Calling all Revolutionary War fans...

To commemorate their 75th Anniversary (2013), Saratoga Battlefield (AKA Saratoga National Historical Park) has put out a call for photographs of people working at &/or enjoying a visit to the park. You may have noticed this in the last couple of issues of the Greenwich Journal & Salem Press, but if not I'm here to let you know about it.

If you bring your photographs to the battlefield they will scan them & give you a copy of the CD. It is unclear in the article if the battlefield wants to keep the originals or they are simply keeping the scanned images. I have sent an e-mail to the battlefield about this & hope to hear back soon.



Park Ranger Tisha 1998



Many of you may not know that I worked at the battlefield. It was my 1st history related job right out of college in the summer of 1998. I was a seasonal Interpretive Park Ranger. I had the uniform & everything!

Tisha in colonial garb at the Schuyler House 1998

My mom made both of my colonial outfits. This is the fancy one.



Charles Martin painting the Schuyler House 1978



 After some analysis, it was discovered that the Schuyler House was yellow & green. Philip Schuyler rebuilt on the site of the brick house burnt by Burgoyne's retreating army in 1777. But in 1978 it was being painted white. Here my gramp, local painter & roofer Charles L. "Pepper" Martin, paints the house with some assistance from a four-year-old me & my three-year-old "little sistar" Heather.



Old Saratoga Historical Association 1969



 I love this shot. My grandma, Jacqueline A. Martin (nee Drew), is seated center. My mom, Tamaris A. Dolton (nee Martin), is standing 2nd from the right. My "big sistar", Emily Catherine Dolton, is the little girl on the left.

I highly encourage any of you to share images & stories of your visits to the battlefield. They will accept up to 20 images per family/individual.

Happy 75th Anniversary Saratoga National Historical Park!

Glass Negative Victory! (maybe)

Mom & I went to an event at the Greenwich Free Library last night.

K. Walter Grom, former Siena College Professor of German Language, History & Culture, presented a slide show on "General Philip Schuyler's Grand Vision" (i.e. the canal system). Most of the history presented I was familiar with having worked at the Saratoga National Historical Park in 1998, and Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site  in 2000. I knew that Schuyler was instrumental in the implementation of the canal system in NY, however, due to the sloth of the State Legislature (shocking, I know) the Champlain Canal wasn't started until 13 years after Schuyler's death in 1804.

The Champlain Canal, also known as "Schuyler's Ditch," was started in 1817 and completed in 1823. This brought an immense amount of commerce into this agrarian economy. Various businesses began to flourish, like clay works and the Lowber Lime Kiln. Mr. Grom mentioned potatoes and ice, saying that there were ice houses up & down the canal system.

The slides were particularly interesting because many of them were images of Schuylerville in the 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s. During the slide portion came the surprise. One of his slides was of the Liberty Wallpaper Company building. It was along the canal near current lock 5 just north of Schuylerville. I was so excited to see the facade of one of the images from that stack of glass plate negatives dropped on my proverbial doorstep a few years ago.

Liberty Wallpaper Building? the canal and tow path are to the right

Now to do some research & try to find some information on Liberty Wallpaper!