1968 Schodack N.Y.

The Town of Schodack is a small town south of Albany N.Y. on the opposite side of the river from the Capitol. As the crow flies it is about 5 0r so miles south. It has been a town often gone through or bypassed on the way to somewhere else. A small village of Castleton is by the river and a rural suburban composition is the rest of the town. If the reader has read my other blogs you can say history passed through as well. Did not stay long. 1968 was a tramatic year for the country , riots , political unrest , counter culture movement , war. The changes that would effect the nation would touch Schodack as well. I wanted to stop by 1968 in that sleepy town and what was Schodack of the time atleast some impressions.
Schodack was alot dirtier then. As sited by State Study and a 1967 NYT magazine article the biggest pollutors in the Hudson River Valley per capita. Paper Mill from the Fort Orange Paper Company and the Anti Corrosive metal plant poured tons of industrial waste into the river. Open sewer pipes to the river were common. Farming runoff was still common. Large fish kills were not uncommon , 100+ fish could wash up on shore in or near Castleton , making life less pleasant.
You never quite forget that dead fish smell. The environmental movement was just beginning , the first Earth Day was 2 yrs away.
Schodack was less suburban than now , farming was still a common occupation. The smell of manure , common. Outhouses were more common than one might think , I could count atleast 23 that I knew were in use. The Chatham Farmers Coop still in business. The buying and selling of cattle was not uncommon in Schodack.
Our one semi rock star was long since gone....Buddy Randell was a temporary resident of Castleton and was married there. The group was called The Knickerbockers...they were known as making songs that sounded very much like the Beatles. It was said he often used notary public services instead of copyrights. L. V. Hudson often was his notary.
The town was affected by the 60's , it had angry elements....the town voted overwhelmingly for Richard Milhouse Nixon for President. Law & Order was a common phrase heard back then. Of course the 60's had reached the hamlet of Schodack...Drugs , drinking , political unrest amongst the younger residents. From talks with people , many of the young looked forward to leaving and coming back rarely if at all. Not uncommon for small towns , even today.
Several young men left for Vietnam , some came back to resume a quiet life some never quite were whole again. Arguements among families concerning the war was common. It split people apart as it did the nation.
The sleepy little town moved on as all places do , it some ways it is a better place. For me more a place of archeology...left behind memories.