The start of the 20th century saw massive forest fires throughout the Adirondacks. Between 1903 and 1913, about 862,000 acres of forest burned. Long droughts and extensive logging of the North Woods left huge areas of timber “slash” that made the forest a veritable tinderbox. Campers, tourists, and farmers burning off their fields, along with trains that scattered sparks, all helped to ignite the forest. [Read more…] about Fires of the High Peaks Lecture Thursday
Adirondack HIstory Museum
‘The Big Burn’ Adirondack Film Showing On Thursday
In the summer of 1910, the largest wildfire in American history devoured more than three million acres across the Northern Rockies and took the lives of 78 firefighters. The fledgling U.S. Forest Service was confronted with a catastrophe that would define the agency and the nation’s fire policy for the rest of the 20th century and beyond. [Read more…] about ‘The Big Burn’ Adirondack Film Showing On Thursday
1922 Adirondack High Peaks Centennial Being Marked
2022 marks the centennial of three historic events that ignited public interest in exploring the Adirondack wilderness and climbing the “46” high peaks: formation of the Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK), publication of Robert Marshall’s High Peaks of the Adirondacks, and Grace Hudowalski’s first 46er ascent of Mount Marcy. [Read more…] about 1922 Adirondack High Peaks Centennial Being Marked
Adirondack Artist Exhibit at Adirondack History Museum
Paul Matthews was a complicated artist. Sometimes an expressionist, sometimes a realist, he veered across conventional categories at will, switching back and forth from luminous portraiture to macabre narrative, and from mythological erotica to Fauve collage. In his Keene, NY studio, all these different modes were in play. But over time, the Adirondack landscape around him began to feature more and more centrally in his work.
[Read more…] about Adirondack Artist Exhibit at Adirondack History Museum
An Artist Talk & Open-Air Disco at Adirondack History Museum
The Adirondack History Museum in Elizabethtown, NY will host an artist talk and open-air disco with artist Randi Renate, who will speak about her current sculpture “blue is the atmospheric refraction I see you through,” which is now on view outside the Museum, on Sunday, July 3rd. [Read more…] about An Artist Talk & Open-Air Disco at Adirondack History Museum
North Country ‘Colors of Freedom Tour’ to Celebrate Juneteenth
Clinton and Essex counties were a center of the roiling abolition controversies before the Civil War, helping many freedom-seekers fleeing enslavement follow the Lake Champlain corridor to Canada in the 1830s, 1840s and 1850s.
A first-ever North Country Juneteenth celebration of the region’s role in the fight against slavery will highlight Underground Railroad work in the area, as well as prominent anti-slavery Quakers and abolitionist John Brown. [Read more…] about North Country ‘Colors of Freedom Tour’ to Celebrate Juneteenth
Adirondack Salmon Fisheries Lecture Thursday
Adirondack History Museum will host “Adirondack Salmon Fisheries,” a lecture by Donald F. Lee on Thursday, August 12th. The lecture will focus on the salmon species and salmon fisheries in the Adirondacks. [Read more…] about Adirondack Salmon Fisheries Lecture Thursday
Adirondack History Museum Welcomes Sculptor Randi Renate
The internal stairway and frame of a new, temporary sculpture are taking shape outside the Adirondack History Museum in Elizabethtown, NY. A scaffold of thick, fresh-sawn local cedar from nearby Westport has slowly taken shape on a patch of lawn centered in front of the Colonial Garden. [Read more…] about Adirondack History Museum Welcomes Sculptor Randi Renate
Adirondack History Museum Reopens for 2021 Season
The Adirondack History Museum in Elizabethtown reopened to the public on Memorial Day Weekend with new additions and exhibits. [Read more…] about Adirondack History Museum Reopens for 2021 Season
Hurricane Fire Tower 100th Anniversary Exhibit Opens
A historic exhibit marking the 100th Anniversary of the Hurricane Mountain Fire Tower is set to open on Thursday, August 8th, at the Adirondack History Museum.
Festivities begin at 5 pm with a reception featuring a local Hurricane brew from Ledge Hill Brewery, and tours of the new exhibit. [Read more…] about Hurricane Fire Tower 100th Anniversary Exhibit Opens