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Lewis County

An Adirondack Lumber Camp at Twitchell Lake, 1860-80

May 25, 2022 by Noel Sherry Leave a Comment

5a Objects dug up in Lumber Camp #2 about a half mile east of Twitchell Lake, Noel SherryMy uncle Frank Sherry taught my brother Tom and I orienteering, using a map and compass to navigate through the woods and find a remote pond or other location. We were teenagers and it was an exciting way to spend a Saturday.

On one of these adventures we were in search of Silver Dollar Pond to the east of Twitchell Lake in Northern Herkimer County,when we stumbled on our first lumber camp. The telltale signs were pieces of metal hanging from a tree and protruding from the ground, with old bottles half-buried in the forest floor. We made note of the location on our map, a half-mile from Twitchell, and returned to explore it. It wasn’t long before we located the camp dump, from which we dug up the items pictured here.

These and other objects triggered an active discussion on the date of this old camp, with an imaginative re-creation of what life might have been like for a lumberjacks living and working there. [Read more…] about An Adirondack Lumber Camp at Twitchell Lake, 1860-80

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, Nature, Western NY Tagged With: Adirondacks, Archaeology, Architecture, Beaver Falls, Beaver River, Big Moose, Black River, Brown's Tract, Copenhagen, Croghan, Environmental History, Forest Preserve, Forestry, Hemlock Trees, Herkimer COunty, Industrial History, Labor History, Lewis County, Logging, Moose River, Tanning, Totten Crossfield Tract, trees, Twitchell Lake

Logging the Adirondack Interior, Spurring Preservation (1840-60)

May 25, 2022 by Noel Sherry Leave a Comment

One of the most satisfying pastimes for me at our summer home on Twitchell Lake in Big Moose in the Adirondacks in Northern Herkimer County), was taking the camp guide boat out for a spin. That privilege was earned by passing the family test, a solo swim across the lake, about the distance of a football field.

Weighing just over 30 pounds, this unique 14-foot wooden craft sped through the water powered by two oars. A cabin shelf still displays several awards for winning the annual guide boat race. I fondly remember the one-mile hikes to neighboring Oswego Pond, trailing my older brother Burt carrying that guide boat on his shoulders using a hand-carved yoke, my father in the lead bearing the oars and fishing gear. [Read more…] about Logging the Adirondack Interior, Spurring Preservation (1840-60)

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Adirondacks, Beaver Falls, Beaver River, Big Moose, Big Moose Tract, Black River, Cultural History, Environmental History, fishing, Herkimer COunty, Industrial History, John Brown Tract, Labor History, Lewis County, Logging, Moose River, Totten Crossfield Tract, Transportation History, Twitchell Lake

New Otter Creek Horse Trail Map

May 10, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Otter Creek Horse Trail SystemLocated about 50 miles north of Utica, the Otter Creek Horse Trails is one of the mot popular equestrian trail networks in the New York State.

Nearly 65-miles of interlocking trails are located on both the Independence River Wild Forest and on the Independence River and Otter Creek State Forests, on the western border of the Adirondack Park in Lewis County. [Read more…] about New Otter Creek Horse Trail Map

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Nature, Recreation Tagged With: Adirondacks, DEC, Horses, Independence River, Independence River State Forest, Independence River Wild Forest, Lewis County, Otter Creek, Otter Creek State Forest

Up Every River: Logging The Adirondacks (1820-40)

May 9, 2022 by Noel Sherry Leave a Comment

3a Our Double-bladed AxeIn the 1820s the State of New York encouraged Adirondack exploration and settlement, benefiting from the land sales and taxes (when they were paid). Lewis County newspapers were abuzz with praise for the 1825 completion of the Erie Canal, and in less than a year, the Black River Gazette launched a discussion on “improving” the Black River as a connection between the canal and the St. Lawrence River, anticipating the economic benefit Adirondack timber would bring when this opened a commercial route to the rest of the world:

“The quantity of lumber which might be drawn from those vast forests, now covering a soil which would anticipate the desires of a husbandman are beyond all calculation. For it is a fact admitted by all who have the least acquaintance with this section of country, that a greater quantity of wood, timber, lath, staves, boards, shingles, masts and spars might be drawn from this northern triangle, by means of a Canal, than any other district or county in the state.” [Read more…] about Up Every River: Logging The Adirondacks (1820-40)

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History Tagged With: Adirondacks, Black River, Black River Canal, Croghan, Environmental History, Forestry, Franklin Hough, Hemlock Trees, Industrial History, Lewis County, Logging, New Bremen, Tanning, Transportation History, Twitchell Lake

Logging The Adirondacks From The West (1800-1820)

May 2, 2022 by Noel Sherry 6 Comments

2a Eastern Lewis Co TownshipsIn the nineteenth century Lewis County settlements east of the Black River were just getting established; most of these included at least one saw mill. By 1820 these settlements were beginning to push their way up the rivers into the Adirondacks, and new mills were being built along their courses. A Copenhagen, NY farmer on Tug Hill, viewing the Adirondack panorama spread out to his east, wrote the following in a Journal & Republican article titled “North Woods Wonder:”

“All the wilderness is strewn with lakes as if some great mirror had been shattered by an Almighty hand, and scattered through the forests for Nature to make her toilet by … And how the rivers meander the woods as the veins of a human hand. There are Beaver, Moose, and Indian, Bog, Grass and Racket… And how rough and shaggy the wilderness is with mountains … Let them pass unnamed.”

One of these “shattered” gems was Twitchell Lake. [Read more…] about Logging The Adirondacks From The West (1800-1820)

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, Nature, Western NY Tagged With: Adirondacks, Alexander Macomb, Beaver Falls, Beaver River, Black River, Boonville, Brown's Tract, conservation, Copenhagen, Croghan, Diana, Environmental History, Forestport, Greig, Herkimer COunty, Independence River, Independence River State Forest, Independence River Wild Forest, Indigenous History, Industrial History, Lewis County, Logging, Lowville, Moose River, New Bremen, Old Forge, Oneida County, Oswegatchie River, Otter Creek, Otter River, Raquette River, surveying, Totten Crossfield Tract, Twitchell Lake, Watson

A Welsh Immigrant Writes Home from Upstate New York, 1856

December 15, 2021 by Daniel Koch 1 Comment

“Welsh Settlement in Upstate New York, 1795 to c. 1940s,”There is a fascinating letter from Evan Evans of Turin, Lewis County, NY to his relatives back in Wales. It is written in Welsh and dated August 1856.

The letter tells the story of a young man who had recently arrived in the United States who was struggling with homesickness and wrestling with doubts about whether he had made the right decision to move to America. He describes the sea-crossing, his arrival, and his new life in north-central New York State.

The letter now resides in the Meirionnydd Archives in northwest Wales. [Read more…] about A Welsh Immigrant Writes Home from Upstate New York, 1856

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, History, Mohawk Valley, Western NY Tagged With: Cultural History, Genealogy, Immigration, Lewis County, Oneida County, Turin, Utica

Comments Sought On Tug Hill East Management Plan

November 4, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced that it is now accepting public comments on the draft Unit Management Plan (UMP) for Tug Hill East through December 15th.

The draft UMP covers 22,886 acres of land in seven State Forests, one unique area, and 13 detached Forest Preserve parcels in the Lewis County towns of Lewis, Martinsburg, Osceola, Turin, and West Turin, the Oneida County town of Ava, and the Oswego County town of Redfield. [Read more…] about Comments Sought On Tug Hill East Management Plan

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Nature, Recreation, Western NY Tagged With: camping, DEC, fishing, hiking, hunting, Lewis County, Oneida County, Oswego County, snowmobiling, Tug Hill Plateau

Maple Syrup Production Focus of New TAUNY Video

April 22, 2021 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Boiling shack at Yancey's Sugarbush, Croghan, NYTraditional Arts in Upstate New York (TAUNY) has announced the release of Yancey’s Sugarbush: First Crop of the Year as part of their Traditions of the Season video series. Yancey’s Sugarbush is a 30-minute documentary that features a family-owned sugaring operation in Croghan, Lewis County, NY, that has been in the Yancy family since 1844. [Read more…] about Maple Syrup Production Focus of New TAUNY Video

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Arts, Food, Western NY Tagged With: Croghan, Documentary, Lewis County, Maple Sugaring, TAUNY

Croghan Tract Easement Final Recreation Plan Released

October 13, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

DEC LogoThe New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has released a final Recreation Management Plan (RMP) for the Croghan Tract Conservation Easement.

The Croghan Tract Easement is comprised of 12,816 acres of private forestland in the towns of Croghan and Watson in Lewis County. [Read more…] about Croghan Tract Easement Final Recreation Plan Released

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Recreation Tagged With: Croghan, DEC, fishing, hiking, hunting, Lewis County, paddling, snowmobiling, trapping

State Acquires Northern NY Lands

July 17, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

DEC St Lawrence County AcquisitionsNew York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the acquisition of several parcels totaling 662 acres in St. Lawrence, Oneida, and Lewis counties.

The parcels are expected to enhance public access to a variety of recreational opportunities, including hiking, fishing, snowmobiling, and hunting, as well as protect wetlands and forests in the region. [Read more…] about State Acquires Northern NY Lands

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Nature, Recreation, Western NY Tagged With: DEC, fishing, hiking, hunting, Lewis County, Oneida County, snowmobiling, St Lawrence County

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