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"Clinton’s Ditch": The Erie Canal at 200
DeWitt Clinton mingling the waters of Lake Erie with the Atlantic by Philip Meeder (1826) ( New York Public Library via flickr.com ) Two hundred years ago, the Erie Canal was completed. It was a project so ambitious that many thought it foolhardy: building an massive artificial waterway some 363 miles across New York State that would connect the Hudson River at Albany and Lake Erie at Buffalo. The concept of the canal first emerged before the American Revolution , finally c
Stephen Gould
Oct 263 min read
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Alonzo Foster: A Civil War Hero from Good Ground
October 15th was an important date for Alonzo Foster ( 1841–1913 ) of Good Ground (Hampton Bays): it was the day he was born in 1841, the day he married Georgianna Squires in 1865, and the day he volunteered for the Union Army in 1861. When Alonzo reported for duty, he was assigned to Company F of the 6th New York Cavalry , then forming on Staten Island. He fought with the 6th New York in some of the most significant battles in Virginia and Maryland. Alonzo's cap was shot
Stephen Gould
Oct 152 min read
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Homefront to Battlefront: Brothers in Arms
Heinz and Hans Wobst (Images courtesy David Wobst) Heinz and Hans Wobst were born in Dresden, Germany; Heinz in 1921 and Hans in 1922....
Stephen Gould
Sep 193 min read
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Lights! Camera! SHARK! Remembering Frank Mundus
Great White Shark ( natgeokids.com ) 50 years ago the iconic American summer movie Jaws was released, directed by the renowned filmmaker...
Stephen Gould
Sep 151 min read
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A Perfect Ending
Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Hamptons Classic on Labor Day weekend 2025!
Stephen Gould
Aug 291 min read
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Homefront to Battlefront: John Michael Fahy
John M. Fahy enlistment photograph ( findagrave.com ) Born in Leamington Spa, England, in July 1924, John M. Fahy’s family moved to the...
Stephen Gould
Jul 184 min read
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Homefront to Battlefront: James Van Allen
James Van Allen (The Collection of Sally Van Allen) Lt. Commander James A. Van Allen, summer resident and husband of Southampton-born,...
Stephen Gould
Jun 273 min read
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Homefront to Battlefront: Warren S. Lutz
One of those who made the ultimate sacrifice was Warren S. Lutz , a graduate of Southampton High School and Norwich University . Lutz was...
Stephen Gould
Jun 202 min read
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Homefront to Battlefront: D-Day Hero, Norman C. Sandford
"Into the Jaws of Death," June 6, 1944. The photograph's original caption reads: "Down the ramp of a Coast Guard landing barge Yankee...
Stephen Gould
Jun 63 min read
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The Marvelous Humpty Dumpty Circus
Schoenhut Humpty Dumpty Circus toys, produced between 1903 –ca. 1935 (Southampton History Museum Collection) There is something truly...
Steve Gould
Apr 283 min read
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The "Shot Heard 'Round the World" - April 19, 1775
Near midnight on April 18, 1775, Paul Revere (1734 –1818) , a Boston silversmith, received word that British troops were on the march...
Stephen Gould
Apr 192 min read
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Commeraw Stoneware at the Halsey House: Old artifacts tell new stories
Learn more about the amazing artifacts preserved by the Southampton History Museum.
Sarah Kautz
Feb 284 min read
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Love Letters from the Great War
William Post Nugent was in love with Hazel Adele Jagger. Only one thing could keep them apart: a world war. The story of their wartime...
Stephen Gould
Feb 144 min read
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Conscience Point: "The First Step"
Conscience Point Historic Site and Nature Walk commemorates one of the most consequential events in our shared past: the landing of the...
Sarah Kautz
Nov 21, 20244 min read
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