This year’s 200th anniversary of the Hyde Hall covered bridge in Glimmerglass State Park near Cooperstown, the oldest covered bridge still standing in America, is being celebrated on October 11, 2025. It’s all traceable to one man: George Clarke.
We’re showcasing some of the stand-out, unusual, and noteworthy New York State listings in the National Register of Historic Places in honor of the milestone 200th meeting of the New York State Board for Historic Preservation (on September 10, 2025). There are around 130,000 resources in New York listed in the National Register, either as individual sites or as parts of historic districts.
Our list recognizes decades of work by historic preservationists. They are listed here in no particular order, but rather by characteristic or region to give a flavor of the different types of listings on the register.
The Board – which was established in 1972 and expanded by the New York State Historic Preservation Act of 1980 – works with the New York State Historic Preservation Office to review nominations to the State and National Registers of Historic Places. You can learn more about the State Review Board online.
Let’s start exploring!
Continue reading 25 National Register Sites to Know in New YorkA statue of abolitionist and writer Solomon Northup, whose story was told in his memoir and the Academy Award-winning film Twelve Years a Slave, has provided a space for reflection at Saratoga Spa State Park this summer. The 13-foot bronze “Hope Out of Darkness” sculpture was unveiled during a July 10 ceremony attended by Northup descendants, area officials and community members on the lawn in front of the Lincoln Bathhouse.
Northup, a free-born Black American born in Minerva, NY, lived in Saratoga Springs with his wife and children for about seven years when he was tricked into joining a traveling circus. This sinister ploy led to Northup being kidnapped in Washington, D.C. in April 1841 and sold into slavery.
Continue reading Returning Home: Solomon Northup at Saratoga Spa State ParkThe final chapter of the interactive history timeline, Blazing a Trail: A History of NY State Parks and Historic Sites, has been released, completing the chronicling and sharing of our agency’s history in celebration of our Centennial anniversary. In detailing the future of New York State Parks and our ongoing efforts, we hope that this era leaves you inspired to not only learn more, but to take an active role in shaping the future of our park and historic site system. In the final installment of this eight-era series, “Tomorrow & Beyond” explores how New York State Parks will combat climate change, expand access to our parks and sites, share previously undertold history, use new technology, and improve and expand our system of 250 state parks, historic sites, golf courses, and boat launches.
Continue reading A Vision for the Future: The Final Chapter of ‘Blazing A Trail’The Stonewall Inn, a State Historic Site in our system, is the most well-known place in LGBTQ American history. In June 1969, following a routine police raid, patrons at the Mafia-run Stonewall Inn, as well as young queer and trans people who lived or regularly congregated in Greenwich Village, spontaneously erupted in multiple nights of protest. The event was a turning point in the ongoing LGBTQ rights movement and sparked its growth in New York City, New York State, and across the nation. Organizations and groups formed around the country to promote LGBTQ rights, and thousands of people became active in the movement.
LGBTQ history often focuses on large coastal cities like New York and San Francisco. However, the gay liberation movement that emerged in the wake of Stonewall reverberated in small towns and rural settings as well. One such example is the Lavender Hill commune in central New York, listed in the New York State Register of Historic Places on December 5, 2024, and in the National Register of Historic Places on February 3, 2025.
Continue reading The Lavender Hill Commune and LGBTQ Liberation in Central New York
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