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Essex County

NYS Awards $8M in Clean Water Project Grants to Adirondack Communities

April 28, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Entering Adirondack Park signThe NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) has awarded $638 million in grants to municipalities statewide for water infrastructure projects and Town of Indian Lake in Hamilton County was the biggest winner among Adirondack communities. [Read more…] about NYS Awards $8M in Clean Water Project Grants to Adirondack Communities

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Nature Tagged With: Adirondack Council, Adirondacks, clean water, Dannemora, Environmental Facilities Corporation, Essex, Essex County, Grants, Hamilton County, Indian Lake, Lake Champlain, nature, peru, Saranac River, Schroon Lake, Schroon River, Warren County, Warrensburg, water quality, Westport

The Showboat Era on Lake George 1933-1937

April 27, 2022 by Dave Waite 1 Comment

Horicon IIWhen the sidewheel steamboat Horicon II was launched on Lake George in 1910, she was both the longest and fastest passenger vessel to ever sail the lake. Over the next 29 years, she would be used for transportation of cargo and residents around the lake, as well as cruises for tourists.

The construction of a road on the west side of the lake, as well as the region’s rapidly increasing mobility with the introduction of the automobile, brought a dramatic decline in passengers. In response to this trend, in 1932 the Delaware & Hudson Railroad, owners of the steamboats on the lake through the Lake George Steamboat Company, announced that they would not be running boats that year. [Read more…] about The Showboat Era on Lake George 1933-1937

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Arts, History Tagged With: Adirondacks, Bolton, Delaware & Hudson Railroad, Essex County, Jazz, Lake George, Maritime History, Musical History, Performing Arts, railroads, Steamboating, Ticonderoga, Transportation History, Warren County

New Name, Host for Lake Placid, Saranac Lake Farmers’ Markets

April 9, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Saranac Lake Farmers’ Market shoppers browse fresh produce grown by Fledging Crow VegetableThe weekly farmers’ markets in Lake Placid and Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks will continue to offer locally produced farm products and handmade goods — but under a new name and host organization.

The Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA) announced that it will provide organizational support for the two markets under the newly dubbed “High Peaks Farmers’ Market.” ANCA will also hire a part-time manager to oversee the markets. [Read more…] about New Name, Host for Lake Placid, Saranac Lake Farmers’ Markets

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Events, Food Tagged With: Adirondack North Country Association, Essex County, Farmers Markets, Franklin County, Harrietstown, Lake Placid, local farms, North Elba, Saranac Lake

Peter Bauer: It’s Time To Pass A Constitutional Amendment For Mount Van Hoevenberg

March 29, 2022 by Peter Bauer 1 Comment

Mount Van Hoevenberg Olympic Sports ComplexProtect the Adirondacks supports a proposed Article 14 Constitutional Amendment for the Mount Van Hoevenberg Olympic Sports Complex outside Lake Placid.

At the Mt. Van Hoevenberg complex, the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) currently manages around 1,220 acres of Forest Preserve classified as Intensive Use by the Adirondack Park Agency (APA). Abutting these lands is 319 acres of land owned by the Town of North Elba. Together this complex houses the Olympic bobsled and luge track, cross-country skiing and biathlon trails, and associated facilities, with most of the intensive buildings and facilities located on the town lands. [Read more…] about Peter Bauer: It’s Time To Pass A Constitutional Amendment For Mount Van Hoevenberg

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Adirondacks, APA, Article 14, Cross-Country Skiing, development, Essex County, Forest Preserve, Lake Placid, Mt Van Hoevenberg, nature, North Elba, NYS Constitution, ORDA, Protect the Adirondacks, skiing, winter sports

Adirondack Rail Trail Design & Construction Starting

March 15, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Remsen- Lake Placid Travel CorridorThe New York State Departments of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Transportation (DOT), in cooperation with the Office of General Services (OGS), have announced the completion of the transfer of jurisdiction for a 34-mile segment of the Remsen-Lake Placid Travel Corridor. [Read more…] about Adirondack Rail Trail Design & Construction Starting

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Adirondack Rail Trail, Adirondack Rail-Trail Debate, Adirondacks, bicycling, Cross-Country Skiing, DEC, Department of Transportation, DOT, Essex County, Franklin County, hiking, Lake Placid, New York Central RR, railroads, Remsen-Lake Placid Travel Corridor, Saranac Lake, snowmobiling, Transportation History, Tupper Lake

Revolutionary Albany: Setbacks As The War Presses Toward Albany

March 7, 2022 by Peter Hess Leave a Comment

Brigadier-General Richard Montgomery's troops prepare to embark for the invasion of Canada from Crown Point, New York in 1775After a late-summer of preparations, too late in the fall of 1775, the Colonial Army mounted a two-pronged invasion of Canada. General Schuyler invaded Montreal from Fort Ticonderoga and General Benedict Arnold attacked Quebec.

Schuyler fell ill and was replaced by General Richard Montgomery. Montgomery took Montreal and then marched to assist Arnold at Quebec. [Read more…] about Revolutionary Albany: Setbacks As The War Presses Toward Albany

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: Albany, Albany County, American Revolution, Battle of Fort Anne, Battle of Oriskany, Battle of Saratoga, Crime and Justice, Essex County, Fort Ann, Fort Edward, Fort Miller, Fort Ticonderoga, George Washington, Haudenosaunee, Hudson River, Indigenous History, Iroquois, John Johnson, Lake Champlain, Lake George, Military History, Mohawk River, New York City, New York Harbor, Philip Schuyler, Political History, Rensselaer County, Saratoga County, Schuylerville, Vermont, Washington County

Salt Survey Being Conducted By Ausable River Association

March 6, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Mirror Lake courtesy Ausable River AssociationThe Ausable River Association’s (AsRA) has released a salt use survey for residents, businesses, and independent contractors in Lake Placid, with emphasis on Mirror Lake. Developed in partnership with the Adirondack Watershed Institute, the survey is essential to determining the amount of salt entering Mirror Lake and the Chubb River. [Read more…] about Salt Survey Being Conducted By Ausable River Association

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Nature Tagged With: Adirondack Watershed Institute, Ausable River Association, Chubb River, Essex County, Lake Placid, Mirror Lake, nature, pollution, road salt, Transportation, water quality

Revolutionary Albany: Supplying Ticonderoga, Dealing With Loyalists & Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Relations

March 2, 2022 by Peter Hess Leave a Comment

Idealized version of the Capture of Fort Ticonderoga attributed to Alonzo Chappel probably ca 1853 (courtesy Fort Ticonderoga)In early May, 1775 the Revolutionary War was underway on largely local scale. The attack on the British forces leaving Lexington and Concord had happened less than a month earlier, and 4,500 British troops had landed in Boston.

The lightly defended Fort Ticonderoga was taken on the morning of May 10, 1775, in a surprise attack by the Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys, with the help of Benedict Arnold. The fort had been held by the British for 16 years, since it was taken from the French in 1759. [Read more…] about Revolutionary Albany: Supplying Ticonderoga, Dealing With Loyalists & Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Relations

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, Mohawk Valley Tagged With: Albany, Albany County, American Revolution, Benedict Arnold, Essex County, Fort Ticonderoga, German Flatts, Guy Johnson, Haudenosaunee, Military History, Mohawk, Mohawk River, Oneida Indian Nation, Philip Schuyler, Revolutionary Albany

Prison In the Woods: Environment & Incarceration in Northern NY

February 26, 2022 by Erin Becker-Boris Leave a Comment

A Prison In the Woods - Environment and Incarceration in New York's North CountyThe Adirondacks in Northern New York covers approximately 5,000 square miles. Widely known for its natural beauty, recreation opportunities and tourism, it may surprise many of those travelers to learn that the Adirondacks’ trails and amenities are intrinsically connected to New York’s carceral history.

In A Prison In the Woods: Environment and Incarceration in New York’s North Country (Univ. of Mass. Press, 2020), Clarence Jefferson Hall Jr. traces the planning, construction, and operation of penitentiaries in five Adirondack communities – Dannemora, Ray Brook, Gabriels, Lyon Mountain, and Tupper Lake – between 1840 and the early 2010s to show the intersections between the environment and mass incarceration.

Hall’s own personal history adds an interesting aspect to his narrative. His father worked for the New York prison system from 1973 to 1998, mostly at the maximum security Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora. He states that “the rhythms of the prison system became natural to our family, just as they did for so many other families in towns and villages across the Adirondacks.” [Read more…] about Prison In the Woods: Environment & Incarceration in Northern NY

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Books, Capital-Saratoga, History, New York City Tagged With: Adirondacks, Black History, Books, clinton correctional facility, Crime and Justice, environment, Essex County, Franklin County, Labor History, Lyon Mountain, Olympics History, Political History, prisons, Ray Brook, Tupper Lake

A 1912 Adirondack Scarlet Fever Outbreak Echoes Today

February 15, 2022 by Peter Slocum Leave a Comment

Keene Valley NY ca 1903 postcardScarlet fever is something we don’t have to think about any more. One hundred years ago however, this childhood killer struck fear into the hearts of parents everywhere, including the little town of Keene, NY, in the Adirondacks.

On March 4th, 1912, in the face of a frightening scarlet fever outbreak, the Keene Town Board of Health took emergency action. The Board ordered “that the church, school houses, library, neighborhood house and Keene Valley Club House shall be closed until further notice.”

Today, in the midst of our Covid-19 turmoil, the disputes over vaccines, masks, and other government and scientific recommendations, it is hard to imagine a citizen board of health exercising that kind of power — to declare the church and the schools and the library closed. Boom. “Mo(tion) carried,” says the official one-page document, hand-written in pencil. [Read more…] about A 1912 Adirondack Scarlet Fever Outbreak Echoes Today

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Adirondacks, Essex County, Keene, Keene Valley, Keene Valley Library, Medical History

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