In the late nineteenth century, Adirondack VIP tours were arranged to assess water damage from state-sponsored dams that kept lumber mills powered and barges floating up and down the Erie Canal. Judges like Truman Fuller exhorted the New York State Forest Commission to get an accurate upstate map completed, to head off all the lawsuits. [Read more…] about Adirondack History: New York State to the Rescue
Town of Webb
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)
Herkimer County’s Three Lakes Tract Management Plan Complete
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has released a final recreation management plan (RMP) for the Three Lakes Tract Conservation Easement in the Town of Webb, Herkimer County.
The 3,350-acre Three Lakes Tract (TLT) is comprised of commercially managed forestland and is named for three waterbodies located on the property-Hitchcock, Grass, and Moose ponds. [Read more…] about Herkimer County’s Three Lakes Tract Management Plan Complete
New Adirondack History Book About The Beaver River Country
The book Beaver River Country: An Adirondack History (Syracuse Univ. Press, 2022) by Edward I. Pitts is a vivid history of this remote section of the western Adirondacks and its inhabitants. Encompassing the lands immediately surrounding the upper reaches of the Beaver River from its headwaters at Lake Lila to Beaver Lake at the settlement of Number Four, Beaver River country is one of the largest undisturbed tracts of forest in the entire northeastern United States. [Read more…] about New Adirondack History Book About The Beaver River Country
Comments Sought on Herkimer County’s Three Lakes Easement
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is seeking public comment on a draft recreation management plan (RMP) for the Three Lakes Tract Conservation Easement in the town of Webb, Herkimer County.
The 3,350-acre Three Lakes Tract (TLT) is comprised of commercially managed forestland and is named for three waterbodies located on the property-Hitchcock, Grass, and Moose ponds. The RMP will address public recreational access and facilities consistent with the conservation easement. The public comment period is open until July 1st, 2022. [Read more…] about Comments Sought on Herkimer County’s Three Lakes Easement
A History of Snowmobile Racing in New York State
In the motor toboggan era – the time before the advent of the modern snowmobiles we know today – motor sleds had been too slow for racing excitement. As a result they remained strictly utilitarian vehicles racing only occasionally for promotional purposes. Motor toboggan and later snowmobile maker Polaris traveled each year at the end of the 1950s to trapper festivals at The Pas, Manitoba where they helped organize ad hoc races.
“We tried to rig them a little bit so we had a zig-zag effect,” David Johnson said, remembering one of the first informal races, “one guy ahead, and then the other, and so on, at a terrific speed of about 20 miles per hour.” In February 1959, Johnson won the first organized men’s race on an oval at The Pas and in 1960, the first cross-country race was held there. [Read more…] about A History of Snowmobile Racing in New York State
Police: Man Ran Down Deer With Truck
On March 31st, Town of Webb Police contacted NYS Environmental Conservation Officer (ECO) Noyes about a deer struck and killed by a vehicle in the village of Old Forge. [Read more…] about Police: Man Ran Down Deer With Truck
Flatrock Mtn Easement Draft Recreation Plan Released
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced they are seeking public comment on the draft Recreation Management Plan (RMP) for Flatrock Mountain Conservation Easement.
The 511-acre easement tract is located southwest of Old Forge in the town of Webb, Herkimer County, between State Route 28 and Middle Branch Moose River. [Read more…] about Flatrock Mtn Easement Draft Recreation Plan Released
A Short History Of Eagle Bay In The Adirondacks
Eagle Bay lies in the middle of the Adirondack Mountains of New York State at an elevation of 1,720 feet. Situated just north of 4th Lake on the Fulton Chain, and about ten miles east of Old Forge, the small hamlet (one of 94 designated hamlets 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 A Short History Of Eagle Bay In The Adirondacks