History of Halfmoon
We live in a very beautiful part of the country that is the site of a lot of history. Have you ever seen the historic markers on the side of the road? If you go online to the New York State Museum Historic Markers (http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/historicmarkers/, you can search by county where these markers are located. You will find the list of 101 markers with their descriptions listed for Saratoga County. History buffs might think about taking a trip around our area to explore these historic sites.
The town of Halfmoon is located in Saratoga County in upstate New York. The town was named for the crescent shape of the land between the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers. It was settled in about 1680 although evidence of early man go as far back as 8000 years. European settlers established farms and homes in the area in the late 1600s. After the French and Indian War, because of the available farmland, people from more populated areas came to Halfmoon and Clifton Park.
Halfmoon was originally a town of Albany County, but then became a “mother town in Saratoga County in 1791. They eventually split off from Clifton Park in 1828. The first town meeting was held in Groom’s Tavern that still exists today. It is located at 290 Sugar Hill Rd. in Rexford. Check to see the weekly programs and events held there.
If you drive south down Route 9, you will see an old building on your left at the light of old Route 146. This was a hotel run by Ephraim Stevens, the first Supervisor of Clifton Park, was known as Stevens Corners and later known as Clifton Park Village. This hotel and surrounding taverns provided food and shelter for travelers and become a focus for social life in the area. The town lines of Clifton Park and Halfmoon divide the building.
The Erie Canal was known as the “eighth wonder of the world” opened the Crescent Aqueduct, in 1825. This was the longest aqueduct in the Erie Canal System. A Halfmoon historical site marker, indicates the stone remnants that mark the northern end of the aqueduct which carried the Erie Canal over the Mohawk River between 1825 to 1915.
Halfmoon is located in the Schenendehowa Central School District and today is the largest school district in Saratoga County with about 9800 students and 12 schools. The onset of public education came with the allotment of $1200 from the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors in 1792. Then in 1812, the New York State Legislature established a common school system and 11 districts were created in Halfmoon. Because most of the area was primarily agricultural until the middle of the 1900s, one-room schools were established. Several private schools were also established, the most notable, Halfmoon Academy in Middletown. Many parents educated their children at home or had tutors. The formation of the Schenendehowa Central School District in 1950 ended the era of one-room schools in Halfmoon.
Our area is loved for it’s apple orchards. Fall is a time for apple picking and making delicious apple recipes. John Macintosh, a onetime resident of Clifton Park, is well-known as the discoverer of the Macintosh Red. It started with a single tree discovered in 1796 on his farm in Ontario. It was one of 20 apple seedlings he found while clearing the farm that he had just purchased. He transplanted the seedlings and only one was still alive by 1830. That was the foundation for the Macintosh apple which we still enjoy today.
We may owe much of our baking success to Anthony Mills. In 1880, the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, later known as the A&P, began marketing its own brand of baking powder, its first private label product. Anthony Mills, located in Halfmoon boasted his prize-winning baking powder and supplied it to the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company along with other spices and flavorings.
Prospect Meadows was developed by Belmonte Builders and first homes built in 2003. We are a wonderful community that will help form the history of Halfmoon in the future. We welcome you to be a part of it.
Sources:
A Brief History of our Towns: Clifton Park and Halfmoon
http://www.cphlibrary.org/historical/cph-history-p3.html
http://www.livingplaces.com/NY/Saratoga_County/Halfmoon_Town.html
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