Little Known Facts about the Hudson Valley

While our reading to this date has established that the Hudson River valley played a crucial role in many aspects of our modern life (i.e. the steamboat/ferries, industrialization, commerce), our reading this week highlighted some little known facts about the area that I found quite intruiging. For example, did you know that the manufacturer for the U.S. Treasury's secret-formula ink that made our currency "nearly impossible to counterfeit" called Troy, NY home? (Lewis, 228) The city of Troy was home to many such inventors and manufacturers, including the inventor of the detachable collar, the manufacturer of the steel plates used to armor the Northern ship Monitor, and the inventor of a machine that produced 36,000 horseshoes an hour to supply the Union Army. (Lewis, 228)

While Storm King Mountain later became the subject of a major environmental debate, it made its debut in the mid 1800's as the testing grounds for artillery designed by West Point graduate Robert Parker Parrott. Parrott is credited with bringing "the first modern cannons to American battlefields." (Lewis, 234).

The most interesting lesser-known fact about the area, however, is its rich history in the ice market, which was fueled by the popularity and usefulness of ice for preserving foods. What the industry became sounded surprisingly like what the oil business has become today. Small time ice harvesting with horses gave way to massive operations that utilized steam-powered conveyor belts to move more than 3 millions tons of ice per year. What reminded me of the modern oil industry was a move the ice companies pulled in 1895, when they joined together to form an 'ice trust.' The goal of this trust was to ""regulate prices and the amount [of ice] harvested, and hold down competition."" (Lewis, 245). Sound familiar?