Welcome Guest!

Historical MarkersThe Great Embankment - 1911 Blowout

The Erie Canal crosses the Irondequoit creek east of Rochester. The gully created by that creek had to be built up with fill because it was impractical to use locks there. The canal's tendency to leak in filled-in stretches like this prompted the use of a concrete liner along this entire section; but it wasn't enough to prevent a major blowout in 1911 during the Erie's modern "Barge Canal" enlargement (1905-1918). Photos courtesy Town of Perinton historian

Tags: Great Embankment Erie Canal historical marker
Added: 16th August 2007
Views: 273
Rating:

Posted By: Lowbridge

Historical MarkersBlenheim Covered Bridge - Historic Marker

Blenheim Covered Bridge

The Old Blenheim Bridge is located in the Town of Blenheim on State Route 30 in North Blenheim, Schoharie County, New York. It spans the Schoharie Creek and is "double-barreled" or has two separate lanes. At 232 feet in length between the stone abutments, this bridge has the unique distinction of being "the longest covered single span wooden bridge in the world" and one of only six remaining bridges in the world with two separated lanes. It is constructed of Long truss with a center arch. The bridge was built in 1854-5 by Nicholas M. Powers under contract for the Blenheim Bridge Company (inc. 1828) as a toll bridge and retired from use in 1931, and was listed as a National Historic Landmark on January 29, 1964; placed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966; and is now a National Historic Engineering Landmark, 1984.

It's interesting to note that the bridge was not originally built in place over the Schoharie Creek as most folks would imagine, but rather was assembled at a site nearby, to insure the pieces all fit together correctly. Afterwards it was disassembled and erected in its present location across the creek. Ninety-four thousand board feet (127 tons) of lumber, 3,600 pounds of bolts and 1,500 pounds of washers were used in its construction. Nicholas Powers was paid $7.00 a day ($2,000 total) and the workmen received $1.00 a day. When the bridge was completed in 1855 it cost $6,000. During construction scoffers said that the bridge would fall due to its own weight with the removal of the falsework (falsework being the temporary scaffolding, also called "bents", made of heavy logs, which were used to support the bridge during construction). When the day came, Powers climbed to the roof and said, "If the bridge goes down, I never want to see the sun rise again!" People then said that the bridge would sag so much as to be useless. Powers replied that if this happened he would jump off. When the falsework was taken away the bridge settled only slightly, even less than Powers had calculated.

Local lore has it that while the stone abutments were being built one of the masons was sent to fetch a jug of rye whiskey. Before they got a chance to open the jug and imbibe the president of the bridge company, J. Dickinson, who was a "teetotaller" (it's an archaic term by today’s standard, a tetotallar being someone who practices and promotes the complete abstinence from alcoholic beverages) arrived unannounced to inspect the progress of the bridge. The masons were forced to hastily hide the jug in the first available spot which happened to be a niche in the abutment. As work proceeded at a quicker pace under the eagle eye of the company president, who wouldn't leave, the masons were forced to build up the stonework around the jug before it was rescued, and supposedly, it remains there to this day.

"The picturesque old bridge has had many adventures. It has been afire three times and is now insured like any ordinary house. Twice the roof caught fire from windblown sparks and embers from burning buildings in the village. And once, many years ago, when traveling tinkers went about mending pots and pans, carrying a small charcoal stove to heat their soldering irons, one of these tinkers went so sleep in the bridge and tipped his stove over. The hot coals ignited the wooden bridge but someone happened along in time to put the fire out and to sober up the "tinker" in the nearby river." – Schenectady Union-Star: Feb. 26, 1930

Blenheim Bridge Image from Historic American Building Survey - Click for more images

Old Covered Bridge - North Blenheim, NY

(Click Photo Above For More Images of Bridge)
Tags: Blenheim Bridge Schoharie Creek Covered Bridge Historic Marker
Added: 8th September 2007
Views: 198
Rating:

Posted By: Ohlhous

Historical MarkersDuanesburg Historic Markers

Christ Episcopal Church Marker on Flickr

3 Duanesburg Markers

These three markers are located in front of the Christ Episcopal Church at the intersection of Duanesburg Churches Road and the Great Western Turnpike (US Route 20) in Duanesburg, New York.

WILLIAM NORTH
Born 1755 Buried Here 1836
Aide to Steuben in 1779
General in U.S. Army
Son In Law of James Duane
Assemblyman and Speaker
State Education
Department 1932

William North (1755 - January 3, 1836) was a United States Senator representing the state of New York. North was born in Fort Frederick, Pemaquid (part of Bristol, Maine), in 1755, where he attended the common schools. He moved with his mother to Boston, Massachusetts and served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. After the war he settled in Duanesburg, New York. He married Mary Duane, daughter of James Duane, on October 14, 1787 and had six children. He was elected to the New York State Assembly several times. North was appointed as a Federalist to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John Sloss Hobart and served from May 5, 1798 to August 17, 1798, when a successor was elected and qualified. He was appointed adjutant general of the Army with the rank of Brigadier General 1798-1800. He was a member and speaker of the State assembly in 1810. He died in Duanesburg, New York and is interred in the crypt under Christ Episcopal Church.

JAMES DUANE
Born 1732 Buried Here 1797
In Continental Congress
Provincial Convention
Mayor of New York, State
Senator, Federal Judge
State Education
Department 1932

After his parents died, young James Duane (b Feb. 6, 1733 [date does not match that on the marker]; d Feb 1, 1797) became the ward of Robert Livingston, who was known as the 3rd Lord of the Manor. He completed his early education at Livingston Manor, then read law in the offices of James Alexander. He was admitted to the bar in 1754. Then in 1759, James married Maria Livingston, the eldest daughter of his former guardian Robert. He was Clerk of the Chancery Court of New York in 1762, State Attorney General in 1767 and Indian commissioner for the Colony of New York in 1774. During the American Revolution When the British occupied New York City in 1776, he was forced from his home. He withdrew his wife and family to the relative safety of her father's home at Livingston Manor on the Hudson. Duane served in the New York state Senate from 1783 to 1790. He first became the Mayor of New York City by appointment in 1784, serving until 1789. He was a delegate to the New York convention that ratified the Federal Constitution. In 1789, President Washington named him the first judge of the United States District Court for New York.

As Duane established an extensive and profitable law practice he acquired by purchase and inheritance the 50,000 acres of wilderness that is his namesake, the Town of Duanesburg (NY). Duane's early attempts to settle these lands were thwarted by agents of Sir William Johnson who circulated unfavorable reports about the land, as they were attempting to develop Johnson's holdings. Later Duane succeeded in contracting with 16 German families to begin farming/renting the land. Duane had plans to make Duanesburg the capitol of New York, but the citizens of Albany had other and more compelling ideas. Duane never lived in Duanesburg where he had already built the Christ Episcopal Church and had just begun to build a home on his estate when he died in Schenectady, New York. He is buried in the crypt beneath the Christ Episcopal Church in Duanesburg.

CHRIST
EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Built 1732 Consecrated 1793
By Bishop Samuel Provoost
A Glebe of 80 Acres Presented
By James Duane for Rectory
State Education
Department 1932

After the retirement of Judge James Duane, one of his first thoughts was for a church, "Cemetery Lot" or "Square", having failed to become the head of Duanesburg village, he dedicated it to the uses of the church, and in its center he built the present house of worship. At a meeting of the rector and inhabitants of the town of Duanesburg on Tuesday, September 22, 1783, Judge James Duane, conveyed the church and the ground on which it is erected for the public worship of Almighty God according to the rites and sacraments of the Protestant Episcopal Church. The church was admitted to the Diocese of New York in 1789. The parish had a difficult existence for some years previous to 1795. In 1811 a tower and spire was added to the building and a few changes were made in the interior.

The Christ Episcopal Church has been documented in the Historic American Building Survey

Click on photo for more pictures of this Church

Christ Episcopal Church
Duanesbsurg, New York

Tags: Duanesburg James Duane William North Christ Church Episcopal Historic Marker
Added: 23rd October 2007
Views: 249
Rating:

Posted By: Ohlhous

Trans, CanalsErie Canal Lock 23

Enlarged Erie Canal Lock 23 in Rotterdam, NY

History: Enlarged Double Lock No. 23, "Alexander's Lock", was constructed to replace nearby Lock 26, one of 83 "first generation" locks originally built as part of Clinton's Ditch. The overnight success of the Erie Canal proved a mixed blessing. By the end of the first decade of operation the heavy volume of canal traffic was taxing the original system beyond its designed capacity. Single chamber locks quickly proved inadequate as lines of boats waiting to pass formed in both directions. Beginning in 1836 the Canal Commissioners of the State of New York initiated a comprehensive program of system improvements, carried out in stages between 1836 and 1862, which reduced the number of lock from 83 to 72 and doubled their capacity by adding a second chamber at each site in order to allow two-way traffic.

Lock No. 23 was constructed in a double-chamber configuration during this period of the First Enlargement in 1840-1841 and opening to traffic in 1842. Rather than expand the existing Lock 26, as was done at several other locations, a completely new double-chambered lock was built immediately adjacent to the original lock and right-of-way. Lock chambers were built wider and longer, at 18 feet wide by 110 feet in length. Previously they were 15 feet wide by 90 feet long.

Built entirely of large cut limestone blocks laid in a regular ashlar pattern and mortared using hydraulic cement, Lock No.23 raised or lowered boats by 7.89 feet; from a level of 231 feet at the south end to 239 feet at the north end. This lock was of importance to the Erie Canal, and Schenectady, N.Y. in particular, because it was the first lock west of Schenectady, a.k.a., "Gateway to the West", a major transfer point at the west end of the 17-mile portage from Albany around the Cohoes Falls. Many passengers left the Erie Canal to travel overland between Albany and Schenectady; goods stayed on barges for the trip which could take more than a day. During its busiest seasons, the lock was operating with a lockage every 5 minutes. (Approximately 47,000 lockages per season).

By the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the Canal Commissioners recognized that the Erie Canal would require substantial further modification if it was to remain competitive with expanding rail transportation. During the early 1880s steam motive power introduced on the Eric Canal led to the introduction of larger vessels that could be towed or pushed in combination along the waterway. To accommodate this traffic, a program to lengthen the locks was begun in 1884. Lock No 23 was one of six locks lengthened during 1889. The southwest chamber was extended south to a total of 220 feet along the berm side; the width of the added portion of the lock chamber was 20 feet. With its southwest chamber nearly doubled in size, Lock No. 23 could raise or lower "double-header" vessels towed by steam barges without interrupting though traffic.

With the opening of the current Barge Canal the Enlarged Canal was abandoned in 1918, and this section of the canal was purchased by the General Electric Company (GE). GE kept water in the canal from their main plant in Schenectady to Lock 23 until the late 1950's. It functioned as a test bed for GE products including the Electric Mules used to pull ships through the locks in the Panama Canal. In the 1950s the lock property was donated to the Town of Rotterdam which was in the midst of building its new water pumping station on the nearby well field; the town ran its new main directly through the lock chambers. Portions of the limestone walls were partially collapsed to make way for the pipe. In the north chamber the pipe was covered with debris and dirt blocking off that chamber. In the south chamber the cement replaced the removed limestone blocks and a concrete walkway was installed above the waterway crossing the chamber, however the water main is no longer in use.

After a long period of neglect the lock had become completely overgrown. Beginning in 1999, students and staff of the Department of Civil Engineering at Union College had undertaken an effort to keep the lock free from small trees and brush and at one time had an ambitious plan to rehabilitate the lock and bring it back to working condition. Between 2000 and 2003 they built a replica board-and-batten Lock Tender's Hut and a Wooden Pier. Volunteers from Union College History Department were joined by volunteers from the Schenectady County Historical Society, the Rotterdam Sunrise Rotary Club and Friends of the Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail in subsequent years to maintain the lock and continue promoting its preservation and sought official recognition as a historic site.

On December 28, 2007 the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation listed the Lock No. 23 property on New York’s registry as an important engineering landmark in Schenectady County. On March 6, 2008 Lock No. 23 had been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Plans are in the works to apply for grant monies and the installation of permanent interpretive signs about the lock.

Lock No. 23 remains the focus of continuing preservation efforts and a distinguished example of masonry engineering design and construction associated with the transportation history of the Old Erie Canal.

Lock 23 in 1941
Lock 23 in 1941 showing the east end of the south chamber. In this photo the water is still in the canal as it is being used by Schenectady's General Electric for testing. The wooden pier is still quite evident in the water at the foot of the lock.

Lock 23 in 2007
Same view as first photo; East end of South lock chamber which had been lengthened.

Lock 23 in 2007
Detail of the locks stonework under a blanket of fresh snow.

Clean Up Day at Lock 23
Professor Andrew Morris of the Union College Department of History organized the Clean Up Day on May 27, 2006. Here we see Union College students as well as other volenteers cutting back brush and removing debries from the lock. At this location the Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail is built on the old tow path and passes right beside the lock, on the left, in this view.

Lock 23 After Clean Up
After clean up Saturday, May 12, 2007.

Lock Tender's Hut
Closer view of the Lock Tender's Hut which sits on the pier between the two lock chambers on April 2, 2005

Lock 23 in 2007
Winter Time Again, February 17, 2007.

Lock 23 in 2008 - Interpretive Sign Added!
This interpretive sign was installed on the side of the Locktender's hut in the late spring of 2008. The text on the sign points out that the Lock 23 site has been recognized by its listing on the New York State and National Historic Registers in 2008.

Old Lock 23 is located beside the Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail, near the intersection of Rice Road and Schermerhorn Road in Rotterdam, New York.

Google Maps Satellite image of Lock 23, Here.

(Other Old Erie Canal Lock Photos Here)

Tags: Erie Canal Lock 23 Locktender Pier Rotterdam GE
Added: 9th December 2007
Views: 850
Rating:

Posted By: Ohlhous

ManufacturingGoodyear Tractor Tires - 1920s - Part Two

This is a silent film, but the images of a tractor tire being constructed in during the very beginning of the rubber tire era is worth the time. Part one similarly shows some scenes of early farm equipment at work that will be cherished someday.
Tags: goodyear tire rubber tractor
Added: 1st January 2008
Views: 104
Rating:

Posted By: MarkHoward

Historical MarkersBattle Of Clarksville

Site of the Battle of Clarksville

On Dec. 3, 1839, During the Anti-Rent Wars, Sheriff Artcher and His Posse Marched from Albany to Clarksville. They Met Their First Resistance Here.

The march from Albany to the location of this marker is 13.1 miles.

An important part of the Albany County hilltown history is the Anti-rent Wars which lasted 41 years. Tenant farmers became "Calico Indians" in protest of Dutch Patroon lease agreements. The book “Tin Horns and Calico” by Henry Christman chronicles that history.

This Marker, which was dedicated on October 15th, 2006 by the Clarksville Historical Society, is located beside the intersection of Cass Hill Road and the Delaware Turnpike, (Route 443) in the Town of New Scotland in Albany County, New York in the shadow of the Beautiful Heldeberg Escarpment.

Tags: Anit-Rent War Riot Riots Clarksville Albany Sheriff Artcher Posse Heldeberg Heldeburg
Added: 24th December 2007
Views: 146
Rating:

Posted By: Ohlhous

Agriculture &Amp; FoodsGoodyear Tractor Tires - 1920s - Part One

This is part one of a silent film that can because of that be trying to watch, but before you give up on it, move the slider ahead to see some shots of early 20th century farm equipment that someday will be priceless. Part 2 is also here, and it zeroes in on the process of making a rubber tractor tire from scratch.
Tags: goodyear tractor tire rubber agriculture farming
Added: 1st January 2008
Views: 125
Rating:

Posted By: MarkHoward

Historical MarkersSchoharie Valley Railroads

Schoharie Junction, NY

Site of
SCHOHARIE JUNCTION
Schoharie Valley Railroad
Reg. Run 1-4-1867 - Last Run 9-17-19-1942
Length of Railroad - 4.2 Miles
Middleburgh & Schoharie Railroad
Firs Run 10-19-1868 - Last Run 9-24-1936
Length of Railroad - 5.7 Miles
Schoharie County Bicentennial 1995

Schoharie Junction was the point where the Schoharie Valley Railroad intersected with the main line railroad, Albany and Susquehanna (and later the Delaware & Hudson), near Central Bridge in Schoharie County, New York.

A little History of the

Schoharie Valley Railroad and Middleburgh & Schoharie Railroad

Schoharie is a Mohawk word meaning "Drift-wood." The settlement of Schoharie by white-Europeans began about 1712 by Palatine Germans. The farmlands of the Schoharie Valley were very rich and fertile. Valley agriculture prospered to the point where the Valley was known as "the Bread Basket of the American Revolution". In the fall of 1780 British forces with Tories (Johnson) and Indians (Brant) raided the Schoharie and Mohawk Valleys from Canada. The raiders fought skirmishes and battles, took hundreds of prisoners, burned forts, farms, and mills and destroyed one of the finest grain harvests in living memory.

After the Revolution farming continued, though transportation remained difficult. A farmer's 40 mile trip to Albany by horse and wagon was a three day affair at that time. The Erie Canal and its prosperity by-passed the Schoharie Valley by about 25 miles when it opened in 1825, and the Schoharie Creek did not lend itself to navigation. A number of early railroads were charted, including the Catskill & Canajoharie, the Schoharie & Otsego, the Unadilla & Schoharie; however they never came to fruition or reached the Schoharie Valley. Residents of the valley were probably a bit anxious by 1851 when the Albany & Susquehanna was chartered to build a line south from Albany to Binghamton. Towns of Schoharie County, including the Town of Schoharie, Bonded themselves to aid the Albany and Susquehanna with $225,000 by 1864. With the arrival of the A&S railroad in Central Bridge in 1863 the opportunity for a branch line from Schoharie to economic prosperity had presented itself.

In March of 1866 the Schoharie Valley Railroad received a charter to facilitate the construction of a 4.38 mile long railroad between the village of Schoharie and the Albany & Susquehanna railroad at Schoharie Junction. In May of 1867 the Middleburgh and Schoharie Railroad received a charter to build a 5.75 mile long rail line between the village of Middleburgh and the Schoharie Valley Railroad in the village of Schoharie. The two towns again bonded themselves and bought stock to support the two ventures. By early January of 1867 the SVRR was making scheduled trips, and by the end of October 1868 the first M&S RR timetable had been published. The early years of these railroads were a little rough, but once the wrinkles got ironed out there were prosperous years which lasted mainly between 1870 and 1909. Ticket sales show that in 1868 it cost $1.65 to go to Albany from Schoharie. Both railroads were very small branch lines, so for many years they shared the engine house at the end-of-the-line turntable in Middleburgh. For six months of the year the Schoharie Valley engine was used, and then the next six months the Middleburgh engine was used. One crew worked for both railroads. Both the SV and the M&S were originally built to a 6-foot gauge to interchange with the Albany & Susquehanna. This was converted to standard gauge, 4'- 8.5" (four feet, eight and one half inches), in May of 1874.

Spanning the SVRR, the "hump-back bridge" was a local landmark on NY Route 7 located one mile north of Central Bridge where the road passed over the railroad tracks of the SVRR. In 1867 when the contractor building the SVRR through that spot refused to lower the roadbed the state was forced to build the bridge high over the railroad. In subsequent years the bridge was built even higher to accommodate the height of taller railroad cars. The narrow wooden bridge was built with steep approaches on either side and a flat section on top above the railroad tracks. The bridge was not a problem for horses and wagons, but a scene of accidents and even fatalities for motorists. Due to growth of automobile traffic it was finally torn down because it was an increasing menace to public safety and replaced with a safer design of concrete in December of 1930.

The SVRR had to cross the Fox creek before coming to the Village of Schoharie. There was a wooden Howe Truss covered bridge built in 1866 which lasted until 1910 when it was washed out and destroyed. The new steel bridge not only served the railroad, but a whole generation of youth who used it as a diving platform at the old swimmin' hole in the creek below.

Railroad shipping records point out the following interesting information:

November 1878 - 1,600 barrels of apples shipped; average price paid, 75 cents a barrel,
August 1880 - 200 hop pickers arrive by train,
June 1882 - Shipped 1,318 bales of hops,
November - 1883 shipped 237 cases of honey.
September 1898 - 500 fruit baskets are being made daily at the Middleburgh Manufacturing Co. They have sold 31,000 baskets so far this season.
July 1903 - One train shipped seventy tubs of butter, each at 60 pounds, totaling 4,200 pounds.
June 1905 - Again several car loads of flagstone shipped from a new Schoharie Valley quarry in West Fulton.
March 1914 - 2 to 3 tons of casine shipped monthly from Borden Creamery. Casine used in piano keys, buttons, and toilet articles.

Prosperity started to diminish for both the railroads about the time of the First World War, especially when the federal government took over all the railroads in the country and forced them to operate under regulations and mismanagement from which they never seemed to recover. To make matters worst, about that same time the Middleburgh Plum was stricken by the Black Knot. New York had been the third largest grower of Hops to be used in brewing. After the hop plants were hit by the blue mold in the Schoharie valley that large industry began to fade away and dairy farming gradually took its place. Also at that time feed dealers and creameries began shipping by truck.

In 1906 the D&H bought all of the stock of the Schoharie Valley Rail road, but the Middleburgh and Schoharie remained in local hands. This probably contributed to the SVRR outlasting the M&SRR by a number of years.

By 1935 the Middleburgh & Schoharie had not been paying its taxes, and the absolute minimum maintenance had been performed on the roadbed and equipment. The tracks were in terrible shape and the Schoharie Valley Railroad wouldn't even risk running its engine on the M&S line. On September 24th, 1936 the Public Service Commission had ordered the M&SRR to stop operation until repairs were made. It had been estimated that it would cost $7,000 to $8,000 to return the track, crossings, and locomotive to good repair. The railroad would never be open again for business. In March of 1937 the railroad was auctioned off for $11,000 as scrap metal, with the 5.7 miles of rails bringing $18.65 a ton. A junk dealer, E.O. Friedman, of Albany outbid 13 others. The Right of Way of the M&SRR was purchased by the New York Power and Light Corp which had leased the right of way from the railroad to run its power lines 35 years earlier.

By 1942 the little Schoharie Valley Railroad no longer had enough traffic to justify continued operation. Application was filed with the ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission) to abandon the 76-year-old, 4.3 mile rural line and on September 16, 1942 its infrequent operation ceased.

Reference: J. Harra, Director, Schoharie Valley Railroads Museum
Reference: Pride of the Valley - Railroading in Schoharie County 1828 - 1942 , E.A.Hagan, 1973

Schoharie Junction in 2008
CPRail Engine 4651, an EMD model GP40-2, and CP7307 a GP38-2 (a former D&H Lighting Stripe Unit ) head train 515, a local freight between Binghamton, NY and Mohawk Yard in Glenville, NY through Schoharie Junction on June 12, 2008. The Schoharie Junction Historic Marker stands beside Junction Road in the foreground. CPRail currently has a MOW (Maintenance of Way) facility located here.

Schoharie Junction in Early 1930s
This is an early 1930's era valuation photo of the Schoharie Junction depot. The view is from across the main D&H tracks, with the Schoharie Valley tracks on the far side of the building. The sign on the station identifies the location as "Schoharie Junction Station". The small lettering on the left tells us the mileage to Albany, NY is 35.34 miles, and on the right, 107.25 miles to Binghamton, NY. On the building we can see a Western Union Telegraph and Cable Office sign and an oil lamp with a fanciful bracket on the corner of the building near the platform and canopy area. A photo similar to this one was published in the Delaware & Hudson Company Board of Managers Inspection of Lines :: June 7th to June 10th, 1928, however a note beside the photo stated that, 'The A.T.O. Committee on Roadway and Structures Report reads -- "Understand that this building is property of Schoharie Valley R.R." ' Photo courtesy of Bridge Line Historical Society

Schoharie Junction Station Plan-View Drawing
A 1931 plan-view drawing of the first floor of the Schoharie Junction Station shows that the station had an unusual shape with few right angles. This was due to its location on a triangular plot at the junction of two converging rail lines. One thing that makes this station unique is the placement of station agent's bay window on the second floor rather than the first floor. A later revision of this drawing dated 9-15-33 indicates that the single story addition on the left labeled "Office" and "Storage" in this drawing had been removed. Drawing courtesy of the Bridge Line Historical Society.

Schoharie Valley Station 2008
This is the Schoharie Valley Depot which is now part of the Schoharie Valley Railroads Museum. The two-story station was built in 1875 of brick to replace the original station that burned that year. A residence is maintained on the 2nd floor still. The light green object in the foreground is a cast iron "Man-Horse-Dog Fountain" which featured three drinking levels. Manufactured by the J. L. Mott Iron Works in an area called Motthaven in the Bronx, New York City, it once stood at the corner of Prospect and Main Street in the Village of Schoharie.

Schoharie Valley Station c. 1900
SV Railroad President Jacob Vrooman over-built this station after the previous station burned down along with the adjacent engine house in April of 1875. Here we see the station, and a SVRR Engine with a passenger car. A carriage is at the ready waiting to shuttle passengers to one of the nearby hotels, the Parrot House, whose name appears on the side of the carriage. This photo is on the wall inside the station house.

Schoharie Valley Depot in HO Scale
This is a view of a model railroad on display inside the boxcar at the Schoharie Valley Railroads Museum. These buildings were scratch-built by George Elston.

Schoharie Valley Engine House
This is D&H Caboose # 35842 which was restored and placed on display in the Schoharie Valley Railroads Museum's combination Engine House and Freight House. George Elston was instrumental in getting this project accomplished with the Bridge Line Historical Society. In the far end of the building beyond the caboose a cone-shaped sheet metal funnel still hangs from the ceiling. This was used to channel the smoke from the steam engine smokestack out of the building while parked in the engine stall. The caboose is open and used to display related memorabilia.

Middleburgh & Schoharie Yard
The Middleburgh & Schoharie Yard circa 1900-10; everything a small town needed: The Farmers Hotel and Cottage Hotel, a Flour and feed mill, a cement and salt business and coal business, lumber and ice, a wagon shop, and the Borst building for Hop Storage. The railroad had a hand-operated turntable, an engine house, a car shed, an old coach shed, and both a Passenger and a Freight house. This map is on display in the Old Stone Fort Museum.

The Middleburgh & Schoharie Yard in HO Scale
The Middleburgh & Schoharie Yard in HO Scale. We see the likeness of M&S #2 at the Middleburgh station. Engine #2 was built by the Schenectady Locomotive Works as #4281 in 1895 with 13" cylinders, and 56" drivers. This model railroad is on display in the Old Stone Fort Museum in Schoharie.

Middleburgh & Schoharie Station c. 1900
The Middleburgh & Schoharie Station in the Middleburgh yard. The first station was originally built circa 1868. A new station was built in 1880 but it did not have the larger canopy as shown here. The platform was improved and the canopy was extended and the ornamental wooden brackets were added through the private donations of a local Middleburgh resident in August of 1889. This postcard is from a private collection.

Middleburgh & Schoharie Station 2008
The Middleburgh & Schoharie Station was moved a short distance from where it was built to the corner of Wells St. and Maple Ave., and has been used as a private residence for many years. In 2003, the Village of Middleburgh was awarded a grant for $370,438 to restore its historic train station and develop it as a museum of railroad history.

Middleburgh & Schoharie Engine
The M&S Engine, "Middleburgh" and a combine, i.e. combination passenger / freight car. On November 21, 1872 this engine was damaged in a serious collision with an Albany & Susquehanna engine at Schoharie Junction. This photo originally appeared on a calendar distributed by The First National Bank of Middleburgh. This copy of the photo is on display at the Old Stone Fort Museum in Schoharie.

The "Schoharie Valley Railroad Complex" was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

The Schoharie Valley Railroads Museum is located in the Village of Schoharie on Depot Lane. The Museum encompasses a restored railroad yard consisting of a Station House, Freight/Engine House, Mill Bldg. and Weigh Station. There is D&H box car, flat car and restored D&H Caboose. The last Passenger Car, known as a Combine, was restored and displays artifacts from both the Schoharie Valley Railroad and the Middleburgh & Schoharie R.R. A scale diorama of the entire railroad from Middleburgh to Schoharie Junction is in the boxcar.

Google Maps Location of the museum, below:

View Larger Map

Tags: Schoharie Valley Railroads Museum Middleburgh and Schoharie Railroad
Added: 26th July 2008
Views: 503
Rating:

Posted By: Ohlhous

Pages: [1] of 1 | Random