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2 NY historic sites being sold, 3rd sale stalled

Two significant colonial American sites along the upper Hudson River are expected to change hands in an effort to preserve the historic properties, while the state still plans to buy a third 18th-century site that's considered the birthplace of the U.S. Army Rangers.

All three properties are in or adjacent to Fort Edward, a history-rich Washington County village 40 miles north of Albany. The fort the English built here was Britain's largest military outpost in North America during the French and Indian War (1754-1763), with more than 15,000 troops.

A national archaeology preservation group has an agreement to purchase the former site of the Royal Blockhouse, a British army outpost built in 1758 across the Hudson River from the fort, and an archaeologist who has led excavations here since the early 1990s is buying a riverside parcel where a merchant's home and store were located the mid-1700s.

The state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation is eyeing an undeveloped section of Rogers Island from the downstate businessman who also owns the blockhouse property. The island is of particular interest to military historians because it was the base of operations for Rogers' Rangers, the American frontiersmen who served as scouts for the regular British army.

Over the decades, the three sites have been looted by treasure hunters, archaeology experts said.

Read entire article at Newsay