Intimations of Life a Hundred Years Ago

At the beginning of the last century, the name electric park referred to amusement parks constructed by streetcar companies and electric companies. Columbia County had an electric park, operated by the Albany and Hudson Railroad Company, located on Kinderhook Lake in Niverville, midway between Hudson and Albany. 

The Columbia County Historical Society currently has an exhibition devoted to Kinderhook Lake's Electric Park, which operated between 1901 and 1920. It showcases the phenomenon called postcarditis by newspaper columnists--an obsession with sending and receiving postcards--with postcards of the Electric Park from CCHS's permanent collection. The postcards "offer poignant glimpses into the daily lives of Columbia County residents and visitors during the early 1900s."

The exhibition is at the CCHS Museum & Library, 5 Albany Avenue, in Kinderhook, and can be seen from noon until 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. CCHS members, students, and children can visit free of charge; for all others there is a $5 admission fee. 
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