May 21, 2008

There’s a small article - just four paragraphs - on page three of the newspaper you are now holding in your hands. The article is headlined: “Forestport Establishes New Town Website.”

The article goes on to say that by going to www.townofforestport.org you can find information about the local government, which is headed by Supervisor William Hasenauer, current events, town records, genealogy records, and local history.

The history part is what caught my eye. So I went to www.townofforestport.org and got more history than I bargained for.

There are several picture postcard collections on the site. There’s the Utley-Williams Collection, the Fallon Collection, the Myers Collection and the Count and Countess deMorelos Gallery.

There are so many picture postcards and other information that someone was smart enough to build a “quick search” option into the website. Just type what you are looking for into the box. Say, for example, you want pictures of trains, of which the site has many. Just type in “trains.”

To be sure there are many picture postcards from Forestport. There’s a great picture, for example, of the Hotel Doyle and the Hotel Albert, which once operated side by side. There are also pictures of Forestport’s library, beautiful train station, O’Connor’s Palace Café, the Forestport Band, trains, family pictures, the state dam, old time automobiles, the state road through the village, and snow scenes from back when it really snowed and people only had shovels.

There are also these Forestport pictures: Sam Utley’s Harness Shop, Forestport Union School, Black River scenes, the Presbyterian Church, the bridge next to the Utley house, logging operations, Frank Connors store, Utley Paint Shop, Forest Port House, Kernan House, the bridge across the feeder canal, George Parsons Antique Shop, Fred Liddle’s house, the Christ Church choir, the high school basketball team, the Utley boathouse and icehouse and the Utley’s camp at White Lake.

There are many other pictures of Forestport, including more having to do with the Utley family. The Utleys were, obviously, a major force in Forestport. I’ve written myself a note to find out more about the family.

Although this is a Town of Forestport website, pictures from other areas of the North County are included. There are many Boonville pictures, including several of the Hulbert House, Schuyler Street before it was paved, Birdsey’s Millinery Shop, Brown’s Tourist Home, Boonville Creamery & Cold Storage, the old high school, the Boonville Hotel, Erwin Park, the freight house, and downtown.

I’ve seen many Boonville postcards but the website contains more than a few old cards that are new to me.

And the website has many postcard scenes from White Lake, as well as the Fulton Chain of Lakes, Otter Lake, Long Lake, Beaver River, Bald Mountain, Inlet, Alder Creek, Indian Lake, Number Four, and more.

So, when you finish reading the newspaper in your hand, go to www.townofforestport.org You’ll enjoy what you find there. Now that I’m finished telling you about it, I’m going right back there myself.

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Joe Kelly is the editor and publisher of The Boonville Herald & Adirondack Tourist and THE GRIFF.