Randi Minetor - Hiking through History New York

Wife-and-husband team Randi and Nic Minetor have collaborated on twenty books about hiking, exploring historic cities, Americas national parks, and birds and nature. Their popular books on outdoor activities in New York State include five books in FalconGuides Best Easy Day Hikes series on Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse, Albany, and the Hudson River Valley, as well as the popular Hiking Waterfalls in New York and Scenic Routes and Byways New York. They also worked together on eight Quick Reference Guides to the native birds, trees, and wildflowers of New York State, New York City, and Long Island, and of the Mid-Atlantic states. Avid birders and seasoned road-trippers, the Minetors also collaborated on the best-selling Backyard Birding: A Guide to Attracting and Identifying Birds (Lyons Press) and New England Bird Lovers Garden (Globe Pequot).

When not in the car or on the trail, Randi is a freelance writer for corporations, executives, and nonprofit organizations; Nic is the resident lighting designer for several theatre and opera companies in upstate New York and for the PBS series Second Opinion. The Minetors live in Rochester, New York.

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Copyright 2016 Rowman & Littlefield

Maps by Deanta Global Rowman & Littlefield

All photos by Nic Minetor

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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available

ISBN 978-1-4930-1953-3 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-4930-1954-0 (e-book)

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

The author and Rowman & Littlefield assume no liability for accidents happening to, or injuries sustained by, readers who engage in the activities described in this book.

To all of the people who pointed us in various directions across the state to find things like the Tahawus ghost town, the Hooper garnet mine, the historic sites in Highland Park, and the battlefield at Newtown, we thank you for your willingness to share informationand to be part of our ongoing efforts to introduce hikers to some of the most interesting places in New York.

As always, many thanks to the team at FalconGuides for their fine work in bringing this project together, and to our agent, Regina Ryan, who does so much to keep our book writing/photographing careers on track.

And to the people who preserve these historic placesfrom the National Park Service to the neighborhood grassroots groups and volunteerswe thank you for keeping track of so much of our states heritage. Without you, these fragments of times gone by would be housing developments, shopping malls, and parking lots instead of the fascinating places you have allowed us to discover.

What a happy collision of two passionsone for American history, the other for New Yorks wide, wonderful outdoorscame together to create this book. Hiking through History New York is a book for people who like a little time travel with their walk in the woods, an opportunity to discover a piece of local history that you may never have happened across before. Here you will learn about the role of the Iroquois Confederacy in the Revolutionary War, the famous people buried on a Rochester hillside and their combined impact on the common people of America, the battles that changed the direction of wars as far back as the 1600s, the critical importance of New Yorks waterways to a growing nation, and the lives of the very rich and famous from Hyde Park to the heart of the Catskills.

So much of New Yorks development had a direct impact on the growth of America as a whole, so its easy to feel the momentum of an entire country coursing forward in these historic places throughout our state. Ironworks turned ore from the Adirondack and Taconic Mountains into the raw materials industries needed, while men with pickaxes chipped garnets out of rock walls high in the North Country. People with the vision to see connections over land propelled their ideas forward, building the Erie Canal and opening a water route to new territories to the west. Logging operations brought charcoal to ironworkers, wood to builders, and paper pulp to factories, while workers with indoor jobs turned out millions of shirt collars on an island where the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers meet.

At the same time, New Yorks history is filled with ordinary people growing up to do extraordinary things. In a corner of western New York, one woman became the first female ever to run for president of the United States, while another put her life at risk by walking into the polling place and casting her vote. An escaped slave became one of the nations most respected orators and abolitionists, and a print shop worker invented a new style of poetry. Artists who saw the world differently from their Impressionist counterparts in Europe created the first truly American style of landscape painting. People of considerable means put their money to work for the greater good, and people of limited means triedand sometimes failedto change their lives for the better.

Such is the history of New York State, and your discovery of these stories and more begins with a single step.

The hikes in this guide are listed by region, moving east to west across the state, making it simple for New York residents to reference the hikes just down the road or within an hours drive, or to plan a day or weekend trip.

Whether your fondness for falling water impels you to scale granite walls to feel the spray or you prefer to take in a stunning view from the comfort of your vans front seator something in betweencheck out the Trail Finder that follows this introduction. Weve supplied a listing of hikes that provide slices of military, Native American, industrial, and literary history, to help you find the locations and stories that appeal to you most.

Weve assigned a difficulty rating for each hike, from easy to very challenging. Choose hikes that match your experience and ability; there are plenty of fascinating places that do not require you to be in Schwarzenegger shape before you leave the house.