Pittstown Historical Society

PITTSTOWN HISTORICAL SOCIETY

schedule of spring meetings, 2010

All lectures will be preceded by a brief meeting of the Pittstown Historical Society. Meetings are free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served following each lecture.

For further information about the meetings, contact:

Constance Kheel (518)686-7514 or email: pittstownhs@gmail.com

March 18: The Knives and Forks of Agriculture

Richard McGuire, former NYS Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets, will present a program on the evolution of tools used in the production of food. McGuire will talk about the connection between farm and table, and the disconnection between the abundance of food in some countries and the scarcity of food in others. McGuire has established a farm museum of agricultural tools and other artifacts of the past on his family farm north of Cambridge, NY.

The program will be held at the Pittstown Town Hall in Tomhannock at 7:30 pm, followed by refreshments.

April 15: Annual Business Meeting, Dinner at the Historic Barns of Nipmoose, and a Time to Share Local or Historic Memorabilia

The meeting will be held at the newly restored Historic Barns of Nipmoose (three barns dating from the 18^th and 19^th centuries) located at 59 Sherman Lane, off Nick Mush Road in Pittstown. The program will commence with dinner, followed by the Annual Meeting. After the business meeting, members will share local or historic memorabilia relating to Pittstown’s past (including stories). Please bring a dish to pass and place setting for the pot luck dinner. Contact the PHS for directions.

Dinner will begin at 6:30 pm.

May 20: From Clarks Corners to Cooksborough: Villages and Hamlets of Rensselaer County
County historian Kathryn Sheehan will focus attention on villages and hamlets of Rensselaer County. Using historic and contemporary images, Sheehan will traverse the fourteen towns of Rensselaer County, with their 80 villages and hamlets, and explore the locations, place names and events of these sometimes forgotten communities. Sheehan is the Registrar and Historian at the Rensselaer County Historical Society.

The program will be held at the Pittstown Town Hall in Tomhannock at 7:30 pm.

June 17: Tour of the Knickerbocker Mansion

A guided tour of the historic Knickbocker Mansion will be hosted by members of the Knickerbocker Historical Society. The Knickerbocker mansion, which was made famous by Washington Irving, is the largest remaining Old Dutch Mansion of an unusual middle age style. It was built by Johannes and Elizabeth Knickerbocker in the 1780s. The mansion is located at 132 Knickerbocker Road between Schaghticoke and Mechanicville. For directions, visit website www.knickmansion.com or contact the PHS.

The tour begins at 7:00 pm, followed by refreshments.