Washington County Historical Society of New York

05/26/2026

This will be a great program on Thursday. Hope to see you all there!

05/19/2026

Don’t miss local author Suzanne Cohen tomorrow! She will discuss the 2026 edition of her fascinating family history, My Father’s Family.

Tuesday May 19, 6:30 PM in the Fort Miller Community Room. All are welcome!

05/12/2026

Friendly Reminder.....Tomorrow is book club.

May 13, 2026 Meeting of WCHS Local History Book Club

Washington County Historical Society’s Local History Book Club will meet from 12:30 to 1:30 on Wednesday, May 13, at the Sanford’s Ridge United Methodist Church,1919 Sanford’s Ridge Road, Kingsbury, NY. Membership in the historical society is not required.
The topic is George S. Brown, builder of stone walls. George was born a free Black in Newport, RI in 1801. After years of being a traveling musician and drunkard, he was converted, first to the Baptist faith and then to the Methodist religion. In 1825 he built the Beach schoolhouse on Vaughn Road in Kingsbury. While living on the Gould Sanford farm in Kingsbury, he began to preach at the nearby Methodist Church. He supported himself by building stone walls using the dry-stacking method. Some of these walls remain standing today.
He sailed to Liberia as a missionary in 1836, returning in 1844. He continued preaching and building walls in this area. He died after falling on ice in 1886 and his gravestone is in the Sanford lot, Quaker Cemetery, on Ridge Road, Queensbury.
Articles on Rev. Brown are available online at https://vermonthistory.org/journal/89/V8902SermonInStone.pdf and https://www.chapmanmuseum.org/made-to-last-stone-walls-and-a-man-with-a-mission/. The meeting will be held in one of the churches where Rev. Brown preached, having been built in 1832 and subsequently enlarged.
Future sessions of the club will feature topics related to the larger Adirondack area as well as works by local authors. Upcoming discussions include: Le Loup’s Bloody Trail from Salem to Argyle (1859), flax and linen in Washington County, and Floyd Bennett’s flight over the North Pole. For additional information, email Connie Harris Farrington at [email protected].

05/05/2026

🎬🇺🇸 Join us for a special screening of “Hallowed Ground: New York’s Forgotten Revolutionary War Battlefields”
🎟️ Free admission (donations appreciated)

📅 Friday, May 8
🕒 3:00 p.m.
📍 The Strand Theatre, Hudson Falls

A panel discussion with historians and local experts will follow the film. 💬

Check out the 🔗 for more info: https://www.glensfalls.com/event/film-panel-discussion-hallowed-ground-new-yorks-forgotten-revolution-battlefields-275349/

05/05/2026

04/28/2026

The Association of Public Historians of New York State (APHNYS) is APHNYS is pleased to announce that our 2026 Annual Conference will be held in Utica, NY, in Oneida County, September 28-30, 2026. Our annual conference draws more than 100 government-appointed historians and affiliates from across the state.

As we celebrate the semiquincentennial of the United States, we reflect not only on the battles and sacrifices of the American Revolution, but the drastic changes in technology and culture that followed in the 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

What revolutionary ideas shaped history in your community? Was it the fight for Independence? A later social movement or technological innovation? Or perhaps there’s an event predating the Revolution that continues to shape your history? Tell us about the moment that changed everything! This year, our programs will reflect on pivotal events that have shaped New York State history.

04/28/2026

Hope to see you there.
All are welcome. Come and bring the kids!