Long Lake, New York
Long Lake is a town in Hamilton County, New York, United States. The population was 711 at the 2010 census. The town is named for Long Lake, beside which it sits. The town is entirely within the Adirondack Park and is the northernmost town in the county. It is a summer tourism destination offering fishing, hiking, boating and swimming. In the winter months, snowmobiling is also popular. Long Lake is the home of the historic Adirondack Hotel. Long Lake is also noted for being home to Sabattis Scout Reservation, a long-term camp operated by the  Longhouse Council, Boy Scouts of America. History. The town was settled "circa" 1833 by Joel Plumley, a native of Vermont. The town of Long Lake was formed in 1837 from sections of the towns of Arietta, Morehouse, Lake Pleasant, and Wells. In 1861, the town was increased by additions from Arietta, Lake Pleasant, and Morehouse. Long Lake is part of the 1.1 million acres (4,500 km) acquired from the Mohawk nation as part of the 1771 Totten and Crossfield Purchase. Long Lake is a glacial widening of the Raquette River and is part of the water route that connects the  Fulton Chain Lakes with the Saint Lawrence River drainage. This route was frequently traveled by guideboat in the mid-late 19th century. At that time, "a typical trip might start at the Saranacs from which a party could make its way to the Raquette River via Indian Carry and Stoney Creek." The trip continued "via the lakes accessible from it— Long, Raquette, Forked, Blue and Tupper." Settled by the 1830s, Long Lake was isolated, except by water, until William Seward Webb's Mohawk and Malone Railway was built through what was then known as Long Lake West in 1892. Long  Lake and Long Lake West were connected by a stage route. The Mohawk & Malone Railway was taken over by the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad in 1894, and was merged into the New York Central Railroad in 1913. Passenger rail service on the NYC ended on April 24, 1965. The town of Long Lake West was later renamed Sabattis, after Peter Sabattis and his son Mitchell Sabattis, the Abenaki Indian guides who came down from Canada and first settled in this area, followed by a long line of their offspring and family. Long Lake West was the site  of a fire that destroyed most of the town in 1908. Long Lake is the starting point of the Roosevelt-Marcy Trail. On September 14, 1901 Theodore Roosevelt was climbing Mount Marcy when he got word that President William McKinley, who had been shot two weeks before in Buffalo, but had been expected to improve, had taken a serious turn for the worse. Roosevelt rushed down from his campsite at Lake Tear of the Clouds to the closest town and telephone, which was outside of Newcomb, approximately east of Long Lake. From there he took a legendary midnight stagecoach ride  to the closest train station to the south, at North Creek, where he learned that McKinley had died. Roosevelt was sworn in at Buffalo. Geography. Long Lake is located in northern Hamilton County at (43.9717408, -74.5862453) and its elevation is . It is bordered to the west by Herkimer County, to the north by St. Lawrence and Franklin counties, and to the east by Essex County. According to the 2010 United States Census, the town has a total area of , of which is land and is water. The town is in the Adirondack Park. It is the second-largest town in  land area in New York (after Webb in Herkimer County). The town of Long Lake extends approximately east to west and up to north to south. The town extends across the northern part of the county. New York State Route 30, a north-south highway, intersects New York State Route 28N at Long Lake village. NY-28N and NY-30 run conjoined through part of Long Lake. New York State Route 28 is an east-west highway in the southwestern part of the town. The body of water known as Long Lake is about long and up to wide. The lake extends  from southwest to northeast and is part of the Raquette River system. The Raquette flows into Long Lake at the southwestern end and out the northeastern end, ultimately emptying into the St. Lawrence River. Demographics. As of the census of 2000, there were 852 people, 387 households, and 236 families residing in the town. The population density was 2.1 people per square mile (0.8/km). There were 1,496 housing units at an average density of 3.7 per square mile (1.4/km). The racial makeup of the town was 97.42% White, 0.59% African American, 0.35% Native American, 0.23% Asian, 0.12% Pacific  Islander, 0.23% from other races, and 1.06% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.06% of the population. There were 387 households, out of which 21.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.2% were married couples living together, 6.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.8% were non-families. 31.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.14 and the average family size was 2.68. In the town , the age distribution of the population shows 18.4% under the age of 18, 4.2% from 18 to 24, 22.3% from 25 to 44, 35.3% from 45 to 64, and 19.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.4 males. The median income for a household in the town was $29,583, and the median income for a family was $44,583. Males had a median income of $29,141 versus $21,429 for females. The  per capita income for the town was $19,466. About 9.9% of families and 15.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.7% of those under age 18 and 13.2% of those age 65 or over.