Arts and Entertainment

For years, John and I have been driving by the Oliver Stevens Blockhouse on Route 11 in Brewerton. It wasn’t until recently that I was able to visit the interior. Luckily, I saw an announcement in the local media about their two-day event with a Revolutionary War encampment. Fort Brewerton was built where Oneida Lake and the confluence of the Oneida River and Oswego River meet. Before the canals were built rapids necessitated a portage between the waterways. When Fort Brewerton was built by the British in 1759 there were four log blockhouses protected by five-foot earthworks and a moat plus a palisade of wooden logs. It was to defend the passage between Albany and Oswego.

Recently, John and I had a great two-day, one-night vacation. We drove to Utica where we checked into the Hotel Utica which recently reopened as a DoubleTree by Hilton after extensive upgrading. The hotel first opened its doors in 1912, just a few weeks before the fateful voyage of the Titanic. Walking into the two-story lobby with glittering chandeliers and a wraparound balustrade balcony where Judy Garland once sang to her many admirers, it is easy to feel the grandeur of its early days when the posh found it the place to stay in the Utica area.

New York State has published an extensive “Haunted History Trail” brochure. There are several places in Oswego County on the list. There are two in Mexico – Starr Clark Tin Shop and Underground Railroad Museum, and Casey’s Cottage at Mexico Point Park. Both are only open with prior reservations. Casey’s Cottage, designed by Dr. William Casey, a Columbia University professor spent his summers turning the carriage house at Mexico Point into an 11th century manor house. After his death in 1978 visitors reported hearing faint organ music, cries for help, candles jumping off the shelves and other unusual phenomena.

John and I have stopped by the Harriet Tubman site in Auburn several times but it was never open. In January 2017 it became the Harriet Tubman National Historic Park which means it is open more days and hours so we finally were able to visit. Tubman was the most famous conductor on the Underground Railroad and often referred to as “The Moses of Her People.” She was born a slave in Maryland around 1820. She escaped to freedom and then returned to Maryland at least 19 times to helps others reach freedom in the North – most likely about 70 not hundreds as reported in some places.

Sometimes the name says it all such as “Lincoln Boyhood Home National Memorial.” Other times the name is misleading. Such was the case with the Root Farm in Sauquoit near Utica. I was expecting a farm growing beets, carrots and other root vegetables. It turns out it is named for its founder, Alice Root. The name does not do it justice.

Thomas Cole was born in 1801 in England and immigrated to the United States. By the time the 1800s rolled around most of England and Europe had been turned into farmland or villages and cities so there were very few forested areas. Cole was enthralled with the scenery of the Hudson Valley and painted many works of art that personified the beauty and serenity of the area. His work gained him the status as being the founder of the Hudson River School of Art, a movement that flourished in the mid-19th century creating many landscape artists.

Down a tree-lined road with luxury homes snugged behind the trees is Sagamore, the place Teddy Roosevelt called home. He named it after Sagamore Mohannis who, as chief of his tribe, signed away his rights to the land. Roosevelt’s first wife, Alice, and his mother died on the same day. His wife died of Bright’s disease giving birth to their daughter, Alice; and his mother of typhoid fever. Roosevelt married again. He and his new wife, Edith, called Sagamore home for their family which included their three children, Teddy Jr., Kermit, and Ethel along with Roosevelt’s first daughter, Alice.