19th century Willsboro — Seeing out 1878

They saw the old year out with a “grand concert” and meal to benefit the poor, with a modest price the equivalent of about $11 in 2024 dollars.

“Mrs. Whitney and her class will give a grand concert at Union Hall on New Year’s Eve. Admission fee 10 cents (the equivalent of $3.14 in 2024 dollars),” the Willsboro correspondent reported in the Ticonderoga Sentinel on Dec. 20, 1878. “Supper prepared in the room joining, for all who wish, at 25 cents each (the equivalent of $7.84 in 2024 dollars). The proceeds of both the supper and concert will be donated to the Home of the Friendless at Plattsburgh.”

In other 19th century Willsboro news collected from historic newspapers of the region:

1877

• “The singing school is at last organized. It is under the supervision of Prof. A. W. Barnard,” the Willsboro correspondent reported in the Ticonderoga Sentinel on Dec. 14.

1879

• “Lamp Lookout at the extreme end of Willsborough Point is undoubtedly the most delightful picnic ground in the whole famed region. It is owned by Elliott Brown, and is furnished with every desirable convenience for cooking, camping, etc.,” the Willsborough correspondent reported in the Elizabethtown Post & Gazette on Aug. 7.
• “The grain proves a bountiful harvest. The farmers have ample returns for their harvest,” the Willsborough correspondent reported in the Elizabethtown Post & Gazette on Aug. 7. “Daniel Rowley and sons have cut 200 tons of hay this season. 190 loads of hay and 13 loads of grain in with one team in fifteen days, excepting two afternoons of said day,

1888

“Limestone for piers in New York City is being quarried at Willsboro Point,” the Ticonderoga Sentinel reported on Nov. 1.