 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
The first Lake George trading center was established in 1690 by the British army, in Crown Point. It was later captured by the French and turned into Fort St. Frederic. The British then built Fort William Henry to keep up, and the French had to keep up with that, so they built Fort Carillon. For Carillon was later called Fort Ticonderoga. It's on the north end of Lake George, whereas Fort William Henry is on the south side. All three areas...Crown Point, Fort William Henry, and Fort Ticonderoga, are open to the public today, as historical sites. Shortly after the English gained total control of the Lake George and Adirondack region, in the 1760s, the British crown began tapping the natural resources of their new territory: pine trees around Lake George and Lake Champlain. It was white pine, and the British used it to build a navy and to build commercial ships, to help maintain their control of the high seas all they way south to the Caribbean. The tall trees made great masts for the ships in the fleet. One problem, however, was getting the 100-foot logs to England...the routes North across the Atlantic to England were controlled by the French at that time, and the routes down the Hudson were troublesome because it was hard to get all the logs to the Hudson river for floating downstream. One other problem the British faced in exporting the trees of the Lake George region to England was growing independence and resentment from the Colonists, who decided the pines should stay in the Colonies and help in the development process of that region. In 1775 the Green Mountain Boys, led by Ethan Allen, decided to ask the British for Fort Ticonderoga. This led to a series of battles and finally in 1778 the British were forced out of the area. After this, settlers came in hordes to live in the Lake George region. They found the same difficulties that everyone before them had felt: no way to get trees to market. If only they could get the trees to New York City, they would be rich. It was tough going, and eventually lumber prices dropped and only a few got rich. Afer the Revolutionary War, the American governmnet paid its soldiers in land on the shores of Lake George, hoping to develop the area and hoping they soldiers would figure out ways to get the lumber to market. Well, they did just fine with stripping the shores of the lake and selling those trees, but once they entered the mountainous areas, they were at a loss. The next century saw more success in this area, as local lumber comanies sprang up all along the Hudson and throughout the Adirondack region. By the late 1800s, New York State was the lumber giant of the country, and the natural resources of the area had finally been successfully developed. From this period into the Teddy Roosevelt years, the Adirondacks saw wealth beyond the colonists' dreams. Luxury homes and summer getaway resorts for the rich from New York City were springing up all over Lake George, as well as grand inns and hotels. It was during this period, when Lake George and the Adirondacks were trendy, so to speak, that the Great Camps were built by the Vanderbilts, the J.P.Morgans, the Rockefellers. The Great Camp architecture remains today one of the most well-known and beloved symbols of the Adirondacks. The conflict over land-use that eventually emerged as a result of the two main groups in the area: lumberers and vacationers, led to the creation of the Adirondack Park. The problem of enjoying the natural resources while at the same time extracting wealth from the, remains today, and is carefully managed by the Park and Forest officials. There are strict land-use regulations, zoning laws, and much much land set aside for public use.
|
 |
