Honoring the Past
Five of the Hudson Valley’s History-Making Firsts
In 2021, Time magazine named the Hudson Valley one of the world’s greatest places. But some places in the region lay claim to superlatives — oldest, first, largest — that leave no doubt they stand in a class all their own, unique...
Celebrating FDR’s Pioneering Tree Conservation
Conserving land — cultivating it expressly for nature — is a standard practice today. But decades ago, it was an unheard-of idea — until the Hudson Valley pioneered the concept. Some of the early land-conservation work that made it possible for...
#IndustrialEvolution: Hats Off to Beacon
From the mid-19th century to the 1930s, few people would think of leaving home without putting on a hat. With all of the mod shops, galleries, and restaurants lining Beacon’s Main Street today, it’s hard to believe — despite evidence in...
#Women’sHistoryMonth: How Madam C.J. Walker Made It (and Shared It)
She built one of the most striking homes on the Hudson River — and the nation’s first female self-made millionaire managed it all on her own, giving back generously along the way. Madam C.J. Walker was born Sarah Breedlove in...
Get Inspired by Three of the Valley’s Revolutionary War Women
As thousands of men went off to fight in the American Revolution, many women kept the home fires burning — which was always demanding work, but even more labor-intensive in that age, and doubly so during wartime. Some wives opted to...
From Freedom to “Twelve Years a Slave” to Liberation
Editor’s Note: This article contains mentions of slavery that, while not graphic, may be disturbing. Few could describe the horrors of enslavement more vividly than Solomon Northup, author of Twelve Years a Slave. Published in 1853, the year Northup secured...
The Hudson Valley’s Biggest-Ever Blizzard
Nobody saw it coming. After all, it was your typical mid-March — cool temperatures, but with a hint of spring in the air. Trees were showing signs of budding, and river ice was fast disappearing, raising expectations that steamboats soon...
The Unlikely History of “Skate Sailing” Upstate
Water + wind = speed For centuries, that equation has driven sport in the Hudson Valley. Today it motivates people who go windsurfing, haul historic ice boats out of storage, or set sail on pocket-sized Sunfish dinghies. Sadly, the curtain...