Posted in Uncategorized on Sep 30th, 2018 No Comments »
Two places that our class visited over the past two weeks were the previous locations of the Ulster County and Dutchess County Poorhouses. Sadly, there are very few known details about those who lived in the poor houses outside of the actual locations of these sites. Today, these two places share the same purpose: to […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Sep 30th, 2018 No Comments »
In the 1600s and 1700s, the concept of poorhouses was brought over to America from England. Meant to house the poor and mentally ill – essentially anyone that couldn’t work or who wasn’t normal – these government-run facilities often had very low-quality living conditions and treated its people less than well. These poorhouses were meant […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Sep 29th, 2018 No Comments »
Innisfree Garden, located in Millbrook, NY is part of the scenic hudson valley. It was originally the residence of Marion and Walter Beck. The Becks began the garden designs in the late 1920s and later collaborated with landscape artist Lester Collins from Harvard University. This nonprofit foundation opened to the public in the year 1960 […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Sep 23rd, 2018 No Comments »
People think of John Burroughs as a writer whose acclaim is lost in time. Unlike his contemporary John Muir, Burroughs observed the subtleties of the East, imbued more with finery than with drama, and spoke to a cosmopolitan audience. Muir, remembered today as a patriarch of environmentalism, captivated a nation with politically charged rhetoric and […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Sep 16th, 2018 No Comments »
This past Friday our course visited Maple Grove and Locust Grove, two historic sites of the Hudson Valley. Although they are both places of significance, their management and upkeep differ greatly. Maple Grove is funded by the NY Environmental Protection Fund, paid for by the public’s tax dollars. Previously home to a wealthy banker, the […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Sep 16th, 2018 No Comments »
Matthew Vassar, the founder of Vassar College, was born in 1792 in England. He moved to New York when he was four and eventually began working with his dad’s brewing company when he was a young man. As his business grew, he became involved with various charitable projects and town leadership positions. He founded Vassar […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Sep 16th, 2018 No Comments »
The town of Poughkeepsie consists of a number of intriguing historical locations that pay tribute to the founder of Vassar College, Matthew Vassar. While the most obvious of these is his namesake college, two more of these places are the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery and Springside. Together, they provide compelling insights into the life and death […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Sep 15th, 2018 No Comments »
The Hudson Valley once teemed with the waterfront homes of the rich and powerful, including such famous estates as Vanderbilt mansion and Springwood, the home of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Among those houses that remain Dutchess County include Maple Grove and Locust Grove. Both once estates of wealthy owners just off Albany Post Road (now Route […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Sep 9th, 2018 No Comments »
Pawling Lake Goes Nuclear The Nuclear Lake earned its moniker after a secret facility owned by United Nuclear Corp that was placed by a lake in Pawling, New York experienced a chemical explosion that blew out two windows and released an unknown amount of weapons grade plutonium into the adjacent body of water and woods. […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Sep 9th, 2018 No Comments »
The Appalachian Trail and other American long-distance trails such as the Pacific Crest Trail are primarily known for the thousands of people who take months away from their lives every year in attempting their notorious and daunting thousands of mile long end-to-end “thru-hikes”. Though it is relatively commonplace in the communities neighboring the trails, media […]