Early in the 19th C the Elba Iron Steel company used Mill Pond for their water supply. Around the time of the War of 1812, thanks to government contracts providing work, about 300 people lived in the area. Later the pond was used as a power supply and shipping logs to the Ausable River.
In the mid 19th century there was political turmoil in India and many people immigrated to the United States, including Hinduist Faramar Placid. Somehow he found his way to the Adirondack region, fell in love with the peacefulness of the land and settled there. Faramar's last name came to be known as a word meaning peace and the city of Lake Placid was named in his honor.
Librarian Melvil Dewey (creator of the Dewey Decimal System) and his wife founded the Lake Placid Club in the 1890's. The Deweys used advice from hotelkeeper Paul Smith (college of same name) in selecting the site of the club. A guide and boats went through seven portages, then a 20 mile wagon ride to get through the dense woods. The club grew to 2,000 members and Lake Sterns was renamed Lake Placid in 1927. (the village of Lake Placid was incorporated in 1900).Dewey kept the club open through the winter in 1905, which aided the development of winter sports in the area. As a side note, Lake Placid Florida was named in honor of Melvil, after he died there in 1931.
By 1921 the area had a ski jump, speed skating venue and ski association. Charles Jewtraw, a speed skater from Lake Placid, went on to win a gold medal at the very first Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix in 1924. Dr. Godfrey Dewey, Melvil's son, along with other prominent people from the area, were able to convince the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that Lake Placid had the best winter sports facilities in the nation and the 1932 winter Olympics were held there, forever putting Lake Placid on the map. This is a photo of the 1932 Olympic Stadium. 306 athletes participated in the games (32 women, 274 men).
Reading through some books on the region, it was amazing how utterly wild the area was so late into the 19th and early 20th century.
"No, not that! "
ReplyDeletewhy not?