Chateaugay Historical Society

05/20/2026

Celebrating the birth of the United States with the program, America250, is gaining more and more momentum nation-wide as July 4th approaches.

Chateaugay will be celebrating America’s 250th on July 11th. The day will begin on the front steps of the Town Hall at 9am when the Chateaugay Historical Society will dedicate a plaque to the American Revolution veterans buried in Bellmont, Burke and Chateaugay.

Then, beginning at noon, the Town has an amazing schedule of events planned at the Rec Park which will culminate with a huge fireworks display at 10:00pm.

An eventful day awaits. Merchandise is now available. Everyone is welcome to honor and celebrate the 250th birthday of the USA!!

More detailed information in the pictures…

05/13/2026

The Chateaugay Historical Society’s quarterly newsletter – Issue #2 for 2026 is in the editing stages. We have 7 articles being prepared for publication. Mailing will happen during June. The topics in this issue are:

1) Another reminiscence by Royal Nadeau – this one, “My Rides”
2) The Tornado of 1856 by Lynn Harrigan
3) A personal account about James Farley, the man who ended the existence of the Chateaugay Agricultural Society and the local Fairs, written by the late W.D. Ryan
4) Artificial Intelligence and its role as another valuable tool in the mission of the Chateaugay Historical Society by Mick Jarvis
5) Riding in a Walters snowplow as a youngster by Clarence Clark
6) The Summer of 1961 in Chateaugay by Mick Jarvis

Members will receive another issue packed with a wide variety of topics, tons of illustrations and photos, — 28 more pages of Chateaugay history in printed form!

We will now have published 77 issues for our membership, which have contained 319 articles that have filled over 1,650 total printed pages. Those articles have chronicled many engaging and wide-ranging topics found throughout Chateaugay’s past.

We began with seven pages of articles in Vol 1 Issue #1 in 2007, and now regularly fill twenty-eight pages with text, photographs, and illustrations. All this research and publishing would not have been possible without the continuing and fervent support of our members.

There are many more topics being researched and written as we continue into our 21st year of newsletters and we have planned topics for the remainder of this year and well beyond.

In addition to the 77 regular newsletters, our Society has also published four books: Memories of a Chateaugay Farm Boy, Early Sporting Visits to Chateaugay Lake, Nathan Beman and Benjamin Roberts: Chateaugay’s Founders, and Chateaugay’s Heritage Trail.

A fifth book: Being Fatigued by our Labor… : The lives and military experiences of the 17 men who lie at rest in Chateaugay, Bellmont and Burke, New York – Soldiers of the American Revolution who pledged their honor and lives in the service of the new United States of America will be available beginning July 11, 2026, the day we will dedicate a bronze plaque to honor these 17 soldiers.

As we see it, every quarterly newsletter issue that we produce and each book we publish put more of Chateaugay’s amazing history into print than ever existed before the Historical Society was established.

We thank each and every one of our members, supporters, and donors. Without your unwavering interest in our mission, none of this would be possible.

05/06/2026

04/08/2026

The Historical Society adopted a logo for the organization at our most recent meeting. This will appear on our website, posters, announcements, etc.

It was designed around a Town Hall outline developed by Trustee Katelyn Legacy-Roulston and uses the CCS school colors.

04/05/2026

We have just learned of the passing of Marsha Pearl Jamil. If you remember Pearl's Department Store on East Main St., Marsha was Mrs. Pearl's middle child (she had an older brother, David, and younger brother, Marty). She graduated from CCS with the Class of 1952. She was a long-time member of the Historical Society, and one of our biggest boosters. She wrote articles for the newsletter and was a great source of information for the article I wrote on the Jewish families in Chateaugay, back in 2021. I spoke with her several times over the recent years.

She had such a deep attachment to Chateaugay. One of the last times we talked, she mentioned that when anyone asked where she was from, she always said "Chateaugay"! She recalled how much she enjoyed growing up here and said: "You know, I've been gone from Chateaugay for over 70 years and I've only been back a few times, but I'll always think of myself as a Chateaugay girl!"

Chateaugay seems to do that to people, I guess.
Below are Marsha's senior photo from the 1952 yearbook and her obituary.

04/05/2026

A view of the Chateaugay Passenger Depot from 95 years ago. A woman walks past a stopped train in 1931. The smoke from the engine can be seen in the distance over the roof of the depot building. Both freight and passenger trains came through Chateaugay several times each day.

04/01/2026

Here are the 17 men who are honored on the plaque to be dedicated July 11th. Their burial places are also shown.

CHATEAUGAY
David Beach - Brayton Hollow Cem.
Nathan Beman - East Side Cem.
Alexander Church - East Side Cem.
Justin Day - Smith Cem.
Peleg Douglas - on his homestead
Nicholas Hall - East Side Cem.
Joshua Lathrop - on his homestead
Jonah Newton - on his homestead
Benjamin Roberts - East Side Cem.
Ebenezer Sargent - on his homestead
Jonathan Shepherd - on his homestead
Jacob Smith - Smith Cem.
BELLMONT
Francis Thurber - Bunker Hill Cem.
Ebenezer Webb - Brainardsville Cem.
BURKE
Martin Baldwin - Mitchell Cem.
Stephen Cook - Burke Center Cem.
Alpheus Crippen - on his homestead

Send a message to learn more

04/01/2026

The Historical Society is planning and preparing for our dedication ceremony to be held on July 11 at 9:00am on the front steps of the Town Hall. We will be dedicating a plaque in honor of the 17 men who fought in the American Revolution and are buried in Chateaugay, Burke and Bellmont.

To aid our project, the TruNorthern Federal Credit Union has generously donated $1000. These funds will go towards the plaque purchase and other costs for materials and supplies as we create this tribute to these 17 men on America's 250th birthday.

Thank you, TruNorthern FCU for your support for our local activities. It is very much appreciated!

Pictured in the accompanying photo are: Mary Humiston, Society president, and Robi Monica, Chateaugay Branch Manager.

03/11/2026

Today, let's journey back into Chateaugay's past, exactly 100 years ago.

This photo is of the members of the Chateaugay Fire Department - Protection Hose No. 7. This hose company had been formed on May 26, 1925, although the fire department, through various companies and forms, had existed since about 1860.

This image shows the department waiting in the staging area for the annual July 4 parade. This photo was developed the next day.

The truck is parked on Harrison Avenue, adjacent to the Sprague garage. The parade later wended its way through the village streets to the fire station on East Main St.

Among the members shown in the photo were: Gerald Hyland (in the driver's seat) and Clarence "Mose" Humiston (first on the left in the back-left arm bent and resting on the truck).

A great look back at an essential community organization a century ago...

03/09/2026

Chateaugay Historical Society members, your first issue of 2026 is in the mail. Articles this time: The Settlement of the "Shatagee" woods & the Development of Early North Country Transportation, another Royal Nadeau recollection, a photo collection taken by Herb McCoy Sr. of the 1932 Winter Olympics held in Lake Placid, William H. Williams - RR Titan and Chateaugay Lake Landowner, and a poem to Chateaugay and its Winters written by Jeanne Roussel. Another 28-pages of Chateaugay and area history. Watch your mailboxes in the coming days.