Architecture

Hidden History: Knickerbocker Mansion, Crailo Events

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The Rensselaer County Historical Society (RCHS) announces their September and October Hidden History programs. Which will focus on the Knickerbocker Mansion, Schaghticoke, NY (on Tuesday, Sept 5) and Crailo, the Museum of the Colonial Dutch, in Rensselaer, NY (Tuesday, October 30).

The Rensselaer County Historical Society and Museum is a dynamic not-for-profit educational organization established in 1927 to connect local history and heritage with contemporary life. We strive to enrich the present and advocate for the future by bringing the region’s past to life, recognizing every face and every story.  RCHS is located at 57 Second Street, in Troy.

Reservations can be made by calling 518-272-7232 x12 or email [email protected]

Knickerbocker Mansion, Schaghticoke, NY
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
4:30pm
$15 per person, $12 for RCHS members
The Knickerbocker Mansion located in Schaghticoke was built by Johannes Knickerbaacker III around 1780. The house was lived in by generations of the Knickerbocker family but fell into disrepair in the 20th century. A dedicated group of volunteers began restoration and after decades of work the building has been almost completely restored. Join Rensselaer County Historian, Kathryn Sheehan, on this special tour of one of Rensselaer County’s oldest buildings.

Crailo, Museum of the Colonial Dutch, Rensselaer, NY
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
4:30pm
$15 per person, $12 for RCHS members
Rensselaer County Historian, Kathryn Sheehan, will lead our visit to Crailo, a State Historic, which tells the story of the early Dutch inhabitants of the upper Hudson Valley through exhibits highlighting archeological finds from the Albany Fort Orange excavation and guided tours of the museum. Originally part of the vast landholding called the Manor or Patroonship of Rensselaerswyck, the Crailo farm was named after the Van Rensselaer’s estate in the Netherlands, variously spelled Crayloo or Cralo in the 17th century, and meaning &#8220crows’ wood&#8221 in Dutch. Tour includes viewing the award winning short-film, Keeping Order: A Fort Orange Court Record.

25th Rustic Furniture Fair at Adirondack Museum

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The Adirondack Museum will host its 25th Annual Rustic Furniture Fair on Saturday, September 8 and Sunday, September 9 in Blue Mountain Lake. Renowned artisans from throughout the United States will showcase and sell their one-of-a-kind pieces of furniture, furnishings, and artwork.

The show will be open from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Visitors interested in an early buying opportunity can visit on Saturday, September 8 from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Tickets will be available at the door, and are available now online.

The Adirondack Museum’s Rustic Furniture Fair is recognized as the premier event of its kind in the country. This gathering of talented artisans includes both traditional and contemporary styles of furniture design, handcrafted from natural materials. A list of the sixty participating artisans can be found on the museum’s website. Demonstrations of furniture making and painting will take place throughout the weekend. Exhibitors will answer questions about their work, or discuss custom made pieces.

In celebration of the 25th or Silver Anniversary of the Rustic Fair, more than twenty-five artisans have elected to design and create a unique commemorative piece for this year’s show. Each piece will bear a tribute plaque. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the commemorative pieces will benefit the museum.

In addition, there will be a very special silent auction happening during the Fair featuring the works of Barney Bellinger, Randy Holden, Larry Post, Russ DeFonce, Jonathan Swartwout, Bill Perkins, Rick Pratt and Bob Jones. Winners will be announced Sunday, September 9 at 3 p.m. Proceeds will benefit the Adirondack Museum.

Music throughout the weekend will be provided by Intermountain Trio. They will be releasing their second album &#8220Can’t Find the Words&#8221 at the Rustic Fair this year. Intermountain Trio will be playing starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, September 8, and at 10 a.m. on September 9.

Annual Waterford Tugboat Roundup Returns

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Tugboats will Roundup the weekend after Labor Day in Waterford after taking last year off due the effects of Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.

The Tugboat Roundup is an annual event in Waterford, celebrating the maritime heritage of upstate and interior New York at the confluence of the Hudson River and New York State Canal system. The Roundup begins on Friday, September 7 and concludes on Sunday afternoon, September 9.

More than 30 tugboats, workboats, barges and other craft are expected along the Waterford wall at the entrance to the Erie Canal. The festival takes place in front of the Visitor’s Center at the foot of Tugboat Alley and kicks off with the Tugboat Parade on Friday afternoon which starts at the Port of Albany, coming into Waterford in late afternoon.

The Mohawk-Hudson chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers will be recognizing the Waterford Flight of Locks as a significant American Engineering achievement on Sunday at noon during the Roundup. The flight is a two-mile long series of five locks, critical to the success of the “modern” Erie Canal when it was built in the Nineteen Teens (it opened in 1917).  Boats are raised from Hudson River level more than 180 feet into the Mohawk River above Cohoes.

Additional land displays include local crafters, artists, food tents, historical displays and local organizations. The American Red Cross, continuing in their efforts to help the region recover from last year’s storms, will have a tent at the festival for more information and donations. Local fire departments, always at the ready, will also have information areas.

Live music with local musicians will take place throughout the weekend, kicked off on Friday afternoon with canal and river balladeer George Ward and including other local bands such as “All Nite Long,” “Yesterday’s News,” “Flood Road,” Nixie Dixie Cats,” “Captain Squeeze and the Zydeco Moshers,” “Lawson,” “Scott Stockman with Big Blue Sun,” and wrapping up with the “Boys of Wexford” on Sunday afternoon.

Fireworks will take place on Saturday evening at 8:00.

More information on the event, and the complete schedule can be found online. Check out video just released by the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce: http://youtu.be/69rO-PkJwfA

The Tugboat Roundup is organized by the Town of Waterford with the support of sponsors.

Photo: The 2008 Tugboat Round-Up, Courtesy Duncan Hayes, NPS  (Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor).

Peter Feinman: Bowling Alone in 2012

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&#8220Harlem Loses Its Bowling Alley&#8221 was part of the headline for an article in the New York Times on August 6, 2012. The article told the story, not of some hallowed bowling alley from the time when life was simpler, but from 2006 when with great fanfare and former President Clinton in attendance, Harlem once again had a bowling alley decades after its last one closed in the 1980s. Read more →

Secret Lives Tour: One Wall Street, Manhattan

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The Historic Districts Council is presenting aВ series of tours highlighting some of the most original and rarely-seen spaces in New York.В The Secret Lives Tours take attendees inside some of the most unique and spectacularВ landmarked spaces in the city, both big and small, to learn about their history and
preservation. ВOn September 19, at 5 pm, the group will tourВ three spaces in the Art DecoВ tower at One Wall Street. В Built across from Trinity Church as the Irving Trust Building, theВ limestone skyscraper is a private wonder occupied today by The Bank of New York Mellon.В Visitors will explore the bank’s museum, 49th floor reception room, and The Red Room,with its red and gold mosaics. The museum’s artifacts illustrate the architecturalВ and institutional history of Bank of New York Mellon in Lower Manhattan. On the top floor, gildedВ shells from the Philippines decorate the angular ceiling of the three-story reception room.В The adjacent observation decks provide splendid views in four directions.В The Red Room next to the New York Stock Exchange greets the bank’s clients. Named forВ an intricate mosaic design glittering along the walls and ceiling, the room was designed byВ artist Hildreth MeiГЁre (1892-1961) with architect Ralph Walker of Vorhees, Gmelin andВ Walker. She is regarded as the foremost muralist of the Art Deco style in the 1930s. HerВ daughter Louise MeiГЁre Dunn and granddaughter Hildreth MeiГЁre Dunn will join the tour asВ special guests and speak about the International Hildreth Meiere Association, the group theyВ lead to preserve her artistic legacy.Louise MeiГЁre Dunn is the only child of a remarkable woman – Hildreth MeiГЁre, an artistВ who forged a successful career in architectural art, a field then dominated by men. Louise isВ President of the International Hildreth MeiГЁre Association, founded to conduct activities to promote and perpetuate the
legacy of Hildreth MeiГЁre. She has been speaking on the work of her mother since 2003 at venues in New York andВ internationally.

Hildreth MeiГЁre Dunn, granddaughter of the artist, is the official photographer for the International Hildreth MeiГЁreВ Association. She was the principal photographer and photography editor for both the exhibition and catalogue WallsВ Speak: The Narrative Art of Hildreth MeiГЁre. She is strongly committed to the permanence of the artistic legacy ofВ Hildreth MeiГЁre, in the preservation and re-location of decommissioned works and in maintaining the quality andВ accessibility of the visual record of the artist’s entire body of work through the dissemination of photographs to numerousВ publications.Christine McKay, historian of BNY Mellon, will guide visitors through the historic building.В Price: $100 Friends of HDC, $125 for GuestsВ Location and directions for this tour will be provided upon registration.В Business or business casual attire is requested.В To purchase tickets, call 212-614-9107, ext. 14 or e-mail [email protected]. Advance reservations are requiredВ and space is limited to 25.

Annual Fulton Chain of Lakes House Tour by Boat

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Whether a historic site or a spectacular new design, individuals with noteworthy homes will host tours during the Annual Fulton Chain of Lakes House Tour by Boat to benefit View, the former Old Forge Arts Center.

Beginning in Old Forge, participants will ride party barges from house to house as they explore local waterways and get the rare chance to view inside the beautiful homes along them. The House Tour will be held on Saturday August 18. Departure will be from the Old Forge Town Docks, at Lake View Ave, in Old Forge, NY promptly at 10am and will return in the middle of the afternoon. To ensure a smooth departure, guests should arrive early, beginning at 9am.
This year’s House Tour By Boat will feature six great camps and homes including Berkeley Lodge, which was once President Benjamin Harrison’s Adirondack Residence. What appears to be just a boathouse from the lake is actually just the beginning of Berkeley Lodge. Former President Benjamin Harrison (of Indianapolis) purchased the 20 acre peninsula between First and Second Lakes in 1895 from Dr. William Sweard Webb.

Berkeley Lodge was designed by a Herkimer architect, Charles E. Cronk, and built in time for Harrison’s return in the summer of 1896 after his 2nd marriage to Mrs. Mary Lord Dimmick. The Lodge living room is flanked by twin octagonal towers at either end. The exterior of Berkeley was sheathed with spruce logs at the bottom and shingles below the eaves. Attached to Berkeley was a cottage containing a kitchen, dining room, and office. The camp also had a house for guides and a boathouse.

In 1910 the property was sold to a New Yorker and then later in 1915, it was purchased by Horace S. deCamp. Horace owned the Harrison property until his death in 1954 and the property was sold at auction and purchased by the Cohen family. The Cohen family sub-divided the property into several parcels before selling Berkeley Lodge. The Lodge, and several other buildings survive to this day. The great camp is owned by Bob and Diane Wallingford, who have renovated a portion of the lodge that was added on in the 1950&#8242-s by the Cohens, made the icehouse/carriage house into a bunkhouse, added a garage and renovated the boathouse keeping all of the same flooring and beams.

Tickets must be purchased in advance. Tickets are $65/$50 for View members. This is a rain or shine event which typically sells out, so call View to reserve your ticket at 315-369-6411. For further questions email [email protected], or visit www.ViewArts.org.



Photos: Above, Berkely Lodge today, and below, at the time Harrison owned it.

A Bronx Preservation Volunteer Opportunity

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The Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum is looking for people who are up for an adventure – an adventure in preservation. For the past four years, the museum has partnered with Adventures in Preservation to recruit volunteers to spend a week doing hands-on restoration work at the National Historic Landmark in the Bronx. This year, volunteers will be restoring interior wood shutters. The adventure begins Monday, July 30 and lasts through Friday, August 3.

During five days of work, the two groups hope to complete as much work as possible and move the project one step closer to completion. Volunteers of all ages are welcome- no experience is necessary, just a willingness to work. A conservation expert will teach and guide the volunteers as they work.

The week also includes behind-the-scenes tours of the museum and lunchtime lectures on local history. The $295 fee covers lunches and snacks, materials, insurance and instruction. Full details and registration information are available at online.

Volunteers have contributed significantly to restoration projects at Bartow-Pell since 2008. They restored the walkways in the historic terrace garden, learning the traditional art of galleting as they reversed decades of inappropriate repairs. In 2011, they turned to the interior and began work on the shutter project that continues this year.

Bartow-Pell, an 1840s Greek Revival mansion, is owned by the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, operated by the Bartow-Pell Conservancy, and is a member of the Historic House Trust of New York City. It is located at 895 Shore Road, Pelham Bay Park, Bronx, New York. For more information, see www.bpmm.org.

Adventures in Preservation is a non-profit organization connecting people and preservation through enriching experiential programs. Participants have the opportunity to travel, experience their destination, and learn hands-on skills while preserving a valuable community resource. Learn more about how AiP volunteers combine their power with the strength of local communities to make a difference at www.adventuresinpreservation.org.

Photo: Volunteers remove layers of paint as part of the shutter restoration process (courtesy Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum).

Secrets Beneath the Walls of Fort Ticonderoga Tours

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Have you ever wondered what lies beneath Fort Ticonderoga’s stone walls? Fort Ticonderoga’s curator, Christopher Fox will lead explorations of Fort Ticonderoga’s hidden past to see remarkably preserved evidence of the Fort’s original structures and catch a glimpse at some of the systems that keeps the Fort running today.

This special behind-the-scenes tour will take visitors into five areas of the Fort not accessible to the general public. In these areas visitors will see original French stone foundations of barracks buildings and cavernous spaces beneath the parapet walls preserving clues to how the Fort was built over 250 years ago and then preserved over the last century.

This hour and a half tour is scheduled at 1:00 pm each Thursday in July and August. Space is limited, advanced reservations are recommended or tickets, as available, can be purchased on the day of the tour at the Guest Services Desk in the Log House Welcome Center. Price is $35 per person with regular general admission.

The tour will begin at the Guest Services Desk located in the Log House Welcome Center. Climbing stairs and passing through narrow spaces is required on this tour and it is not handicap accessible or appropriate for those who have difficulty walking.

Fort Ticonderoga was constructed beginning in the fall of 1755 by the French to protect the outlet of the La Chute River and the short overland portage between Lake Champlain and Lake George. It was captured by the British in July 1759 who held it until its capture by Ethan Allen, Benedict Arnold and the Green Mountain Boys in 1775. The British recaptured the Fort in July 1777 and then abandoned it later that fall. After suffering the ravages of time and the elements, the Fort was restored by the Pell family beginning in the spring of 1909.

Preserving Camp Santanoni Great Camp Tour

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There will be a tour of Adirondack Great Camp Santanoni in Newcomb (Essex County), NY this Thursday, June 28, 2012. Santanoni was built for Robert and Anna Pruyn of Albany beginning in 1892. The estate eventually included 12,900 acres and nearly four-dozen buildings.

Led by AARCH staff, the tour will include stops at the Gate Lodge, Santanoni’s 200 -acre farm, and the Main Camp on Newcomb Lake where we’ll see the ongoing restoration of the camp complex and learn first hand about the conservation planning and restoration work.

The Santanoni Preserve is a State Historic Site, on the National Register of Historic Places, and a National Historic Landmark. AARCH has long been associated with the protection, interpretation and restoration of this regional treasure.

The round-trip walk is 9.8 miles on a gently sloping carriage road. The tour begins at 10 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. The fee is $20 for members and $30 for non-members. There will be another tour on September 14.

Adirondack Architectural Heritage (AARCH) is the nonprofit historic preservation organization for New York State’s Adirondack Park. AARCH was formed in 1990 with a mission to promote better public understanding, appreciation and stewardship of the Adirondacks unique and diverse architectural heritage.

Photo: Camp Santanoni Gate Lodge in Newcomb, NY, built in 1905 and restored in 2007.

27 Nominations for State, National Historic Registers

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The New York State Board for Historic Preservation recommended the addition of 27 properties and districts to the State and National Registers of Historic Places, including the nationally significant home of abolitionist James C. Beecher, the world’s oldest pet cemetery, and a modern housing community planned by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Read more →