Portal:Hudson Valley

The Albany Pine Bush, referred to locally as the Pine Bush, is one of the largest inland pine barrens in the world, and is centrally located in New York's Capital District within Albany and Schenectady counties, between the cities of Albany and Schenectady. The Pine Bush was formed thousands of years ago, following the drainage of Glacial Lake Albany.

The Albany Pine Bush has been a historical, cultural, and environmental asset to the Capital District and Hudson Valley regions of New York. Pioneers moving west passed through the pine barrens, which later became the site of the first passenger railroad in the United States. The Pine Bush is also home to the Karner Blue butterfly, an endangered species first identified by Vladimir Nabokov in 1944 using a type specimen from the Pine Bush.

• ... that the former Lady Washington Hose Company firehouse (pictured) in Poughkeepsie incorporates both Japanese and Gothic Revival elements in its design?
• ... that the First Presbyterian Church of Chester, New York, has worshipped in three different buildings, all in different locations, in its history?
• ... that the Esopus Wars led to the creation of the boundaries of Native American lands in 17th century New York?

Sojourner Truth (/soʊˈdʒɜːrnər ˈtruːθ/; c. 1797 – November 26, 1883) was the self-given name, from 1843 onward, of Isabella Baumfree, an African-American abolitionist and women's rights activist. Truth was born into slavery in Swartekill, New York, but escaped with her infant daughter to freedom in 1826. After going to court to recover her son, she became the first black woman to win such a case against a white man. Her best-known extemporaneous speech on racial inequalities, Ain't I a Woman?, was delivered in 1851 at the Ohio Women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio. During the Civil War, Truth helped recruit black troops for the Union Army; after the war, Truth tried unsuccessfully to secure land grants from the federal government for former slaves.