Photo Essay: Part One- Taking a different perspective

Every year the Daughters of the American Revolution offer educational programs & contests. This year I insisted that my daughter, Fiona (12), participate. She groaned, but I told her she could take pictures with her ipod & submit a photo essay for the contest. This got her attention. There is little she likes more (maybe One Direction, Little Mix, & 5 Seconds of Summer) than taking pics with her ipod.

Over the course of 5 separate Mondays she & I drove the length of the Champlain Canal taking photographs of the locks for the Junior American Citizens art contest. Fiona had to take her own photographs, which she did. I took my own & will share some of them here. I am really glad I insisted she do this because we had a lot of fun together, riding in the car, signing One Direction songs, getting "lost" in our search for Lock 1 at Waterford, exploring local history, & just being together.

Fiona at Lock 1- Champlain Canal, Waterford, NY

Lock 2- Champlain Canal between Waterford and Mechanicville

Lock 3- Champlain Canal, Mechanicville, NY

Fiona is king of the world- Lock 4- Champlain Canal, Stillwater, NY

Fiona snapping a pic- Lock 5- Champlain Canal, Schuylerville, NY

Fiona posing- Lock 12- Old Champlain Canal, Greenwich, NY

Trees growing through the masonry at Old Champlain Canal Lock 12

Old Champlain Canal- Lock 12

Historic marker at Lock 6- Champlain Canal, Fort Miller, NY

Fiona watching the doors open for a boat- Lock 6- Champlain Canal, Fort Miller, NY

Fiona & me basking in the September sun at Lock 6- 2013

Surprise! Great rest area along the canal north of Lock 6

All images by Tisha Dolton, Historian September-October 2013

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!

Clang, clang, clang went the trolley

I love musicals. Astaire & Rogers. Rogers & Hammerstein... There are few I don't like, though I can't think of one at the moment. Ah well. I love Meet Me in St. Louis with Judy Garland. There are some great songs & some over the top costumes. The Trolley Song is a high point! But, I digress...

I am really talking about actual trolleys. This area had a number of electric trolleys, even Greenwich. On April 8, 1900, the electric trolley began service between the village of Greenwich & Middle Falls. By June 17th the track was complete & service to Schuylerville was available. This also meant a person could ride to Stillwater & Mechanicville. In January 1901 the track to Fort Edward was complete.*

Oh, & those dry glass plates... There is a plate of the trolley. Along with other shots that seem to be of the construction of the trolley line.

Trolley from Greenwich to Schuylerville c. 1900

 This car appears to be the Hudson Valley Railroad car #133 that was, according to David Nestle's book A History of the Hudson Valley Railway, a 15 bench D.T. open car. It was 40' 00" long and sat 75 passengers. These cars were build between 1899-1902.*


building of bridge over the Dionondahowa Falls

 Going over/near the Dionondahowa Falls in an electric trolley must have been quite a sight! A power plant built at this sight harnessed the power of the Battenkill & provided the electricity for the trolley.*




Dionondahowa Falls- Battenkill River

 The postcard below was donated to the Town of Greenwich by Deputy Washington County Historian Loretta Bates.

Hudson Valley Railway car crossing the Battenkill

Oh, what the heck... Here's The Trolley Song for fun!

* Nestle, David F. A History of the Hudson Valley Railway, Greenwich NY: David F. Nestle, 1967.

Busy, busy night

Wow, I haven't had this much action in awhile. I have some on-going genealogy queries that are keeping me on my toes.

I did get a question today, that allowed me to utilize my old phonebooks. Yes, you heard me right! Don't you know me by now?

I have, in my office, Greenwich-Schuylerville phonebooks covering the years 1966-1974, 1976-1986, 2001-2002. I'm not sure why I don't have the 1975-76 phonebook. It would be nice to have the full 20 year span. If anyone has a copy they would like to donate, I would greatly appreciate it... but ONLY if they are Greenwich specific.



Front cover of the 1966-67 NY Telephone phonebook

 I remember these. Was this a princess style phone?

back cover of the Greenwich-Schuylerville edition

If you lived in Greenwich in 1966, you could call Greenwich & Schuylerville just by dialing the number as we would today. To call Saratoga Springs, Argyle, or Cambridge, et al you had to dial "0" and speak with the operator.

In 1966 you had to dial "0" for the operator

 I'm hoping most of the people reading this know what a rotary dial is, otherwise you will not understand this part of the "How to Dial" section of the 1966-67 phonebook!

Don't mix-up your 1 & i or your O & 0!

At least by 1966 the exchange was 692. In 1958 it was still MY2.