Drive Through History: Artifacts of Industry

Columbia County’s growth and character has been shaped over time by its industrial evolution. As mills began popping up on our fast-moving streams in the late 1600s, an influx of newcomers gave rise to vibrant, diverse communities. Those communities have weathered the boom and bust of shifting industry over 300 years to become the places we call home today.

Peter Stott’s 2007 book, “Looking For Work: Industrial Archaeology in Columbia County, New York,” explores more than 130 surviving sites and structures from the industrial era. They range from the crumbling ruins of ice houses to abandoned cement factories and former mills that have been given new life in the modern renaissance of places like Hudson and Chatham.

This road trip tells the stories of how western Columbia County—the first area to develop and for many years the county’s industrial epicenter—came into its own thanks to the Hudson River and the hard work of many.