A photograph from 1913, showing two buildings – a carriage barn to the left, with a carriage parked outside, and an ice house in the center background, painted with local advertising signs – submerged in flood waters of the Mohawk River. This real photo postcard of a 1913 flood along Scotia’s Dyke shows the levels the Mohawk River used to reach on a regular basis before the modern Barge Canal brought significantly more control of the river. The building on the postcard with the painted advertisement for Barney’s was the Collins Lake Ice warehouse. Dated April 6, 1913, the writer tells Mrs. E. Howard of Dolgeville: “This picture was taken just this end of the dyke near Sanders this is the way the dyke looked, where the water was so high it was a sight this is four times i have seen it like this the river and the lake was one body of water.”
My latest #localHistory post looks at my hometown's biggest park, Collins Park, long a center of community along the #MohawkRiver. As some old pictures show, it was sometimes hard to tell apart from the river during floods. I also found a surprise […]
[Original post on mastodon.sdf.org]
![The back of the post card, with the penciled inscription "Dick on Mohawk river at Schenetady [sic] in 1917 while working in G.E." The right side of the postcard is divided, placing it after 1907, and the stamp box is surrounded by "AZO," the Kodak brand of photographic paper used, and four triangles in the corners which were used in 1904-1918, according to one source. Happily, the captioner dated this for us anyway.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hsxoh623qohfivtd6iiulxe5/bafkreib74fpkq2gvdx2yokehfzlo2jgkky6q636epncxeengsiotrk4b7u)
![Undated advertisement from sometime between 1870-1912, with a colorful litho illustration of the broad falls of the Mohawk River at Cohoes, showing at the left an impressive but simple three-story hotel with surrounding porch, positioned below the falls. In part, it reads:
CATARACT HOUSE
COHOES FALLS, N.Y.
THE ATTRACTIONS.
Parties visiting this section of the Country should make it a special object to visit these "FALLS," it being one of the grandest sights for miles around.
The CATARACT HOUSE is beautifully situated upon a bluff overlooking the Falls, and from its Observatory the Country can be seen for miles around.
It is one of the most delightful places we know of, the cool breeze
from the Falls always mitigating the intensity of the heat.
THE FALLS ARE THREE MILES FROM TROY, EIGHT FROM ALBANY, and but a short distance from SHAKER VILLAGE.
No expense has been spared to make the Cataract "Excelsior," in addition to the beautiful scenery surrounding the same.
The artificial Fall 123 feet, the Falls of the "Mighty Mohawk" 86 feet, the Walk in the Dell, on the bed of the river, &c., &c., combine to make this a very attractive resort.
Pleasure Gondolas are on the Pond near the Cataract House; the Scenery from the many windows in the large Billiard Room is surprisingly beautiful, and a spacious Ball Room for the accommodation of Sleighing Parties is attached to the House.
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WM. H. GWYNN, Proprietor.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hsxoh623qohfivtd6iiulxe5/bafkreigpja3rvofvckw5z77oqueovoeuogqj36alxownrd5u3qikuo4pu4)
