Allegany State Park Historical Society

Merry Christmas!

Gerry — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 04:15:41 +0000

Christmas decorations at Allegany!

Red House Great Room Christmas Tree

Red House Admin Bldg Lobby

Rudolph!

Red House Admin Bldg Museum

Allegany hellbenders

Gerry — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:50:12 +0000

The Allegany hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) is the largest aquatic salamander in America, ranging in size from 12-29 inches. The only areas of NYS where they can be found are in the Allegheny and Susquehanna River drainages. They have been decreasing in number mostly due to habitat destruction or degradation. At this month’s meeting on Nov 19, we will be visiting the Fish and Wildlife Headquarters in Salamanca to see their facilities including the new Hellbender Habitat. Come join us to learn more about this fascinating amphibian & about the efforts to bring it back to the Allegany region.

Allegany Hellbender -picture by Jeff Humphries

Check out the following link to a great website with lots of information & pictures.
www.hellbenders.org

Apples of Allegany

Gerry — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 01:54:30 +0000

Checking out an heirloom apple tree.

Old apple trees can be found scattered throughout the Park, showing evidence that people lived & farmed the land before Allegany State Park was established. The red apples pictured below are in the Red House area. Nearby are some old half buried foundation stones and some old fashioned garden flowers can be found here in the summer.

My all time favorite apples are these yellow ones found along Route ASP #2.
Many of the old apples were very tart, and though excellent for pies or cider, were not great eating apples. But these apples are delicious! (…and relatively worm free!) Thank you whoever planted them.