The southern Adirondack Mountains community of Caroga Lake, Canada Lake, and Pine Lake is known for the power of its water and the perseverance of its people. The quiet mountain-lumbering community changed quickly in 1865 when two entrepreneurs purchased 20,000 acres of hemlock-rich land and erected a tannery to cure leather for a shoe-making business. Additional lumbering opportunities followed, and sawmills sprung up around many of the lakes. Horse-drawn carriage services and wood-burning steamboats delivered summer residents and artists to rustic camps that dotted the lakes' shorelines and tourists to grand hotels. Today the ghostly remains of Sherman's Park on West Caroga Lake and Groshans' Park at Pine Lake remind its residents and guests of the past that was and the future that might yet be.

Explores the architectural treasures of the Southern-Central region of New York’s Adirondack Park and places them in the context of Adirondack history and culture. The Adirondack Architecture Guide, Southern-Central Region provides a professional and insightful survey of the built environment of a unique area within New York’s Adirondack Park. This book is the first field guide to the architecture of the Park, revealing the ordinary and the extraordinary, the remarkable buildings by prominent designers, as well as the hidden, unexpected gems few know exist. Based on more than seven thousand miles of fieldwork and years of research, the guide comprises more than seven hundred sites traversing the geographic range, socioeconomic strata, and historical span of the region from the late 1700s to the present. Organized according to clearly marked travel routes and fourteen tours on the ground and on the water, it features detailed maps and coordinates for each site, along with many beautiful photographs. Also included are eleven companion essays drawing on the expertise of professionals, local historians, and Adirondack residents that delve into the what, where, and why people built in the Adirondacks. “In The Adirondack Architecture Guide, beloved landmarks share the pages with little-known architectural gems through a series of curated tours. Each one tracks the history and development of the Southern-Central Adirondacks through its fascinating buildings, bridges, and byways. From first-time visitors to longtime residents, readers will find it packed with information designed to make the most of a side trip lasting a few hours or a weekend of exploring. This is a must-have source to guide your travels in one of the most beautiful and historic parts of New York, the Adirondack Park.” — Jay A. DiLorenzo, President, Preservation League of New York State “This remarkable book presents architecture, broadly defined to include all man-made structures, as the key to understanding the history and culture of a vast National Historic Landmark. We are introduced to the sublime Chestertown Church of the Good Shepherd, the delightful Custard’s Last Stand, the earnest Wakely Mountain Fire Tower, and the grand aspirations of the Mary Persons House. A detailed picture of two hundred years in a region of romantic wilderness, industry, tourism, and everyday life emerges to offer a compelling vision of a unique place. This guide is not only for architecture buffs and explorers. It is a model of historical research that presents an unbiased picture of the rich diversity of a fascinating region.” — Frances Halsband, Kliment Halsband Architects

An immersive journey into the past, present, and future of a region many consider the Northeast’s wilderness backyard. Out of all the rural areas of the United States, including those in the West, which are bigger and propped up by more pervasive myths about adventure and nation and wilderness and freedom, the Adirondacks has accumulated a well-known identity beyond its boundaries. Untouched, unspoiled, it is defined by what we haven’t done to it. Combining author Matt Dallos’s personal observations with his thorough research of primary and secondary documents, In the Adirondacks rambles through the region to understand its significance within American culture and what lessons it might offer us for how we think about the environment. In vivid prose, Dallos digs through the region’s past and present to excavate a series of compelling stories and places: a moose named Harold, a hot dog mogul’s rustic mansion, an ecological restoration on an alpine summit, a hermit who demanded a helicopter ride, and a millionaire who dressed up as a Native American to rob a stagecoach. Along the way, Dallos listens to locals and tourists, visits wilderness areas and souvenir shops, and digs through archives in museums and libraries. In the Adirondacks blends lively history and immersive travel writing to explore the Adirondacks that captivated Dallos’s childhood imagination while presenting a compelling and entertaining story about America’s largest park outside of Alaska. The result is an inquisitive journey through the region’s bogs and lakes and boreal forests and the lives of residents and tourists. Dallos turned toward the region to understand why he couldn’t shake it from his mind. What he learned is that he’s not the only one. In the Adirondacks explores the history and future of the most complicated, contested park in North America, raising important questions about the role of environmental preservation and the great outdoors in American history and culture.