Today I visited a very classy museum complex known as the Adirondack Museum, which is located at Blue Mountain Lake, New York. Like most regional museums, it is a private, non-profit affair. But it has been very successful with its fund-raising, and it provides a comprehensive view of the history and development of the Adirondack area through exceptional exhibits. Below is a snapshot of a schematic of the museum complex. There are entire buildings for exhibits on
Boats and boat building in the Adirondacks
Roads and Rails: Everyday Life in the Age of Horses
Adirondack Rustic Furniture
Work in the Woods: Logging in the Adirondacks
Along with numerous other features. Here is a schematic of the museum:
There was a particularly interesting and comprehensive display on Adirondack guide boats. They are lightweight craft that look a lot like a canoe, but have a broader beam and are powered like a rowboat with the guide with the oars in the center facing backward to the direction of travel. Here is an example on display in the museum in a boat craftsman's shop:
The museum provided me with information about Adirondack Park, which is by far the biggest state park in the country. Its size is greater than the entire state of Massachusetts. There are a total of 2759 lakes in the park, and several that I saw are very large.
Another unique feature about Adirondack Park is that only 40 percent of it is state owned. As a result, there are quite a few villages and towns within the park, including Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, Tupper Lake and Old Forge. While most of the park is mountainous and forested, all of the trees are at least second-growth, as timber harvesting was extensive until recently. Loggers cut down the timber on public lands, despite state rules and regulations against it, and it took the passage of a constitutional amendment in 1894 to stop the logging on the publically-owned part of the Adirondacks. The amendment is known as the Forever Wild Law and it remains in effect. But a century of experience with the law has not stopped the antagonism between local residents and state officials.
The major state impact on the private lands of Adirondack Park is a form of strict zoning controls administered by the state’s Adirondack Park Agency. Private landowners are often quite critical of the agency’s decisions and efforts have been made on a regular basis to weaken its power, but so far to no avail. A few years ago the agency stopped cold a major development of 24,000 acres of privately-owned park land. One agency commissioner said the agency’s objective was to avoid what happened at Lake George, which is on the eastern edge of the park. I will be going to Lake George tomorrow and will be able to see for myself what the commissioner is talking about.
Update on Lake George: Its not so bad. There is a lot of tourist-focused development and a solid phalanx of second homes along the shore, but its not Panama City Beach or the Grand Strand. I saw only one miniature golf course in Lake George Village, whereas there were at least eight in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Update on Lake George: Its not so bad. There is a lot of tourist-focused development and a solid phalanx of second homes along the shore, but its not Panama City Beach or the Grand Strand. I saw only one miniature golf course in Lake George Village, whereas there were at least eight in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
I then headed to Lake Placid to see the Lake Placid Winter Olympics Museum. The museum is open every day from 9 AM to 5 PM. I arrived at 3:15 PM to find the entry door locked and a sign posted saying “Museum closes today at 3 PM.” Aw shucks.
Mileage: 113 Cumulative Mileage: 3,030
