Tag Archives: history

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History of Schools in Schaghticoke – by C. Kelley

Last week I talked a bit about the lack of information about 18th century schools in Schaghticoke. Though New York State began funding schools in 1795, the Common School Law, passed in 1812, organized the schools and funding more comprehensively.

Private schools existed in the 19th century as well. One local non-public school option for girls was the Troy Female Seminary, founded in Waterford by Emma Hart Willard in 1819 and later moved to Troy.

Read the entire article in the Oct. 30th issue of the Express.

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Malta Presbyterian Church – by Sandy McBride

When you drive up Route 9 from Clifton Park to Saratoga Springs these days, you can’t miss Malta.  Impressive new buildings crowd the sides of the highways, a plethora of round-abouts keep your attention focused on your driving.  There are huge hotels, shopping areas, office buildings, restaurants, service stations, a Rescue Squad facility and even a medical center that has sprung up in the middle of an open field along the Northway where horses grazed not so many years ago. Seems like everything is new in Malta.  Growth and bustle and change.

It was very different 169 years ago.

Read the entire article in the April 17 issue of the Express.

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Mott Families’ Halfmoon Roots – By Lynda Brian

Halfmoon – “Let us be known by our deeds.” That was the family motto. Often when we think of billionaire families, we might think of the Rockefellers, Rothschilds, Fords and Carnegies. Their history of wealth and power transcend not only generations but entire eras of history. The Mott family, among the first self-made billionaire families in the US, is an exception to that rule.  Early in our nation’s history, the Mott family was just regular farmers. Zebulon Mott owned a farm deeded in 1795 at where Farm and Market and Pruyn Hill roads meet.