Curiosities Of Central New York

The people of Central New York know there's something different--perhaps strange--in the air. Across this vast and often wild region, history and lore are remarkably and markedly unusual. Ancient Iroquois mystical traditions still infuse the landscape with a sense of the otherworldly, and for some, witchcraft was a constant fear throughout the nineteenth century. Monsters and even fairies roam the region, frightening or delighting those who say they have encountered them. Visit the world's smallest church in Oneida and North America's only Tibetan monastery, Namgyal, in Ithaca. Join local folklorist Melanie Zimmer as she explores the curiosities of Central New York.

This all-new series title covers the entire Empire State, including a bizarre cemetery on 400 acres in the Bronx and a renowned restaurant in Rochester known as the Home of the Garbage Plate. If you can’t do it here, you can’t do it anywhere!

The definitive collection of New York City's odd, wacky, and most offbeat people, places, and things, for New York City residents and anyone else who enjoys local humor and trivia with a twist. From Chinatown restaurants that make "bubble tea" to the Burger King peacock statue in Staten Island, this book will have it all.

A guide to the phenomenal crop of prophets, cults, and utopian communities that arose in Upstate New York from 1776 to 1914. From 1776 to 1914, an amazing collection of prophets, mediums, sects, cults, utopian communities, and spiritual leaders arose in Upstate New York. Along with the best known of these, such as the Shakers, Mormons, and Spiritualists, this book explores more than forty other spiritual leaders or groups, some of them virtually unknown, but all of them fascinating. The author uncovers common threads that characterize these homegrown spiritualities, including roots in Western esoteric traditions, liberation from the psychological pressures of dogmatic Christianity, a preoccupation with sex, and involvement in the radical reform movements of the day. In addition to maps and photographs of surviving buildings and monuments, the book also features a gazetteer of sites listing 150 locations connected to these groups, which may be used as a helpful travel guide to the region. “The dean of alternative spiritual history produces one of his central and most thoughtful works in Upstate Cauldron. This book is more than a cauldron: It is a melting pot into which Joscelyn Godwin blends the diffuse and complex religious movements that once converged in Upstate New York to show how we became a modern civilization indelibly stamped by the experience of spiritual outsiders. This is both splendid history and a book of wonders in uncovering lost fragments of our world. Throw away your highlighter—because you won’t know where to stop.” — Mitch Horowitz, author of Occult America: White House Séances, Ouija Circles, Masons, and the Secret Mystic History of Our Nation “What a fascinating book! Upstate Cauldron takes a refreshing and new look at the period of time when Upstate New York was the center of the Spiritualist movement in America. Joscelyn Godwin has written a book that is very difficult to put down, introducing us to the most wonderful and exotic individuals. People like Timothy Brown, who built one of the most intricate (and most photographed) homes in Central New York with his own hands and out of his own head. Can you say ‘spiritual guidance’? And we meet Kate and Maggie Fox, who may have been America’s earliest rap stars. The fabulous Fox sisters used secret rapping sounds to convince converts that they were communicating with the ‘other world.’ Anthony Damiani was a spiritual godfather to many young people in the university city of Ithaca. He doled out his visions of wisdom on Ithaca’s main street, and when done, raced fifty miles to his job as a New York State Thruway toll taker. These are just some of the sometimes incredible, sometimes bizarre, but always interesting people at the core of Upstate’s Spiritualism history. Godwin tells the story of a little-known historical chapter of the area with insight and great liveliness. As the author myself of a half dozen books about Upstate New York, I found this book irresistible and absorbing.” — Chuck D’Imperio, author of Unknown Museums of Upstate New York: A Guide to 50 Treasures “Destined to become the definitive book on eccentric religion in this geographical area, this is a fascinating account of unusual and inventive religious figures and movements. Sure-handed, even-tempered, and wry, Joscelyn Godwin is the ideal guide, and his book is one that all readers will want to have in hand as they explore this historically rich and important region. What’s more, it is an important book for understanding a vital part of American religious history.” — Arthur Versluis, author of American Gurus: From Transcendentalism to New Age Religion

In 1873, Amos Jay Cummings, a decorated Civil War veteran and journalist for the New York Sun newspaper, set out on a westward journey aboard the newly completed transcontinental railroad. For some time, miners, settlers, and entrepreneurs had already been heading west to make their fortunes, and Cummings made the trip in part to see what all the fuss was about. During his six-month expedition from Kansas to California, Cummings sent extraordinary and engaging accounts of the American West back to his readers in New York. Collected in this volume for the first time are Cummings's portraits of a land and its assortment of characters unlike anything back East. Characters like Pedro Armijo, the New Mexican sheep tycoon who took Denver by storm, and more prominently the Mormon prophet Brigham Young and one of his wives, Ann Eliza Young, who was filing for divorce at the time of Cummings's arrival. Although today he is virtually unknown, during his lifetime Cummings was one of the most famous newspapermen in the United States, in part because of stories like these. Complete with a biographical sketch and historical introduction, A Remarkable Curiosity is an enjoyable read for anybody interested in the American West in the latter half of the nineteenth century.

Enjoy a leisurely cruise in a 54 yacht on the rivers, lakes, waterways and canals of the United States and Canada, from New York City up the Hudson, thru the Erie Canal to Lake Ontario, then zigzag down the St. Lawrence River thru the Thousand Islands to Montreal. The cruise then moves across Ontario and Quebec to Hull and Ottawa on the Ottawa River into the historic 1820s Rideau Canal and its 45 colorful Lock Parks. This spectacular scenery of central Ontario leads back to Lake Ontario, at Kingston, then via the 55 locks of the Trent-Severn Waterway thru Canadas cottage-country lakes to gorgeous Georgian Bay. Here the journey turns south to Detroit, via Lakes Huron and St. Clair, then around Michigans thumb, to Sault St. Marie and Lake Superior. Moving across the Great Lakes to Chicago leads to the Illinois River into the Mississippi. The entire length of that mighty River then is cruised and described. Other tributary rivers explored town-by-city-by-town are the St. Croix, Ohio, Muskingum, Kentucky, Green, Kanawha, Allegheny, Monongahela, and Arkansas, most to their head of navigation. The White, Black, Atchafalaya, the West Gulf Intracoastal Waterway from Morgan City to Mobile, and the Tenn-Tom Waterway from Mobile Bay north to Columbus, Mississippi then follows, in detail. 190 marine charts and illustrations and 23 pages of color photos provide details of the magnificence encompassed in this book. The scenic wonders and delights of 16,000 miles of Americas Waterways are explored and exposed, showing off America the Beautiful.

Being a series of questions and answers on practical matters for the information of everybody, selected from that department of the Inter ocean known as Our curiosity shop.