Twitchell Lake is an Adirondack gem that has been protected over time by its remote location. Originally carved out by the last glacier, it drains northwestward into Beaver River, which exits the Adirondacks into Lewis County’s Black River, finally meandering its way into Lake Ontario. Twitchell’s location is starred on this unique watershed map. [Read more…] about Twitchell Lake: Wilderness, Survey and Settlement
Mohawk & Malone Railroad
The Great Nelson Lake Train Wreck
“The Great Nelson Lake Train Wreck” occurred on May 9, 1903, between the McKeever and Minnehaha Stations on New York Central Railroad’s Adirondack line, also known as the Mohawk and Malone. [Read more…] about The Great Nelson Lake Train Wreck
Eagle Bay in the Adirondacks: A Primer
Eagle Bay lies in the middle of the Adirondack Mountains of New York State at an elevation of 1,720 feet above sea level.
Situated just north of 4th Lake and about ten miles east of Old Forge the small hamlet (one of 94 in the Adirondacks) has seasonal activity consisting of winter snowmobiling, cross country skiing, and snowshoeing. Summer events focus on the various surrounding lakes, ponds, mountains, and hiking trails. [Read more…] about Eagle Bay in the Adirondacks: A Primer
A Short History of Logging Whitney Preserve in the Adirondacks
Nehasane, Brandreth and Whitney Preserves were three private parks in the Adirondacks that included logging railroads built to extract large stands of virgin timber in the late 19th century.
The illustrious career of William Collins Whitney (1841-1904) was chronicled in a New York City social diary titled “The Gilded Age Billionaires”: “His political star rose right along with his business ventures … and he eventually entered national politics through Grover Cleveland’s Administration where he was Secretary of the Navy.” [Read more…] about A Short History of Logging Whitney Preserve in the Adirondacks
Brandreth Park: A Latecomer to Adirondack Forestry Planning
Nehasane Park, and the Brandreth and Whitney Preserves were three private parks that included logging railroads built to extract large stands of virgin timber in the late 19th century. Brandreth Preserve was the last of these to institute serious forestry planning. [Read more…] about Brandreth Park: A Latecomer to Adirondack Forestry Planning
Nehasane Park: Ground Zero in the Adirondack Logging Debate
Nehasane Park, and the Brandreth and Whitney Preserves were three private parks that included logging railroads built to extract large stands of virgin timber in the late 19th century. In 1914, Brandreth Park gained the rare distinction of having the biggest log sled load in Northern New York.
Nehasane Park, created by William Seward Webb on Lake Lila, included 115,000 acres (including the Adirondack Railroad). [Read more…] about Nehasane Park: Ground Zero in the Adirondack Logging Debate
Northern New York 19th Century Railroad News
In September of 1890, infrastructure improvements were under way at Whitehall, in Washington County, long a major railroad hub. “It is said that the new freight yard at Whitehall will be one of the best on the road. The main tracks will be straightened and will pass over the ground where the old shops are located,” The Morning Star of Glens Falls reported on September 24, 1890. “The new shops have been completed, and the men are removing from the old shop, which is being torn down. Next spring work will begin on the new station for Whitehall.” [Read more…] about Northern New York 19th Century Railroad News
Adirondack Logging History: Wood’s Lake & Beaver River Stations
After Hudson River logging sharply declined by 1905, the Adirondack railroad line known as the Mohawk & Malone kept NYS lumber companies in business for at least another twelve years. A big part of this was due to logging north of Big Moose, shown on this New York Central & Hudson River railroad map, with eight station stops northward toward Tupper Lake (shown at left), three of them as junctions for logging railroads — Wood’s Lake, Brandreth, and Nehasane.
Beaver River Station was shifting from logging to tourism. Little Rapids was a flag stop, Keepawa unlisted in an 1895 train schedule. This article will describe the logging history of Wood’s Lake and Beaver River stations, beginning with a new lumbering operation just north of Big Moose. [Read more…] about Adirondack Logging History: Wood’s Lake & Beaver River Stations
Lumbering Operations at Big Moose Lake (1900-1920)
The first of three major logging operations on Big Moose Lake in Herkimer County in the Adirondacks was headed by a veteran lumber company executive named Theodore Page. Page built palatial “Camp Veery” on Echo Island in West Bay, purchased from William Seward Webb in 1900. He arrived at Big Moose Lake from Oswego, NY, with many years of leadership in the lumber industry, importing timber from Canada for the Minetto Shade Cloth Company – one of the largest U.S. manufacturers of shade cloth, window shades, shade-rollers, and curtain fixtures. [Read more…] about Lumbering Operations at Big Moose Lake (1900-1920)
Along The Mohawk & Malone: Forest Fires & Logging South of Big Moose (1900-1920)
Born in England, John Gerald Fitzgerald (1850-1925) attended seminary in Troy, NY, accepting his first assignment as a priest in the Diocese of Ogdensburg. Following pastorates in upstate New York, Father Fitz – as he was affectionately called – was given the daunting challenge of establishing a parish in Old Forge, in the Adirondacks.
In 1896, Northern Herkimer County was a heavily forested region dotted by tiny hamlets, scattered lumber camps, and remote railroad stations along the Mohawk & Malone Railroad. For the next twenty-nine years, he got off the Mohawk & Malone at stations like McKeever, Carter, Big Moose, Beaver River, Brandreth, Keepewa, Nehasane, and Horseshoe Lake, carrying his bible and sacraments from these stops to remote lumber camps on snowshoes, wearing his trademark coonskin cap and woolen mittens. His parish stretched over a 200 square-mile area. [Read more…] about Along The Mohawk & Malone: Forest Fires & Logging South of Big Moose (1900-1920)
Logging The Adirondacks: A Legal Logjam (1880-1900)
An early 20th century Adirondack lawsuit pitted a small Big Moose Lake sportsman and landowner Aaron Lloyd against a team of powerful opponents, John Adams Dix and his Moose River Lumber Company with Dr. William Seward Webb and his Nehasane Park Association.
A second suit reversed the plaintiff and defendant, Webb vs. Lloyd, and appeared to be linked to the first complaint. Clearly this was a classic David versus Goliath clash. These cases would have been the fodder for conversations around the campfire in the Big Moose area for almost a decade.
On the surface, the complaints concerned the harvest of millions of board feet of virgin timber and flooding Big Moose Lake to get these logs to market, with Webb behind both actions. [Read more…] about Logging The Adirondacks: A Legal Logjam (1880-1900)
Central Adirondacks Lumbering Operations (1880-1900)
After achieving his railroad dream and completing his Nehasane wilderness refuge – reachable using his own luxury rail car – William Seward Webb found himself in a major conflict with the State of New York.
Inlet historian Charles Herr tells this part of the story expertly, in his history of the Fulton Chain. My map here highlights that land aquisition by the State in yellow, totaling 74,585 acres of Brown’s Tract and in the Totten & Crossfield Purchase. Webb retained ownership of lakes like Twitchell and Big Moose because he intended those for later cottage and hotel sales. [Read more…] about Central Adirondacks Lumbering Operations (1880-1900)
William Seward Webb’s Railroad & Logging The Adirondacks
Hanging above a window in our Twitchell Lake cabin northeast of Big Moose, Herkimer County, in the Adirondacks is this five-foot-long saw with a handle at both ends, and a row of sharp knife-like teeth. I have never used it, but now know it is an antique crosscut saw for use by one or two persons. [Read more…] about William Seward Webb’s Railroad & Logging The Adirondacks
“Labor’s Slaves in the Adirondacks”: Building the Adirondack Railroad
The St. Lawrence & Adirondack Railroad, also known as the Mohawk & Malone – eventually owned by the New York Central and called the Adirondack Line or the Adirondack Railroad ran directly through the Adirondacks from Herkimer (near Utica) to Malone connecting the rail lines along the Mohawk River to the Main Trunk Line running into Montreal. The line is often attributed to William Seward Webb, but it was the men who actually built the line that are the subject of this essay.
On March 29, 1892 a Boston Globe article titled “Labor’s Slaves in the Adirondacks” reported that Utica “resembled Washington during war times, hundreds of penniless and destitute Negroes are camped out tonight in the temporary places of shelter given them, and the citizens of Utica are consulting as to the best means of returning them to their homes.”
The Globe told readers that all night, “runaway slaves” had been coming into town. One hundred and fifty of them, mostly black laborers from the Deep South, but some recently arrived European immigrants as well. [Read more…] about “Labor’s Slaves in the Adirondacks”: Building the Adirondack Railroad