Central New York History

Central New York Is On The Up

Central New York truly seems to be on the up. I left the area in 1999, but it never really left me. After a few years in Albany, I moved...

A Welsh Immigrant Writes Home from Upstate New York, 1856

Published in the New York Almanack, December 15, 2021 There is a fascinating letter from Evan Evans of Turin, Lewis County, New York to...

Evan W. Evans (1829-1901) and My Welsh Immigrant Ancestors

My grandfather’s great-grandfather was an immigrant from Wales. Until a few months ago, I knew nothing about him, except that his son,...

New York, New France: French Ambitions on Oneida Lake in 1634

Published in the New York Almanack, November 30, 2021 When a Dutchman, Harmen Meyndertsz van den Bogaert, travelled from Albany (then...

Classical Place-Names and the American Frontier

An upstate New York itinerary could take you on a drive from Troy to Ithaca via Utica and Syracuse, with stop-offs off in Camillus,...

Flying the Confederate Battle Flag in the North is a Special Sort of Disgrace

New York is not a place where confederate battle flags should be flying. And yet there are more here now than ever before. I saw dozens...

Teaching Anti-Racism on the New York Frontier: Beriah Green’s Oneida Institute

When the fervent abolitionist Beriah Green took the reins as president of the Oneida Institute in Whitestown, New York, in 1833, he made...

Friedensfest: Syracuse’s 1871 German-American Peace Festival

One of nineteenth century Syracuse’s largest celebrations took place on the 1st of May, 1871. It was called the Friedensfest, the Peace...