-
Dec 4, 1000
Paleolithic Natives
Prior to this date, the first peoples of the Adirondacks arrived. Paleolithic tribes of Indian hunters followed caribou herds to the banks of Lake Champlain and began to settle temporarily in the Adirondacks. -
Period: to
First Migrations
Soldier settlers from England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland returned to the Adirondacks after the French and Indian War and afterwards returned to settle in the fertile land of the Champlain Valley. Many of these people were termed, "Yankee Pioneers." -
Period: to
Yankee Migration
After the American War or Independence, military veterans and pioneers from New England made their way into the Adirondacks. In the process they gave many towns their name, typical New England look, and government. Quakers from Vermont and the Hudson Valley and Scottish homesteaders also partook in this migration. -
Father Olivetti
A missionary priest built a church in an Adirondack settlement called Irishtown near the tannery town of Minerva. Because this was a peak year of the Great Famine, many immigrants, especially Irish ones, innundated the hamlet -
Canadians
Although French Canadian Woodsmen and subsistence farmers had long inhabited the Adirondacks, commercial loggers and miners only stated to push into the New York wilderness in the 1850s. Canadians moved in such large numbers, suggesting a migration. -
Period: to
More immigrants
German Catholic immigrants settled lands near Lake Desolation. Irish Catholic immigrants worked their way south from Canada or north from Boston and New York after news of jobs in the great extractive industries gave them lumber camps and boomtowns to head for. Irish laborers dominated the Adirondack sole-leather tanery industry which boomed from 1860 to 1880. -
Religion
Immigrants certainly brought religion and culture with them. Welsh immigrants modeled their stone churches after country capels in northern Wales. Near Tupper Lake, Jewish ladies made sure their meat was properly koshered and that their sons could read the ancient Hebrew prayers. -
Tuberculosis
The tuberculosis sanatorium established by Dr. Edward L. Trudeau in Saranac Lake brought people from all over. There were cure cottages for Cubans and South Americans, one for African-Americans, one for tenement girls from the Lower East Sid and others for the rich and famous all over the world. This sanatorium thrived until the discovery of streptomycin in 1940. -
Period: to
Hotels
Grand hotels in the Adirondacks attracted more immigrants. Irish immigrants served as hotel housekeepers and African-American workers came north seasononally from southern resorts to serve as hotel stewards, kitchen staff, and waiters. Farmers were also kept employed by the dairy products and home grown produce demanded by most hotel clientele. -
Peddlers
Throught the Industrial Revolution, immigrant peddlers made their way through the Adirondacks selling their wares. They sold tinware and tools, traded bold of cloth and overalls for dressed skins and sold spices and bananas. They aided farm families and miner and logger camps as they traveled from settlement to settlement bartering goods. Some even traded their wagons for storefronts. -
Immigrant Transition
In 1904, the immigrants were predominantly Irish. However, this did not last for long. A few years later, names from Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, Italy and Spain started to work their way in to the Adirondacks. -
Blue Mountain Lake
The first motorists made their way to Blue Mountain Lake in 1906 as more and more tourists began visiting the Adirondacks. Gilded Age industrialists became lured by the privacy and large estates available in the Adirondacks. They built Great Camps on sizeable estates and some still remain in family hands today. -
Workers
Italian and other migrant workers were often recruited by Adirondack labor agents directly friom the New York City docks. They worked for lumber barons, railway magnates, real estate speculatiors and were hired fro specific jobs on Adirondack railways, roads and dams. Railroad men worked 11 hour days and were paid 19 cents/hour. Also mining companies frequently sent Italina-born employees to assemble work crews in NYC and hustle them north to begin their American lives in the mines. -
Recently
Today in the Adirondacks, many people flock to the fresh air and gorgeous views as a vacation oasis. It is arguably the most popular hiking location in New York. Many take advantage of the outdoor adventure sports available in the Adirondacks as well.
