Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1900-09-13
e DESERTED WILL AGE.
That Once Promised to be Thriving
Town Has Fallen to Decay.

Town Has Fallen to Decay.
In the heart of the Adirondack will
crness. near Lake Tears of the CLOUDS,
here the Hudson has its birth, and
lose to the reedy shores of Lake Hen
crson and Sanford, is all that now
cmains of the once thriving village
f Adirondack.
Mountains and forests surround it.
Rivers, lakes and streams TEEN with
.sh and the woods with game. To the
asst Mount Marcy. To the north, Wall
ace Summit Rock and Indian Pass;
vest, Lake Henderson, Henderson
fountain, Panther Mountain, Mount
Andrew, and south, Mount Adam and
lake Sandford.
In the early part of the present CEN
ury a big dam crossed the Hudson,
II North River, at Tawahas, and the
7alley was flooded as far back as the
outlet Of Lake Sanford. Barges were
iOated from the Lower Works." as
Tawahas was then called, north into
lake Sanford, and over It's waters to
where Adirondack, a prosperous town,
hen stood
Lake Sanford is four miles long,
md not far from it's head was situated
what was then known as the new
orge.' On the lake shore, and extend
ng partly up the course of a small
stream, where once strongly built
wharves and docks for loading barges.
In those days great FORCES sent col
INNS of black smoke into the recesses
Of the mountains. The roar and rumb-
ing frightened away the game for
miles around. One great forge yet re-
mains. Il is forty feet square and is
.a1F hi h,r1
ore the Adirondack Club purchased it,
he place was the lair of the panther,
and in winter the haunt of the bear.
In the years Of 1876 Messrs. Hender.
son, Martin ard Mcintyre, owners OF
The North Elba Iron Works, were
ihOwn pieces of rich iron ore by a
wandering Indian, who told them that
0e 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 a small fortune
to keep the son of the forest in to-
baccO. He smoked from morning tc
light; went to sleep with pipe in his
mouth and relighted it at earliest
dawn
The Indian led the way, and the pro
of works. A 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 it to market swal-
lowed the profits faster than they came
in. There was some discussion about
abandoning the works.
On September 3, 1915, Mr.. Hender-
son, the senior member of the firm
with a we'll known guide, started on o
journey. Henderson was afraid Of
firearms, so the only pistol in the party
was wrapped carefully in several COW
pring5 Of buCkSkin and put away in the
guides pack.
That night they halted on the shore
of small pond. The guide laid the
pack on the ground, but Mr.. 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. of the
works.
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 afterward, in 1S48, the
works were abandoned.
For a time the works, cottages, !
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
In the wilderness, a prey to the ele-
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
a bell to SUNNI IN the laborers to work,
the children 20 school and on Sunday |
the men and their families to church. |
When discovered, or rather redis- !
covered, the place had fallen into de-
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 lichens, and !
shattered as If by lightning. The bell
yet hung in the tree, and sounded as
loud as in the days Of its usefulness
years ago.
On summer day the deserted WILL
age was as des0late looking place as
could be found in the Wilderness
Near the centre OF the place was a dis
maItled building, once useI as a hotel,
and which, it is said, could accommo-
date 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 4 nsh hatchery, and the
place where young ideas were once
taught to shoot is now occupied by
youngsters of q different species
Adirondack crecpers and vines are
fast covering the piles of rubbish, and .
Adirondack is now numbered among
the forgotten places of the world 1t
will not be long before all that remains
of the deserted village will disappear
before the march of time, or else the
hands of modern icOnOclasts, who can
see 20 beauty in anything bat modern
art, as eXempiifed in we'll kept walks
and buildings in perfect repair.
L.
Dreams of the Blind.