Membership in the society is not required.
The topic is the role of Jay Gould, billionaire, in Granville's slate industry. Any biography of Gould can be read such as those by Greg Steinmetz, Maury Klein, and Edward Renehan. Online articles can be researched. A 1976 Post Star article reported that Gould (1836-1893) caused middle Granville to grow in the 1860s. He purchased the Rutland and Washington Railroad in 1863 and a slate quarry thereafter. Gould financed a row of frame dwellings for his slate quarry employees on what is now Route 22A. The town is said to have had the only working red slate quarries in the world. During his residency in the town, Gould was a well-respected and well-liked businessman.
Future sessions of the club will feature topics related to the larger Adirondack area as well as works by local authors. Upcoming discussions include: local covered bridges, Le Loup's Bloody Trail from Salem to Argyle (1859), and flax and linen in Washington County. For additional information, email Connie Harris Farrington at conniehfarrington@outlook.com.
As momentum builds toward America's 250th anniversary of its Declaration of Independence, Saratoga 250 is excited to share what's ahead this spring-and how these programs continue to deepen understanding of Saratoga's central role as America's Turning Point.
The years surrounding the 250th are not simply commemorative; they are about connecting people to history through programs that are meaningful, educational, and rooted in place. While America's founders may have declared its independence this July 250 years ago, it was the struggles across a revolutionary period, including an eight-year American war for Independence, that proved liberty protected by a new form of self-government was possible.
Much of that struggle played out among the peoples and across the places of our region. This spring, Saratoga 250 will feature public programming and content that brings Saratoga Revolutionary Experiences to life, highlighting the individuals whose resolve forged a nation and the landscapes that shaped it.
Mark your calendars for these upcoming opportunities to make America's 250th a Saratoga Revolutionary Experience!
The Hebron Preservation Society and the Washington County Historical Society are co-hosting their first program for 2026. This talk is an exploration of the wars that were fought along the "Great Warpath" and the people who fought them.
The 250th anniversary of this nation's birth has deep roots that run through this natural pathway of conflict. This presentation will explore some of the region's places and personalities who played a part in both events that preceded the American Revolution and the events that decided it.
Andrew Menzie is Director of Historical Interpretation at the Fort William Henry Museum where he oversees historical programming, exhibit development, and community engagement. He taught social studies and math for 30 years and has degrees in teaching, history, and civil engineering from Union College. In his spare time, he tutors, reads and listens to books whenever possible. He also works on fixing up his 1840s house. He is grateful to work and live in an area that is so rich in history and also home to people who are passionate about preserving and celebrating this history.
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Following the symposium, we invite participants to join our popular guided bus tour tracing the route of the 1780 Ballston Raid. This immersive experience places history directly on the landscape, offering deeper insight into the region's revolutionary past and the communities affected by the war.
Paul first discovered the story about Solomon Northup the year he became Historian of Fort Edward. Doris McEachron at that time was the Argyle Historian. She helped to show Paul the ropes as a new historian. Doris gave him enough information to go looking for the book Twelve Years a Slave which he found at the Village Book Smith in Hudson Falls (for under $20 each!). He found the reference to the Old Fort House which Solomon occupied with his wife upon their marriage in 1828. Overtime, he has worked with historians, scholars, and interested parties studying the Northup story. Attendees will have the opportunity to tour the Old Fort House and especially the Solomon Northup room after the program.
R. Paul McCarty was appointed Historian of the Town and Village of Fort Edward in 1975. In his 51 years as historian, Paul has been dedicated to telling the history and preserving the past of Fort Edward and its surrounding areas. In 1981, Paul was appointed as the first Executive Director of the Old Fort House Museum, a position he still holds today. In that time, the museum has acquired and restored several area historic buildings including a Greek Revival Law Office, Fort Edward Water Works Barn, the one-room Riverside Schoolhouse, the Cronkhite Pavilion which is the oldest surviving Washington County Fairgrounds building (c. 1875), Moreau Station Toll House, a colonial Dutch-style home from 1790 and the infamous 3-seater outhouse from the Lakeville Church in Cossayuna.
He is a member of the Fort Edward Historical Association, Washington County Historical Society, Sandy Hill and Fort Edward Union Cemetery, and Roger's Island Visitor's enter. He is also the historian of the William H. Hill Historical Collection at SUNY Adirondack.
Paul was one of the first certified public historians by the Association of Public Historians of New York State. In 2015, he was given the Franklin D. Roosevelt Historian Professional Achievement award from APHNYS.
The program is free and open to the public. Donations are gladly accepted. We hope to see you there!
The Hebron Preservation Society and the Washington County Historical Society will co-host "Major General Israel Putnam: Hero of the American Revolution" (and for whom the Town of Putnam in northern Washington County is named). A colorful figure of 18th century America, Israel Putnam (1718-1790) played key roles in both the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War. During the former, he barely escaped from being burned alive by Mohawk warriors and was held by the French as a prisoner of war in Canada. He later commanded a force of 500 men that was shipwrecked off the coast of Cuba. During the Revolutionary War, it was Putnam who reportedly gave the command "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes" at the Battle of Bunker Hill. The late U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan who was also a historian, once stated it "could be argued that we owe our national existence to the fortifications which General Israel Putnam threw up in April 1776 on the Buttermilk Channel side (of New York's Governors Island), which is just a baseball's throw from Brooklyn Heights.
There is no charge for the program. It is open to the public. Donations are gladly accepted.
We hope you can join us for this interesting and informative program.
