Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1900-10-04
A DESERTED VILLAGE.
What Once Promised to be a ihfi'lhs
Town Has Fallen 10 Decay.

Town Has Fallen 10 Decay.
In the heart of the Adirondack win
derness. near Lake Tears Of the Clouds,
where the Hudson has its birth, ana
| close to the reedy shores CT Lake HeH-
derson and Sanford, is all that no"
| remains of the once thriving FlilaSe
of Adirondack.
Mountains end forests surround II.
| Rivers, lakes and streams TEEN VIVID
| fish and the woods with game. To the
east Izsount Marcy. To the north, Wall
| face, Summit Rock and Indian Pass
| west, Lake Henderson, Henderson
| Mountain, Panther Mountain, Mount
| Andrew, and south, Mount Adam ana
Lake Sanford.
In the early part Of the present cen
! fury a big dam crossed the Hudson,
! or North River, at Tawahas, and the
! valley was flooded as far back as the
! outlet of Lake Sanford. Barges were
! foated from the Lower Works, as
! Tawahas was then called, north into
/ Lake SandfOrd, and over its waters TO
| where Adirondack, a prosperous town,
| then stood
Lake Sanford is four miles long,
| and not far from its head was situated
what was then known as the new
ing partly up the coU~se of a small
stream, where once strongly built
#harves and docks for loading barges.
In those days great FORCES sent col
umns of black smoke into the recesses
Of the mountains. The roar and rumb-
ling frightened away the game for
miles around. One great forge yet re-
mains. 1t is forty feet square and is
half hidden by vines and creepe~s. Be-
fore the Adirondack Club purchased it,
the place was the lair Of the panther,
and in winter the haunt Of the bear.
III the years of 1876 tfesSrs. Hender-
son, Martin and Mcintyre, owners OF
the North EIba Iron Works, were
. shown pieces of rich iron ore by
wandering Indian, who told them that
he knew where great Quantities Of rich
ore could be found. So they hired the
red man for fifty cents a day and his
food and tobacco. Henderson said
afterWard that it cost 1 small fortune
to keep the son CT the forest in to-
bacco. He smoked from morning to
night; went TO sleep with a pipe III his
mouth and relighted it st earliest
dawn.
The Indian led the way, and the pro-
spectOrs eventually Logan the erection
of works. 4 road Was built eastward
to Lake Champlain. They built
church, school house and cottages for
workmen. The ore was rich, but the
expense Of getting il. TO market swat
lowed the profits faster th29 they came
in. There was some discussion about
abandoning the works.
On September 3, 1916, Mr.. Hender-
son, the senior member of the firm,
10 C+o cd
Journey Henderson was afraid OF
firearms, so the only pistol in the party
was wrapped carefully in several COW
erings Of buckskin and put away in the
gGide's pack.
, That night they halted on the shore
of small pond The guide laid the
pack on the ground, but MIR. Hender-
son thought the spot damp upon which
it lay, so he walked over, took the
pack from The earth and dropped it
on a rock. An explosion followed.
I'm shot" cried Henderson, and
fell to the ground.
The pistol, so securely hidden, had
) exploded, and killed the only man who
could have made a success OIL the
works.
5 A monument was built near the little
body of water, and it ever afterWard
bore the name Of Calamity Pond.
, Soon after the death Of Mr.. Henderson
the motive power was taken away.
Three years atterward, in 1913, the
works were abandoned.
For a time the works, cottages,
t school house and church were in
charge of an old Scotchman and his
wife. After time they, too moved
away, and Adirondack was left alone
IL, no will n n
ments and the ravages Of time.
The village consisted of several short
streets, or lanes The main street was
lined with cottages. The school house
and church stood on one side. In a
tree. at the centre of the village, hung
q bell to SUNNI On the Iaborer5 to work.
the children 20 school and on Sunday
} the men and their families to church.
When discovered, or rather redis-
covered the Ilace had fallen into de-
t cay. The cottages lacked doors and
windows Wide rents in the walls
: showed the effect of neglect. The mills
, were in ruins, wheels broken and over
grown with moss and ichens, and
J shattered as if by lightning. The bell
yet hung in the tree, and sounded as
loud as in the days of it's usefulness
years ago.
On summer day the deserted VIII
) age was as deS0latp a looking place as
could be found in the wilderness.
Near the centre OF the place was a dis
maltled building. once Usal as hotel
and which, it is said, could accOmmo-
Date a hundred guests Since the
property came into the possession OF
the. Adirondack Club the school house
has been moved across the street and
turned into L Gsh hatchery, and the
place where yOurE ideas were once
, taught to shOOC IS now occupied by
! | youngsters OF a different species.
Adirondack crecpers and Vines ar
fast covering The piles of rubbish, ana
| Adirondack is now numbered amons
f the forgotten places of the world. Il
will not be long before all that remains
of the deserted village viii disappear
before the march OF time or else the
, hands Of modern iconoclasts. who car
see 10 beauty in anything bat modern
? art as exempiified in well kept walk:
and buildings in perfect repair.
FRANCES ANSWER TO THE