+ Updated at 10:01am ESDT, Friday, October 2, 2009 -- A lot of additions since I began this post Sunday.
+ This is the first post on places near my home in upstate New York. Some say "Upstate" begins at the Bronx-Yonkers line! Since I don't live in or near Yonkers, my upstate region explorations will probably not cover the Hudson Valley or The Catskills or The Bear Mountain region as much as places closer to home. Anything North or West of Albany will get my attention. Let me name regions or cities I will be exploring here:
Central New York
Utica
The Mohawk Valley
The Erie Canal
Oneonta
Cooperstown
The Adirondacks
The North Country
Syracuse
Western New York
The Finger Lakes
Rochester
Buffalo
Niagara Falls
Eventually I may offer a separate post (or posts) on each of these places. But, for now, I plan to offer numbered posts on Exploring Upstate New York. I will let you know when I'm finished updating a post and moving on to the next one. I plan to keep updating this one for a few days or even weeks.
I have lived in Central New York (which includes Utica & Syracuse) for 18 of the last 21 years. From 1988 to 1999 I lived in Richfield Springs on Route 20 & Route 28 and Route 167, 13 miles North of Cooperstown on Route 28 and 13 miles South of Mohawk & Herkimer & Ilion, also on Route 28. Little Falls is 17 miles South on Route 167. The last 4 named places are on the Mohawk River and also the Erie Canal.
From 1999 to 2002, I lived in Syracuse. Since 2005, I have lived in Whitesboro & Rochester.
My Aunt lived in Oneonta from around 1958 to around 1995. My Norwegian-born Grandmother lived with her until her death in 1978 at the age of 97. So, let's begin this exploration in the Susquehanna city of Oneonta where I collected a lot of baseball cards in 1959. I still have them and they might be worth a couple thousdand dollars. My Aunt was a Professor of Health Education at the state college in Oneonta, now called SUNY Oneonta.
Oneonta, Cooperstown and Richfield Springs are located witin a region designated by Travel publicists as The Leatherstocking Region or Central New York. Here's an excerpt from a website I just discovered on The Central Leatherstocking Region: "Being surrounded by interstate highways makes this region one that's convenient to travel to and from. Of course, once you're here, you may not be quite so interested in travelling "from"!"
I'm glad I discovered that last link because it led me to a website devoted to upstate NY, Round The Bend's Upstate New York.
The Susquehanna begins at Cooperstown on Lake Otsego. Cooperstown is famous for the Baseball Hall of Fame and some other less important attractions! Since I retired I've had the opportunity to lead worship at Cooperstown's Presbyterian Church several times. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's find out why Oneonta is such an important Upstate town. Here is an excerpt from the Wikipedia article on Oneonta: "When the Delaware and Hudson Railroad reached Oneonta, the village began a growth spurt due to its role as a railroad center and its growing industries. Oneonta was once home to the largest locomotive roundhouse in the world."
+ This is the first post on places near my home in upstate New York. Some say "Upstate" begins at the Bronx-Yonkers line! Since I don't live in or near Yonkers, my upstate region explorations will probably not cover the Hudson Valley or The Catskills or The Bear Mountain region as much as places closer to home. Anything North or West of Albany will get my attention. Let me name regions or cities I will be exploring here:
Central New York
Utica
The Mohawk Valley
The Erie Canal
Oneonta
Cooperstown
The Adirondacks
The North Country
Syracuse
Western New York
The Finger Lakes
Rochester
Buffalo
Niagara Falls
Eventually I may offer a separate post (or posts) on each of these places. But, for now, I plan to offer numbered posts on Exploring Upstate New York. I will let you know when I'm finished updating a post and moving on to the next one. I plan to keep updating this one for a few days or even weeks.
I have lived in Central New York (which includes Utica & Syracuse) for 18 of the last 21 years. From 1988 to 1999 I lived in Richfield Springs on Route 20 & Route 28 and Route 167, 13 miles North of Cooperstown on Route 28 and 13 miles South of Mohawk & Herkimer & Ilion, also on Route 28. Little Falls is 17 miles South on Route 167. The last 4 named places are on the Mohawk River and also the Erie Canal.
From 1999 to 2002, I lived in Syracuse. Since 2005, I have lived in Whitesboro & Rochester.
My Aunt lived in Oneonta from around 1958 to around 1995. My Norwegian-born Grandmother lived with her until her death in 1978 at the age of 97. So, let's begin this exploration in the Susquehanna city of Oneonta where I collected a lot of baseball cards in 1959. I still have them and they might be worth a couple thousdand dollars. My Aunt was a Professor of Health Education at the state college in Oneonta, now called SUNY Oneonta.
Oneonta, Cooperstown and Richfield Springs are located witin a region designated by Travel publicists as The Leatherstocking Region or Central New York. Here's an excerpt from a website I just discovered on The Central Leatherstocking Region: "Being surrounded by interstate highways makes this region one that's convenient to travel to and from. Of course, once you're here, you may not be quite so interested in travelling "from"!"
I'm glad I discovered that last link because it led me to a website devoted to upstate NY, Round The Bend's Upstate New York.
The Susquehanna begins at Cooperstown on Lake Otsego. Cooperstown is famous for the Baseball Hall of Fame and some other less important attractions! Since I retired I've had the opportunity to lead worship at Cooperstown's Presbyterian Church several times. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's find out why Oneonta is such an important Upstate town. Here is an excerpt from the Wikipedia article on Oneonta: "When the Delaware and Hudson Railroad reached Oneonta, the village began a growth spurt due to its role as a railroad center and its growing industries. Oneonta was once home to the largest locomotive roundhouse in the world."
+ A Baseball aside about 1959: The New York Yankees (Bronx Bombers) won every American league pennant from 1949 to 1964 except 2. In 1954, The Cleveland Indians won an amazing 111 games to finish 8 games ahead of the Yankees. Then they went on to get swept in the World Series by the New York Giants. In 1959, the Chicago White Sox won the pennant but went on to lose the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers. I loved the 1959 White Sox. Luis Aparicio, Nellie Fox, Billy Pierce, Sherm Lollar and Minnie Minoso come to mind. My wife lived in the Chicago area until 1959 and was also a White Sox fan.
+ Now, let's go to another part of upstate where my family has a lot of history, The North Country. My mom, my sister and my daughter all went to the state college in Potsdam, now called SUNY Potsdam. My Son-in-law went to Clarkson University which is also in Potsdam. A cousin also went to SUNY Potsdam and married a Clarkson graduate.
+ When I close this post and begin EXPLORING UPSTATE NEW YORK -- 2, I will focus on my former hometown, Richfield Springs, also called Richfield Spa or just Richfield. I was the Pastor of The Church of Christ Uniting (Presbyterian & Mehodist) from 1988 to 1999.
+ Now, let's go to another part of upstate where my family has a lot of history, The North Country. My mom, my sister and my daughter all went to the state college in Potsdam, now called SUNY Potsdam. My Son-in-law went to Clarkson University which is also in Potsdam. A cousin also went to SUNY Potsdam and married a Clarkson graduate.
+ When I close this post and begin EXPLORING UPSTATE NEW YORK -- 2, I will focus on my former hometown, Richfield Springs, also called Richfield Spa or just Richfield. I was the Pastor of The Church of Christ Uniting (Presbyterian & Mehodist) from 1988 to 1999.
2 comments:
The reason for the large roundhouse was the need for helper engines on freight trains both eastward and westward out of Oneonta. There were significant grades in each direction and the engines for helper service were housed in the large roundhouse.
Thanks for sharing this. I really appreciate it.
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