From Then To Now gave me the opportunity to learn the stories behind six businesses, institutions, and destinations that have helped shape the Capital Region. My goal was to look beyond what each organization does and focus on the people, history, and values that have allowed them to grow and remain part of their communities for generations.
Throughout the special, I wanted to show how these organizations have done more than serve customers. They have created jobs, strengthened communities, preserved traditions, and helped write the story of the Capital Region itself.
Each story explores a different business, institution, or destination and the people, history, and changes that helped shape it. Choose a story to jump directly to that segment in the special.
Proctors Theatre opened its doors in Schenectady in 1926 and is now celebrating its 100th anniversary. While many theaters from that era disappeared, Proctors was preserved by the community and continued to grow into the venue it is today.
Some of the history surrounding America's founding can still be experienced throughout the Lake Champlain Region today. From Revolutionary War sites to historic communities and natural attractions, the segment shows how the area's past continues to be part of what draws people there.
What started as a local fuel delivery business in 1945 has grown into a company serving thousands of homes and businesses across eastern New York. Three generations later, Long Energy continues to grow while holding onto the reliability and relationships the company was built on.
More than 100 years of history have taken Mohawk Auto Group through four generations of the Haraden family. The segment follows that growth from its early years through the expansion of Mohawk Chevrolet and Mohawk Honda, while showing why family and community have remained such an important part of the business.
Nearly 80 years after Green's Appliance Center first opened, the business is now being carried forward by its third generation. The company has expanded and changed along the way, but the family atmosphere and personal relationships with customers have stayed at the center of it.
For more than a century, this stretch of the Mohawk River was home to the American Locomotive Company. After sitting largely vacant for decades, the former industrial property was transformed into Mohawk Harbor, bringing housing, restaurants, hotels, entertainment and Rivers Casino & Resort back to the riverfront.