The First History of The Poesten Kill Due Soon

The first detailed history of the Poesten Kill from the Petersburg Mountains to the Hudson River is due out in July. At the head of Hudson River navigation the mouth of the Poesten Kill was located at the eastern end of the Erie Canal, the southern end of the Champlain canal, and an important center of the very early Rensselaer & Saratoga and later Troy & Greenbush and New York Central railroads. The Poesten Kill was home to the first paper factory in Northern New York and for many years Troy rivaled Pittsburgh in iron and steel production. What really made life along the Poesten Kill so unique, however, was the diversity of products made there. Unlike other eastern urban areas, the Poesten Kill was home to producers of agriculture and forest products along with feed, flour, paper, plaster, paint, textiles, iron and steel products like stoves, valves, and wire – a substantial variety of consumer goods used along the kill and in the world beyond.

The Poesten Kill, will be published by The History Press. I'll be posting plenty of additional material here each week that didn't make the book, along with images, maps, and more. You can sign up to get the RSS Feed or get the posts by e-mail by entering your email address at right.