Bethlehem NY History: May 2022

Thursday, May 26, 2022

Thinking about Bethlehem Barns

I am often thinking about barns as I drive around town. Have you noticed them tucked in here and there?

Barns, and the many other structures that are needed to run a farm, speak to Bethlehem's agricultural past and I really worry about them, especially when I notice a hole in the roof.

If you own a historic barn, the New York State Historic Barn Rehabilitation Tax Credit might be able to help. It is a New York income tax credit for up to 25% of the cost of the renovation. Find more details here : https://parks.ny.gov/shpo/tax-credit-programs/

And, if you want to learn more about what all those barns and out buildings are used for, check out this book. All of your barn questions will be answered!

Barns of New York Rural Architecture of the Empire State by Cynthia Falk.

All of the Bethlehem barn pictures in this post are stolen from google street view - just so I wouldn't have to go driving all over town :)

Tuesday, May 17, 2022

Judge Hurlbut Historic Marker

Thanks to the William C. Pomeroy Foundation and the researching and grant writing efforts of Bethlehem Historical Association Trustee Chris Philippo, Bethlehem has a new historic marker. Many thanks to the town's Highway Department for installing it at the corner of River Road and Halter Road in Glenmont.

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New Historical Marker installed in Bethlehem

Honors Judge Elisha Hurlbut

Elisha Powell Hurlbut was highly influential in the Woman Suffrage movement. His persuasive essay “Rights of Woman” was published in 1841 when he was a young attorney working in New York City. In 1847 he was appointed Judge of New York Supreme Court. That same year he married Catherine Van Vechten, a daughter Teunis Van Vechten and Catherine Gansevoort, both prominent Albany families. The couple would go on to have four children together.

Due to his ill health, Hurlbut and his family moved to the country. By the 1860 U.S. Census they were living in Bethlehem, just outside of Albany on the River Road. Inspired by the landscape of his property, he called his estate “Glenmont on the Hudson” originating the name of the modern-day Bethlehem hamlet of Glenmont.

While living at Glenmont, Hurlbut continued to think and write about the issues of his day including civil rights, religion and phrenology. His life long interest in Woman Suffrage is indicated with his tenure on New York’s State Suffrage Committee from 1880-1882, some 40 years after his essay was published.

Judge Elisha Powell Hurlbut died in 1889 and is buried at Albany Rural Cemetery.

Chris Philippo of the Bethlehem Historical Association was instrumental in researching Hurlbut’s life and career. Working with Bethlehem Town Historian Susan Leath, the pair were able to identify the exact location of Hurlbut’s former estate. Philippo, on behalf of BHA, applied for to the William C. Pomeroy Foundation for historic marker grant in connection with the National Votes for Women Trail. The grant was approved and the new marker was recently installed at the foot of Halter Road, the former drive up to the Hurlbut mansion. It is at the corner with River Road in Bethlehem.

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