes from surveys conducted by the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum (LCMM). The LCMM has been instrumental in conducting archeological surveys and persuading New York and Vermont to establish the Lake Champlain Historic Preserve System in order to provide access for divers to some of the Lake’s historic shipwrecks. You can find a list of manning of the Champlain Shipwrecks at the LCMM Shipwrecks site.

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.

North Creek Depot Museum Lectures, Events

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One of the great gems of the Adirondack region is the North Creek Railroad Station at North Creek in the Town of Johnsburg, Warren County. Listed on the State and National Historic Registers the railroad line hugs the western shore of the Hudson River and includes the restored station, freight, and engine houses currently occupied by the Upper Hudson River Railroad, a sand tower, and a ninety foot turntable.

Throughout the summer they offer an unique series of lectures called &#8220Platform Talks&#8221 about the history of the area and its relationship to the railroad. There are an number of other events as well:

July 30 Platform Talk, “The Adirondack Peddler.” Milda Burns and Ray Flanigan amuse with tales of the Adirondack peddler.

August 13 Platform Talk “Getting Started in Model Railroading.” Bill Bibby educates us on scenery, scale, and material sources for building your own model train.

August 14 The Depot Museum Hoe Down! Fun-raiser event of dinner and square dancing. Ticket information to be announced.

August 15 10-12pm Spring Chidlren’s Workshop &#8211 Allie Rose leads a hands-on demonstration about wind energy and participants will build a wind turbine model. This workshop is free and open to children age 7 and older. Adults are encouraged to attend with their children.

August 20 Platform Talk, “Stories from the field.” Steve Engelhart of Adirondack Architectural Heritage offers his expertise on the architecture of the area.

The North Creek Depot Museum is open Wednesday 1-3pm Thursday & Friday 12-5pm Saturday & Sunday 12-4pm. Call for information about private tours at (518) 251-5842 www.northcreekdepotmuseum.com.