Germantown History Department

08/21/2026

Join the Germantown History Department and the Friends of Historic Germantown on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 7th at 1 PM to dedicate the new Revolutionary War monument and Liberty Pole. The monument describes the political importance of German Camp attaining district status in 1775, life in the Camp during the tense closing days of the Saratoga campaign, a June 1778 Loyalist raid, and specifically honors the soldiers of the Tenth Company of the Tenth Regiment of the Albany County Militia. The Liberty Pole is modeled after the several erected by the NYC Sons of Liberty and cut down by British soldiers in the years leading up to the Revolution. The monument was paid for by a very generous donation from the Droege Family Trust to Friends of Historic Germantown and installed by Henderson Monuments of Catskill. 

Park near the pavilion or Town hall and walk over toward the north end of Lake George South. 

08/20/2026

Curious about history hiding in plain sight along Main Street and Maple Avenue? This hiking tour will start in the heart of Germantown, following Main Street to Palatine Park, where we will pick up the trail system leading to the 1767 Parsonage and the brand-new Theodore Robinson Community Forest. A stop along the way will be the even-more-brand-new Revolutionary War monument. There will be a short break at the Parsonage. Approximate total walking distance of 4 miles. Walk time of about 3 hours, providing ample time for discussion. Led by Tom Shannon, Town of Germantown Historian. Please RSVP to [email protected] by Sept. 25th. Proudly part of Hudson River Valley Ramble

08/20/2026

07/30/2026

07/30/2026

(Governor) Hunterstown Road.

07/29/2026

Junk he said to all them open-mouthed.
Weather wóuld govern. When the monsoon spread
its floods, few came, two.
Came a day when none, though he began
in his accustomed way on the filthy steps
in a crash of waters, came.

Dream Song 71, Berryman

Cheviot outflow after the 7/29/26 flood.

07/29/2026

REALLY Postdiluvian

07/26/2026

07/25/2026

When John Margan, Roadstand manager, was a youngster in Columbia County his neighbor was the famous professional golfer Gene Sarazen!

Can you spot which kid is John Margan?

Sarazen is known for hitting “the shot heard round the world” at the Masters Tournament in 1935. On the fifteenth hole in the final round he struck a spoon (the loft of the modern four wood) 232 yards (212 m) into the hole, scoring a double eagle. At the time he was trailing Craig Wood by three shots, and was then tied with him. He parred the 16th, 17th and 18th holes to preserve the tie. The following day, the pair played a 36-hole playoff, with Sarazen winning by five shots.
(Per Wikipedia)
He was a big supporter at Siena college and the Sarazen Student Union was named in his honor.

07/10/2026

Thanks to a grant from Bank of Greene County and additional funding from Friends of Historic Germantown , the bulk of the Germantown History Department's newspaper collection is now digitized and available online at Hudson River Valley Heritage. https://news.hrvh.org/ or at the linktree listed in our profile.

Every newspaper listed under Columbia County with the exception of the Chatham newspapers was part of this project. 

Of particular note are the six editions of the Germantown Post newspaper, which lasted about four years as far as we can tell (1928-1932). The Post was funded largely by Robert Reginald "Reggie" Livingston (1888-1962). 

On the front page of the April 9th, 1931 edition is an account of a visit to Germantown by Major General Smedley Butler. The General had dinner Central House and later gave a speech at the Germantown High School Auditorium. In 1931, that was the room currently used as the high school library. Butler is better known today for writing a book during his retirement called "War is a Racket" in which he described his military service thus: "I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer; a gangster for capitalism."