New Book Releases

Established in 1817 as a cannon foundry, the West Point Foundry at Cold Spring in the Hudson Highlands was one of the first major industrial sites in the United States. The foundry and its many iron products, most significantly artillery and other ordnance, played a central role in the nation's industrial development. At its peak during the Civil War, the foundry manufactured cannons of several types, including Dahlgrens, Rodmans, and--most prolifically--Parrott rifles, which were widely employed and crucial to the Union victory. Among other products were the first American steam locomotives, marine engines and boilers for early steamships and warships, sugar mills, aqueduct pipes, dynamite and disappearing guns, architectural columns, and industrial machinery. Rare photographs and other images, mostly from the 19th century, trace the foundry's story from its early years through the period of Civil War production to its eventual status as a site of archaeological excavation.

For 141 years, Hudson River State Hospital was home to tens of thousands of individuals suffering from mental illness.

Famous architects Frederick Clark Withers and Calvert Vaux drafted the main building in 1869. The facility grew from a 208-acre parcel in 1871 with seven patients to 752 acres with five dozen separate buildings containing nearly 6,000 patients in 1954. The main building was constructed on a Kirkbride plan, a treating philosophy centered around an ornate building of equal proportions staffed by employees who integrated dignity and compassion into health care. Famous architects Frederick Clark Withers and Calvert Vaux drafted the main building in 1869. The landscape was penned by Frederick Law Olmsted, perhaps best known for the design of New York City's Central Park.

Chenango Canal: The Million Dollar Ditch chronicles the story of a central New York State canal and how it changed the region. In 1825, the Omnibus Canal Bill had called for a survey of a canal linking the Susquehanna River at Binghamton to the Erie Canal in Utica. The idea of a canal was well received in the Chenango Valley but was opposed by many outside it. After eight years of legislative battles, the canal was finally authorized in 1833 with a proposed million-dollar budget. Against seeming insurmountable odds, the 97-mile canal was completed in 1836. Touted as "the best built canal in New York State," the canal was never profitable for the state, but it did bring a measure of prosperity to the communities along its length, delivering cheap coal from Pennsylvania to emerging steam-powered factories.

Brooklyn, New York, is home to the Brooklyn Public Library, the fifth-largest library system in the United States, with 60 neighborhood branches serving the 2.5 million residents of the borough. The Central Library--the main hub of this far-reaching institution--has, for 75 years, occupied a prime triangle of land at Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza. Originally proposed in 1888, the unique Art Deco building with an "open book" design was not completed until 53 years later in 1941. Since then, the library has seen millions of eager readers pass through its iconic gilded doorway. While the technologies of learning have changed dramatically in the years since the Central Library opened, the mission of the institution remains the same--to ensure the preservation and transmission of society's knowledge, history, and culture, and to provide the people of Brooklyn with free and open access to information for education, recreation, and reference.