Thanks to the William G. Pomeroy Foundation for providing funding to the Town of Knox for our latest marker.
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AUGUST PROGRAM
Historic Markers of Knox Sunday, August 9, 2:00 - 4:00 Knox Town Hall, 2192 Berne-Altamont Road, Knox (Altamont ZIP 12009) Trustee Dan Driscoll told us about the 14 historic roadside markers in Knox, while Nancy Frueh and Jane McLean showed related items from our collection. Following the presentation, we unveiled the new marker on Township Road. Dan has updated the historic marker booklet to include our two newest ones, The Palatine Trail and The Schoharie Plank Road.The Saddlemire Museum was open for self-guided tours and refreshments on the porch. |
Trustee Dan Driscoll plays "The Duke of York's March" on the pennywhistle during his multimedia presentation about the historic markers of Knox. Dan also used PowerPoint and maps to tell the story.
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In connection with the Dutch Barn historic marker, Secretary Nancy Frueh hefts this grain shovel carved from one piece of wood.
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Vice president Jane McLean explains that Tenney and Howell's 1886 history gives one version of the naming of Knox.
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Jane shows the old ice skates that screwed on to special shoes. At one time, West Berne (including part of Knox) was a small mill village on Fox Creek. People undoubtedly skated on the millponds, possibly wearing these skates.
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President Dennis Barber unveils the new historic roadside marker on Township Road near the Albany County highway department building.
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Knox Town Supervisor Mike Hammond, Dennis Barber, and Dan Driscoll at the newly installed historic marker, provided by the William G. Pomeroy Foundation.
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The fourteen historic roadside markers in Knox, information about their installation, and related artifacts from our collection in the Saddlemire Museum.
1. Whipple Farm: State Ed. Dept. 1932: Carpet Beater donated by Grace Whipple
2. Town of Knox: Knox Historical Society: Sesquicentennial Plate
3. Knoxville Academy: State Ed. Dept. 1940: Framed list of tuition prices
4. Sand Farm: State Ed. Dept. 1959: Map showing Zandt farm location
5. Dutch Barn: Family of Terry Shoultes: Grain shovel carved from a single piece of wood
6. Knieskem Farm: State Ed. Dept. 1932: Tool for hewing wooden gutters
7. West Berne: State Ed. Dept. 1932: Ice skates
8. Dwelling: State Ed. Dept. 1932: Handmade apple parer
9. Albany County: State Ed. Dept. 1932: The History of Albany and Schenectady Counties 1609-1886 by Howell and Tenney
10. Anti-rent Riots: State Ed. Dept. 1932: Tin horn in basswood display case
11. Knox School #5: Friends of Thacher Park 2010: Pencil sharpener
12. Pill Box Factory: Knox Historical Society 2014: Gripe with windings in place, Sesquicentennial pill box, Nathan Crary's patent
13. Palatine Trail: Wm. G. Pomeroy Foundation 2015: Map showing location of trail
14. Toll Gate #3: Wm. G. Pomeroy Foundation 2015: Booklet with paperwork pertaining to the Schoharie Plank Road and the historic marker
1. Whipple Farm: State Ed. Dept. 1932: Carpet Beater donated by Grace Whipple
2. Town of Knox: Knox Historical Society: Sesquicentennial Plate
3. Knoxville Academy: State Ed. Dept. 1940: Framed list of tuition prices
4. Sand Farm: State Ed. Dept. 1959: Map showing Zandt farm location
5. Dutch Barn: Family of Terry Shoultes: Grain shovel carved from a single piece of wood
6. Knieskem Farm: State Ed. Dept. 1932: Tool for hewing wooden gutters
7. West Berne: State Ed. Dept. 1932: Ice skates
8. Dwelling: State Ed. Dept. 1932: Handmade apple parer
9. Albany County: State Ed. Dept. 1932: The History of Albany and Schenectady Counties 1609-1886 by Howell and Tenney
10. Anti-rent Riots: State Ed. Dept. 1932: Tin horn in basswood display case
11. Knox School #5: Friends of Thacher Park 2010: Pencil sharpener
12. Pill Box Factory: Knox Historical Society 2014: Gripe with windings in place, Sesquicentennial pill box, Nathan Crary's patent
13. Palatine Trail: Wm. G. Pomeroy Foundation 2015: Map showing location of trail
14. Toll Gate #3: Wm. G. Pomeroy Foundation 2015: Booklet with paperwork pertaining to the Schoharie Plank Road and the historic marker
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The old Albany-Schoharie Plank Road was built of planks set across stringers, causing “a rumble as of distant thunder resounded across the countryside, as the wagons, coaches, and herds of stock traveled up and down,” according to a 1932 essay on the subject. — Sketch by Daniel A. Driscoll |
Historic marker to be placed at site of Plank Road Toll Gate 3
by Daniel A. Driscoll
Altamont Enterprise August 6, 2015
KNOX — The town of Knox and the Knox Historical Society will dedicate the new Plank Road Toll Gate 3 historic marker on Sunday, Aug. 9. The event will begin at 2 p.m. in the Knox Town Hall on Route 156 with a brief review of all 14 historic markers in the town, and related historic documentation.
Weather permitting, we will then carpool to Route 146 east of Witter Road for the unveiling of the new Toll Gate 3 historic marker.
An article in the Aug. 12, 1932 Altamont Enterprise describes Miss Mary D. Gregg’s Altamont High School graduation essay, “The Old Schoharie and Albany Plank Road.” Her essay deals in detail with the story of the Albany-Schoharie Plank Road from its incorporation in 1849 by the Plank Road Association to its abandonment in 1866.
Toll Gate 3 was at “the eastern end of the settlement of East Township.” The article even has a picture of Foster Williamson, a tollgate keeper of Gate 3.
According to Miss Gregg, the structure of a plank road was not complex. As a base, six parallel stringers, 3- by 4-inch timbers, usually of hemlock or birch, were laid in the ground end to end. Then 9- or 10-foot long planks were laid crosswise as close as possible, but never nailed.
As a result, she wrote, “All day long, a rumble as of distant thunder resounded across the countryside, as the wagons, coaches, and herds of stock traveled up and down.”
by Daniel A. Driscoll
Altamont Enterprise August 6, 2015
KNOX — The town of Knox and the Knox Historical Society will dedicate the new Plank Road Toll Gate 3 historic marker on Sunday, Aug. 9. The event will begin at 2 p.m. in the Knox Town Hall on Route 156 with a brief review of all 14 historic markers in the town, and related historic documentation.
Weather permitting, we will then carpool to Route 146 east of Witter Road for the unveiling of the new Toll Gate 3 historic marker.
An article in the Aug. 12, 1932 Altamont Enterprise describes Miss Mary D. Gregg’s Altamont High School graduation essay, “The Old Schoharie and Albany Plank Road.” Her essay deals in detail with the story of the Albany-Schoharie Plank Road from its incorporation in 1849 by the Plank Road Association to its abandonment in 1866.
Toll Gate 3 was at “the eastern end of the settlement of East Township.” The article even has a picture of Foster Williamson, a tollgate keeper of Gate 3.
According to Miss Gregg, the structure of a plank road was not complex. As a base, six parallel stringers, 3- by 4-inch timbers, usually of hemlock or birch, were laid in the ground end to end. Then 9- or 10-foot long planks were laid crosswise as close as possible, but never nailed.
As a result, she wrote, “All day long, a rumble as of distant thunder resounded across the countryside, as the wagons, coaches, and herds of stock traveled up and down.”
