Annals of the Deserted Village (Part 4)

Part Five: ‘Documentation Report:

Upper Works, Adirondack Iron and

Steel Company,’ by Wesley Haynes

(1994)

Documentation Report: Upper Works, Adirondack Iron and Steel Company Newcomb, Essex County, New York Prepared for: Town of Newcomb Historical Society Newcomb, New York Prepared by: Wesley Haynes, Consultant Technical Assistance Center Preservation League of New York State Albany, New York March 1994 This report was made possible, in part, with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts.

433

Executive summary The Upper Works of the Adirondack Iron and Steel Company, in the Town of

Newcomb, New York, has been recognized as significant in the development of the American steel industry since the works ceased operation in the mid-19th century. With the important exceptions of the McIntyre-McMartin House,1 the “New” Blast Furnace, and as yet unknown archaeological potential, the built environment of the early 19th century industrial village at the Upper Works was replaced with the existing late 19th and early 20th century cottages of a private sports fishing and game preserve.

Today, it is the modest and deteriorated architecture of the Tahawus Club that establishes the sense of place at the Upper Works. Apart from Arthur Masten’s anecdotal history, “Tahawus Club” (1935), the significance of this phase of use has been largely overlooked and not well understood. The existing cottages, most of which were constructed around the turn of the 20th century, post-date the establishment of the Tahawus Club’s institutional progenitor and first private preserve in the Adirondacks, the Preston Ponds Club. Unlike contemporary cottages built at other private recreational clubs in the Adirondacks where hunting and fishing were the focal activities, the cottages of the Tahawus Club are visually accessible to the public due to their location at the trailhead to Mt. Marcy. Together, industrial and recreational interpretation of the site holds great potential.

This report inventories known buildings and features at the site and offers a preliminary assessment of the potential for preservation and/or restoration of the surviving features. The report references primary source material, and integrates and updates previous studies of the site, including Masten’s “The Story of Adirondac” (1923), the Adirondack Iron & Steel Co. Recording Project prepared by the Historic American Engineering Record (1978), and an assessment report prepared by the Bureau of Historic Sites, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation in 1989.

Based upon observations of conditions at the site, structural and other problems are present in each building, but most of the buildings are not beyond repair. While preservation of the McIntyre-McMartin House and “New” Blast Furnace are desirable regardless of use, the report suggests that cottages in repairable condition be stabilized to allow for future rehabilitation contingent upon use.

1 Today known as the MacNaughton Cottage.

434

Introduction At the request of the Town of Newcomb Historical Society, the “Documentation Report:

Upper Works, Adirondack Iron and Steel Company” was prepared as the final product of a research and field study by the Technical Assistance Center of the Preservation League of New York State. The goal of this study has been to collect information pertaining to the physical characteristics of the site known as McIntyre, Adirondac[k], Upper Works, and the Preston Ponds/Adirondack/Tahawus/Upper Works Club, from 1826 to the present. The specific objectives have been to identify and document, where possible, the original dates of construction, uses, forms, plans and finishes of vanished and surviving structures, and to inventory and assess the integrity of surviving buildings and features and their potential for preservation and/or restoration.

The first task has been to compile, review and integrate the substantial body of work previously written about this important site, in particular, the iron works phase. Of this, the major sources distilled have been the two books about the Upper Works by Arthur Masten. “The Story of Adirondac” (1923) and “The Tahawus Club” (1935), have served as useful guides and appear to be generally accurate, but as they were written for other purposes, they contain several gaps central to the objectives of this report and are not comprehensively referenced. The McIntyre papers in the collection at the Adirondack Museum contain a substantial amount of information not available to or unused by Masten. Additional primary and manuscript materials have been reviewed in the collections of the New York Historical Society and the Jersey City Public Library.

This report starts with an overview of the site development, subdividing it into four major historical phases, and additional sub-phases. This is followed by a chronology of events, outlining the site development and occupancy with reference to vanished and surviving buildings and features. It includes all institutional and construction events encountered in research, and select personal and contextual events.

As little pictorial evidence has surfaced, an attempt has been made to broaden the network of documented visitors to the site, especially prominent artists and writers, who may have sketched or described the site in manuscript materials available in accessible collections. These individuals are listed in the appendix. Catalogued maps in the collection of the Adirondack Museum have been reviewed and referenced, but additional photographs in private collections of members of the Tahawus Club have yet to be identified or reviewed.

Fieldwork, conducted during the first two weeks of December 1993, included a visual survey of all exteriors and typical and accessible interiors, inspection of substrates/framing details where visible, preparation of sketch roof plans, 35mm photography, and an assessment of general conditions. Preliminary options for stabilization and recommendations for future research conclude the report.

The report was prepared by Wesley Haynes, Consultant, working with the Preservation League of New York State. In addition to writing, Mr. Haynes was responsible for fieldwork, building examination, photography and most of the research. Additional research assistance was provided by Brad Edmondson. The report was coordinated by Tania Werbizky, Director of Technical Services for the Preservation League. Helena Wood prepared the final document. This report was made possible, in part, with public funds provided by the Architecture, Planning and Design Program of the New York State Council on the Arts to the Town of Newcomb Historical Society.

435

1. Historic context

Overview Few sites better embody the diverse history of the Adirondacks than the Upper Works

of the former Adirondack Iron and Steel Company. During the course of the 165 years following the first documented human intervention, the sequential uses of the site encompass and played a catalytic role in the thematic pattern of the Adirondacks in general. From 1826 to 1857, the Upper Works developed into a small industrial village, established at the source of the iron ore. Between 1848 and 1857, pig iron puddled with wood and hammered into bars at the Upper and Lower Works was shipped to Jersey City and converted to blister steel, considered to be the finest produced in the United States.

In the process of surveying the site to discover its industrial potential, the proprietors of the works sponsored the New York Natural History Survey, which used the works in 1837 as the base camp for the first scientific exploration of the Adirondack interior. The discoveries of the Survey, regarded today as significant within the development of systematic natural science, inadvertently attracted the first wave of journalists and artists by publishing the first images and reports of the High Peaks wilderness, an area virtually unknown to the world outside at this time. By the 1860s, sportsmen and tourists were attracted to the area by journalistic accounts, often spectacular in nature, of fishing, hunting and scenic wonders. Although operations at the works had by then ceased, the “deserted” or “ruined” village itself had become a picturesque curiosity.

By the late 1860s, conservation-minded sportsmen who enjoyed the Adirondacks grew concerned about the impact of unbridled and overzealous hunting and fishing on game resources. When it was founded in 1876, the Preston Ponds Club, while not the first sporting organization established in the Adirondacks, appears to have been the first association in the region to articulate an objective of game management by posting and controlling a preserve. From 1876 until 1947, the former industrial village served as the club headquarters of the Preston Ponds Club and its successors, the Adirondack Club and Tahawus Club. Initially, the buildings of the village were selectively adapted or demolished; by the turn of the [20th] century, most earlier dwellings had been replaced with club cottages. Ruins of significant masonry features coexisted with the club buildings throughout its occupation.

Renewed interest in mining at the site was rekindled in the early 20th century when industrial uses for titanium were being developed, but actual mining did not recommence until 1941. A new site for a village was selected on Sanford Lake between the Upper and Lower Works. The Club’s lease at the Upper Works was not renewed in 1947. The buildings were subsequently winterized and used year-round by National Lead [until they were abandoned in 1963]. Mining operations continued until 1982; [all operations ceased in 1989].

Phases of Development and Use/Historic Themes and Events

Four major phases are evident upon review of the chronology of the site’s development:

Phase I: 1826-1857 Adirondac[k] Iron and Steel Company Upper Works

436 ANNALS OF THE DESERTED VILLAGE

Phase II: 1857-1876 “Deserted Village”

Phase III:1876-1947 Preston Ponds/Adirondack/Tahawus Club

Phase IV:1947-1992 National Lead/Kronos Phase I. 1826-1857 Adirondac[k] Iron and Steel Company, aka Newcomb’s farm, McIntyre[s], Adirondac[k]

The site is developed from virgin forest into a small industrial village surrounded by open, clear-cut pastures and fields over a thirty-one year period.

Sub-phases: I-A 1826-1832: Discovery and Exploration phase. No major construction apart from “iron”

dam. Proprietors camp in tents and/or impermanent shanties on early surveying visits. I-B 1833-1837: Infrastructure phase. Preliminary construction including roadwork,

sawmill, first forge, clearing for agriculture, and other support structures. Log boarding house and McMartin/McIntyre house built. Geological exploration begun.

I-C 1838-1847: Henderson/Tahawus phase. Geological exploration continues; equipment developed to extract ore for remote testing. After 1848, pig iron puddled with wood at Adirondack and formed into bars under a hammer was shipped to Jersey City and converted to blister steel. Primary developments during this period were at the Lower Works, but a new boarding house, school house and several dwellings were built at the Upper Works.

I-D 1848-1857: Peak years at Upper Works. By end of period, approximately 25 dwellings, 3 furnaces, and numerous support structures at village. Themes: industry, scientific exploration, agriculture Events: New York Natural History Survey (1837)

Phase II. 1857-1876 “Deserted Village” aka “ruined village” The Upper Works is virtually abandoned, save for the [Robert] Hunter [1857-1872]

and [John] Moore [1872-1877] families, hired as caretakers subsisting on farming, hunting and fishing. Buildings and structures generally decay; ruined new furnace is highlighted in several guidebooks as a picturesque attraction; vacant dwellings informally used for lodging visiting sportsmen, writers and curiosity seekers.

Themes: recreation, subsistence agriculture

Phase III. 1876-1947 Preston Ponds/Adirondack/Tahawus Club The Upper Works was used as the headquarters of a private fishing and hunting

preserve for 71 years. The Preston Ponds Club, founded in 1876 with the stated objectives of “protection, increase and capture of fish and game,” appears to have established the earliest documented preserve in the Adirondacks by leasing the former property of the Adirondack Iron and Steel Company.

Sub-phases: III-A 1876-1897: Preston Ponds/Adirondack Club. Minor repairs made to the major

buildings at the Upper Works, at least one building, the Clubhouse Annex, “reconstructed,” and some vacant houses occupied, but by 1889, most earlier construction allowed to deteriorate and/or demolished. First private cottages and outlying camps constructed by end of period.

UPPER WORKS DOCUMENTATION REPORT 437

III-B 1899-1920: Tahawus Club. First phase of private cottage construction, several buildings replaced and/or incorporated earlier structures by 1905.

III-C 1921-1947: Tahawus Club. Characterized by attrition of holdings through sale to lumbering interests, acquisition by the state, and sale to National Lead. Some additional cottages added to village in the 1930s. Themes: recreation, resource conservation. Events: Theodore Roosevelt visit (III-B).

Phase IV. 1947 to present, National Lead/Kronos

The buildings at the Upper Works are used for a period [until 1963] to house workers at the Lake Sanford titanium mines.

Theme: industry

438

Chronology of development and use of the site

Phase I. Adirondac[k] Iron and Steel Company Upper Works (1826 - 1857)

Background and antecedents

ca. 1800 Town of North Elba first settled.

1801 First iron works in Essex County, designed to fabricate anchors, is erected on shore of Lake Champlain in Willsboro Falls by Levi Highboy and George Throop [Watson, p. 438].

1809 Archibald McIntyre and Malcolm McMartin erect a forge along the headwaters of the Ausable River, commencing the “Elba Iron Works.”

1815 Elba Iron Works abandoned due to inferior quality of local ore and cost of shipping better ore in from Clinton County.2

1816 Town of Newcomb first settled on or near the shores of Newcomb Lake and Lake Harris [Smith, p.642 (see TDV 381-391)].

I-A. (1826 - 1832): Discovery and exploration

1826 A prospecting party looking for silver is shown an iron ore deposit by an Abenaki named Lewis Elijah. Party comprised of Malcolm McMartin, Duncan McMartin Jr. of Broadalbin, John McD. McIntyre, David Henderson of Jersey City, Dyer Thompson, and Enoch, a servant. Archibald McIntyre and prospectors begin to invest in property [Hochschild].

[Note: Dornburgh’s statement (p. 4 [TDV 337]) that A. McIntyre and D. McMartin “commenced operations in 1826 at this new field by erecting a forge and building suitable for separating ore, and also erected a log building to accommodate their men” is not substantiated in subsequent histories and appears to be inaccurate.]

1826-27 McIntyre and associates begin purchase of 105,000-acre holdings [Hochschild].

1828 Duncan McMartin, then a State Senator, promotes legislation to appoint commission to survey and construct a road from Cedar Point (Port Henry) through Moriah and Newcomb to the western edge of Essex County [Hochschild].

1830 Eight families permanently settled in what is the Town of Newcomb. Cedar Point Road construction in progress and a few acres cleared near ore beds.

A. McIntyre, D. McMartin, Henderson and Randolph Taylor from Pennsylvania, possibly a prospective contractor, visit site, guided by Iddo Osgood of North Elba, one of the commissioners for laying out the new road. Party camps near site of future boarding house [Masten, 1923].

2 According to Mary MacKenzie (ADV 26-37), the Elba Works continued operating until 1817.


1831 Six tons of ore drawn out along the Cedar Point Road [Masten, 1923].

1832 Active development commences. Site of works surveyed and located by D. McMartin after June.

McIntyre describes mine as “Mammoth Ore Bed,” and reports “saw mill (in operation), the erection of a two-story log house (well finished for the country), a forge for a hammer & two fires (nearly finished) and a coal house, with a blacksmith shop, and some little stabling,” present by October [Hochschild].

Cholera epidemic in upstate New York; labor hard to obtain.

A. McIntyre visits site in November [Masten, 1923].

I-B. (1833-1837): Infrastructure & experiments (McMartin period)

1833 A. McIntyre lists planned work in January 2 letter to D. McMartin, including: l. dam Lake Henderson; 2. road from works to State Road; 3. clear and cultivate; 4. build good store with counting room and bed room or rooms; 5. enquire about Doolittle’s Patent Kiln for Charcoal; 6. survey route of road to Clear Pond and estimate cost; 7. keep 2 men blasting; 8. put boarding house in complete repair, adding a kitchen, cellar; 9. keep sawmill at work; … 12. get sufficient number of Bloomers; 13. make a good road up Main Street.

A. McIntyre refers to Upper Works as “McIntyre” in letter to D. McMartin on February 16; name continues to be used to around 1848 [Masten 1923].

Henderson reports to A. McIntyre on September 8: “I found the place [iron works] very much altered in appearance for the better — an excellent road from the landing to the settlement, and a straight level street from the house to the saw mill, good and dry, nearly completed.”

1834 D. McMartin’s health fails, sends son Daniel to works to continue his work, and invalid son Archibald to works for his health.

A. McMartin reports to D. McMartin on June 23 that “they have got up the frame for a plain dwelling house on the opposite side of the road from the lime kiln, and have got up part of the store frame and will raise the whole building tomorrow or next day. ... Daniel has not moved into his house yet, but still lives in the south end of the Large boarding house. The house will not be ready before the first or middle of next week. The second coat of paint was put on, on Saturday. ... The boarding house is kept very well indeed under the superintendence of Mr. and Mrs. Wilder.”


Proprietors discouraged by quantities (¾ ton to 1 ton per week) produced; A. McIntyre proposes to D. McMartin on September 9 that the company’s assets be liquidated. [1]

1836 William C. Redfield exploration of ironworks property under leadership of D. McMartin; party included Henderson, David C. Colden of Jersey City, Abraham van Santvoord, Ebenezer Emmons, a geologist, and James Hall, probably Emmons’ assistant.

1837 Puddling furnace built [Hochschild].

A. McIntyre helps organize visit of members of New York Natural History Survey. In June, Charles Cromwell Ingham, assigned as illustrator to the Survey, writes to colleague Thomas Cole, “I hope to be able to join a party that is going to McIntyre’s settlement. … A good deal of time we will camp out, as there is but one house on the place.” Members of the Survey, led by Emmons and including Hall, Redfield, Henderson, and Ebenezer Emmons Jr., make first recorded ascent of Mt. Marcy on August 5.

D. McMartin dies October 3. McMartin interest in works, disposed of prior to death, is transferred to A. McIntyre’s nephew, Archibald Robertson of Philadelphia. Henderson also becomes proprietor and takes charge of mining operation, with Andrew Porteous appointed superintendent. [1].

I-C. (1838-1851): Growth (Henderson/Porteous period)

1838 “Old” blast furnace built near the head of the village street, a short distance from the iron dam [Hochschild].

1839 Adirondack Iron and Steel Company incorporated [Hochschild], with A. McIntyre, Henderson, Robertson, Peter McMartin, and Luke Hemenway, directors.

Adirondack Railroad incorporated. Railroad not built [Hochschild].

Emmons begins a detailed geological survey of property in May.

Blast furnace built during the previous year does not work properly. Stone masonry proves costly to build and maintain, but weather does not permit Porteous to commence brickmaking [A.McI. to A.P., August 1, September 27, and December 19].

1840 A. McIntyre directs Porteous to sled in bricks to rebuild furnace in March.

Prospectus in Emmons geological report describes village of McIntyre: “Five comfortable dwelling houses (one of them is used as a boarding house, and can accommodate a family, and 30 boarders), a store-house, a blacksmith and carpenter’s shops, two barns, &c., &c., a good saw-mill, a forge with two fires and one trip hammer, and coal houses;” (100,000 bushels of charcoal capacity) present [Hochschild].

1841 Brick-making commences at Adirondac.


“At this place there are three families, a forge, a sawmill, about one-hundred fifty acres of clearing, and some fifteen men making brick and farming, etc.” at Adirondac [N.J. Beach to Emily (Beach), June 14].

1843 East branch of Hudson is diverted into west branch to provide adequate water supply for Adirondac [Porter].

1844 Second blast furnace built six miles south of McIntyre;3 McIntyre now sometimes called “Upper Works,” while new area called Lower Works [Hochschild].

Colden visits works with English actor William Charles Macready.

1845 Tilting hammer and other equipment to work steel into small bars probably installed [Hochschild].

Joseph Dixon becomes interested in McIntyre iron [Masten, 1923].

Henderson killed, September 3.

1846 Nails are inventoried in list of supplies brought to Adirondac.

1847 A. McIntyre writes, possibly referring to Adirondac, of “Shanties, which will be required for the large number of men, who will be employed during the summer may be covered with bark in May, but the two first mentioned must be covered with boards. … I suggest pine for clapboards and spruce for timbers” [A.McI. to A.P., February 12].

Pixley, or Pickslay, an English steel manufacturer from the Sheffield works, visits site, tests ore, and suggests name “Tahawus” for Lower Works [A.McI. to A.P., May 12, referenced in Masten 1935].

McIntyre Bank is in operation [A.McI. to A.P., November 10].

New Boarding House (later Club House) constructed. Draft specifications call for it to measure 50 x 37 feet, with a 22 x 18 foot kitchen. Staircase had been specified to have been built of St. Domingo mahogany, which was crossed out and written over “walnut” [Masten 1935].

Painting invoice September 16 identifies following buildings at “Adirondac”: Boarding House School House Store House opposite Old Blacks. Shop Cheney house Beedy house Snyder house Kellog house Andrew Porteous house Sargent house

3 The 1844 furnace was a replacement for an 1838 furnace; it was built at the Upper Works, not “six miles south of McIntyre (i.e., the Upper Works).”


old Boarding house 2 Barns Forge & Furnace” [10]

1848 Beginning of peak years at works. Sackets Harbor and Saratoga Railroad Company chartered, with a branch line to mine planned. Although not built, improvements stimulated at Upper Works [Hochschild].

Post Office established, and McIntyre formally renamed Adirondac. [Masten 1935]

Adirondack Steel Manufacturing Company erects steel manufacturing plant in Jersey City, producing blister steel from charcoal pig iron from McIntyre [Hochschild].

1850 Adirondack Iron and Steel Company reorganized, retaining name [Hochschild].

1851 Adirondack Iron and Steel Company awarded gold medal in London for first steel of American manufacture [Masten 1923].

1851 “Advantages of the Works and Property of the Adirondac Iron & Steel Co.” (Philadelphia: Howell Evans, 1851) [AML], a prospectus, is published. Describes village (Adirondac, Adirondack and McIntyre used variously within report), includes “a large, new and admirably located smelting furnace, built in the most substantial and approved manner, with all the modern improvements — besides the old furnace, a forge, cupola furnace, saw mill, and mill for pounding the ore — three large charring ovens, five coal houses, storehouse, shops, a large boarding house, about twenty-five dwelling houses, school house, barns, stables, wharves, boats, &c., &c. There are about 500 acres of land cleared and under cultivation.”

1854 “The Adirondack Iron & Steel Company, New-York” (New York: W.E. & J. Sibell, 1854) [AML], a second prospectus, is published. Inventories assets at the Upper Works as follows:

1 Cupola Furnace 1 Blast Furnace 1 Forge and Puddling Furnace 1 Stamping Mill 1 Mill for driving small machinery 1 Saw Mill 1 Grist Mill, or Mill for grinding food 1 hay Scales 2 Kilns for “roating” [roasting] ore 1 Brick House 1 Granary 1 Tool House 1 Blacksmith shop 1 Carpenter shop 3 Coal Kilns


6 Coal Houses 1 Long Wood house 1 Store for merchandize 1 Ice house 1 Powder house 1 Large Boarding house 16 Dwelling houses for workmen 1 School House 3 Large Barns several Cow Stables and Cattle Sheds 1 Piggery 1 Building with Steaming apparatus 1 Blast Furnace, just completed 36 feet square, 48 feet high; a new wheel house, carpenter shop, and two large coal houses are connected to it.

At “Tahawas” (located about 11 miles south, aka Lower Works), the 1854 prospectus inventories the following assets:

1 Warehouse for merchandize Iron Warehouse 1 Blacksmith shop 1 Saw Mill 1 Large Boarding house, with large Barn and Sheds 3 Dwelling houses for workmen 1 School house 1 Lime Kiln

I-D. (1852- 1857): Decline and abandonment

1852 Alexander Ralph, a relative of Henderson, succeeds Porteous as Superintendent.

1853 Property purchased by syndicate led by Benjamin C. Butler, a lumberman from Luzerne [Masten 1923].

1855 Butler syndicate defaults; property reverts to McIntyre et al. [Masten 1923].

1856 Dam at Adirondac and sawmill at Tahawus destroyed by Hudson River flooding [Hochschild].4

1857 Panic of 1857. Works apparently shut down [Hochschild].

Sackets Harbor and Saratoga Railroad Company reorganized as the Lake Ontario and Hudson River Railroad Company [Hochschild].

4 Seely provided documentary evidence that the 1856 date for the catastrophic flood was in error. The documentary evidence gives a date of October 1857. See the note at the front of this volume.


Phase II. “Deserted Village” (1857 - 1876)

1858 A. McIntyre and Robertson die.

1859 Directors of the Adirondack Iron and Steel Company meet in April and appoint a committee comprised of James R. Thompson, Oliver S. Strong and J. McD. McIntyre to look after company affairs, with Thompson, a nephew of Henderson, as agent in the sale of the company [9]

Robert Hunter, who had been a brickmaker at the works, is made guardian and occupies “double house hereafter known as Cocktail Hall” [Masten 1935 (ADV 177)].5

T. Addison Richards, “The Adirondack Woods and Waters,” Harper’s New Monthly Magazine Vol. XIX, published in September, contains an illustration of the iron works.6 [TDV 159-171]

Benson J. Lossing visits Adirondac and describes it as “the little deserted village” [TDV 186].

1860 Lake Ontario and Hudson River Railroad Company reorganized as the Adirondac Estate and Railroad Company [Hochschild].

1863 Dr. Thomas Clark Durant purchases property of the Adirondack Iron and Steel Company and reorganizes the Adirondac Estate and Railroad Company as the Adirondack Company [Hochschild].

1863 Naturalist and writer John Burroughs visits and describes site. The Lower Works contained only the remains of the dam and a long, low mound suggesting an earth work. The Upper Works village was inhabited by [Robert] Hunter, his wife, and five or six children, hired by the company to “see that things were not wantonly destroyed but allowed to go to decay properly and decently. He had a substantial roomy frame house and any amount of grass and woodland. He had good barns and kept considerable stock” as a subsistence farmer. “There were about thirty buildings in all, most of them small frame houses with a door and two windows opening into a small yard in front and a garden in the rear, such as are usually occupied by the laborers in a country manufacturing district. There was one large two story boarding house, a school house with a cupola and bell in it, and numerous sheds and forges, and a saw-mill. … Nearby a building filled with charcoal was bursting open and the coal going to waste on the ground. The smelting works were also much crumbled by time. The schoolhouse was still used. … The district library contained nearly one-hundred readable books, which were well thumbed.” [TDV 203, 204] [8]

5 Seely notes that, when the October 1857 freshet struck the McIntyre works, Robert Hunter was already “the only inhabitant in the vicinity.” The house in which Hunter and his family lived is known today as the MacNaughton Cottage. 6 The drawing that is captioned “The Adirondack Iron-Works” bears almost no resemblance to any other image of either the New Furnace or the iron workers’ village made in the mid-19th century.


1865 Durant commences construction of the Adirondack Railroad at Saratoga [Hochschild].

1869 “The cellars of their dwellings, in many instances, are excavated in the massive ore beds” in the village of Adirondac, observes historian Winslow C. Watson. [TDV 273]

1871 Durant runs out of money; railroad construction ceases three miles above North Creek (26 miles away), and assets of the Adirondack Iron and Steel Company revert to its heirs [Hochschild].

1873 Seneca Ray Stoddard visits site, and subsequently describes the “new forge” as a “huge building in a dilapidated condition, but the great stone furnace, forty feet square at its base, stands firm as and solid as when made; a few rods beyond this is the ruined village, where a scence [sic] of utter desolation met our view. … On either side [of the grass grown street] once stood neat cottages and pleasant homes, now stained and blackened by time; broken windows, doors unhinged, falling roof, rotting sills and crumbling foundations, pointed to the ruin that must surely come. At the head of the street was the old furnace, a part of one chimney still standing, and another shattered by the thunder bolt lay in ruins at its feet. The water-wheel … lay motionless. … Huge blocks of iron, piles of rusty ore, coal bursting from the crumbling kilns, great shafts broken and bent, rotting timbers, stones and rubbish lay in one common grave, over which loving nature had thrown a shroud of creeping vines. Near the center of the village was a large house said at one time to have accommodated one hundred boarders, now grim and silent; near by the left stood the pretty school house; the steps. … rotted and fallen, the windows were almost paneless, the walls cracked and rent asunder where the foundation had dropped away, and the doors yawned wide.” They entered the door of the large house, passed through the sounding hall to the rear of the building, and found it occupied by the Moores, “an old Scotchman7 and family, who took care of the property and took in strangers that chanced to come in that way, myself among that number.” Party spent night in “one of the deserted houses.” [Note: Stoddard republishes this description through 1914.] [TDV 299, 300, 302] [5]

Phase III. Preston Ponds/Adirondack/Tahawus Clubs (1876-1947)

Background and antecedents

1837 Learning of the Emmons survey, Charles Fenno Hoffman (1806-1884), guided by John Cheney, visits village of McIntyre in September in his attempt to be the first journalist to report on the source of the Hudson.

1839 Hoffman’s “Wild Scenes in the Forest” published in London. [TDV 34-68]

7 The “old Scotchman” was probably Robert Hunter, not John Moore. Stoddard blended the account of his first visit, in 1870, with his second visit, in 1873. Hunter was custodian when Stoddard first visited. Street referred to Hunter as “an intelligent Scotchman.”


1841-2 Piseco Lake Trout or Trout Club organized.

A touring party visiting Adirondack catches twenty-seven trout in one evening [N.J. Beach to Emily Beach, 14 June 1841].

1843 Hoffman’s “Wild Scenes in the Forest” published in New York.

1844 Colden visits iron works with English actor William Charles Macready and party camps out.

1846 Joel T. Headley, a Protestant minister, visits Upper Works and climbs Mt. Marcy with John Cheney.

1849 Richard H. Dana visits the Upper Works on hike through Indian Pass. [TDV 132-145, 146-158]

Headley’s “The Adirondack: or Life in the Woods” is published, emphasizing the region’s salubrious qualities. [TDV 87-114]

1852 Piseco Lake Trout or Trout Club disbands due to scarcity of trout, probably from over-fishing.

1857 North Woods [Izaak] Walton Club established by group of upstate sportsmen (formerly called the Brown’s Track Association) on Third Lake, Fulton Chain. Club establishes temporary camps on several lakes in Fulton Chain. Samuel H. Hammond’s “Wild Northern Scenes: or Sporting Adventures with the Rifle and the Rod” published, promoting the Adirondacks’ abundant fish and game and advocating legislation for its protection.

1858 A stone hut, “intended for the use and comfort of visitors to Tahawus” [i.e., Mt. Marcy] is erected in a nook of the heel at the south end of the summit August 19 by “F.S.P., M.C., and F.M.N. of New York [Carson, p.64 (from Lossing, TDV 194)].

1859 Lossing, guided by Mitchell Sabattis and William Preston, spends night of August 31 in hut atop Marcy, noting previous visits that month by at least two other parties [Carson, p.64 (again, from Lossing)].

New York State Governor Horatio Seymour shoots one of the last native Adirondack moose near Jock’s Lake.

1869 William H.H. Murray’s “Adventures in the Wilderness: or, Camp-Life in the Adirondacks” published.

1870s Fulton Chain swarmed by sports fishermen.

1871 Blooming Grove Park Association establishes first game preserve (12,000 acres) in the United States in Pike County, Pennsylvania, “one of the wildest and most picturesque portions of the State. [6]

1872 Yellowstone Park created without provisions for hunting or fishing.

1874 Seneca Ray Stoddard (1844-1917) publishes first edition of “The Adirondacks Illustrated” (Albany: Weed, Parsons & Co.). Describes Upper Works as an “old


village … in the midst of wild and picturesque scenery” convenient to Lake Henderson, Preston Ponds, Lake Harkness, Lake Andrews (“specially noted for its quantities of trout”), Calamity Pond, Lake Colden, Avalanche Lake, and Mt. Marcy. [TDV 39] Quotes occupant John Moore as saying, “We come here to hunt and fish, wife and I, and the less people come the better it will please us, but if people will come, we will try to take care of them in the proper season,” without charge. [5]

1877-78 Several former members of the North Woods Walton Club, organized as the Bisby Club, lease 320 acres in Brown’s Tract “to preserve the forest from incursions of civilization” and “where they might fish and hunt without molestation by the general public.” Bisby Club members include Richard U. Sherman, one of New York State’s Commissioners of Fisheries, Verplanck Colvin, former Governor Horatio Seymour, and Seth Green. [7]

1885 NYS creates the Adirondack Forest Preserve to control the watershed in eastern and central New York, but fails to protect forests.

1887 Adirondack Mountain Reserve established, headquartered at St. Hubert’s. AMR purchased Ausable Lakes and most of the Great Range to protect area from uncontrolled logging.

1889 Uncontrolled logging in the Adirondacks and inadequacies of the forest preserve law are the subject of a series of articles in the New York Times in the fall.

1890 Adirondack League Club establishes preserve in western Adirondacks, intending to manage forestry and game.

1891 Congress passes the Forest Reserve Act, establishing a system of national forests.

1892 New York State creates the Adirondack Park to protect the forest.

1904 New York State Forest, Fish and Game Commission estimates that fifty-five private preserves, owned by clubs and individuals, constitute nearly 750,000 acres, or a third, of all private land within the park.

III-A (1876-1898): Preston Ponds/Adirondack Clubs

1876 James R. Thompson and a few of his friends informally organize the Preston Ponds Club on February 17, having as its object “the protection, increase and capture of fish and game in and about the Preston Ponds in the County of Essex, and the promotion of social intercourse among its members.” Club leases from Thompson the three Preston ponds located three miles northwest of the Upper Works for two years. John Moore employed as “guardian of the ponds.” [9]

Donaldson appears to be incorrect as identifying the Preston Ponds Club as the first organization formed in the Adirondacks for sporting purposes; it does, however, appear to control an early, possibly first, private club preserve for this purpose.


Honorary Members (1877-1884) included Spencer Fullerton Baird, the first head of the United States Fish Commission and an early “fish culturist;” Robert Barnwell Roosevelt, uncle of Theodore Roosevelt, another early fish culturist; Seth Green, another early fish culturist, and honorary member of the Bisby Club; and Verplanck Colvin.

Founding Members (1877) included artist Lockwood DeForest of New York; Frederic H. Betts of New York; Charles L. Atterbury; Abiel Abbot Low Jr., of New York; and Rutherford Stuyvesant.

1877 Name “Preston Ponds Club” considered too limiting in scope; renamed Adirondack Club, incorporated in March, and obtains a twenty-year lease from MacIntyre Iron Co. over the entire 105,000-acre holding. [9] James R. Thompson, President; William E. Pearson, Secretary; Thomas J. Hall of New York City, Secretary; Francis H. Weeks, George W. Folsom, and William H. Powers comprised Executive Committee. [Stoddard]

Number of active members limited to twenty, “composed of men of high social position and noted philanthropy,” according to Stoddard. “The objects of the Club are protection, stocking, increase and capture of fish and game in and about the territory owned by the Adirondack Iron and Steel Co., in Essex County, which has been leased for a term of years for that purpose — and the promotion of social intercourse among its members. The headquarters will be at the Ruined Village. The declared policy of the Club is to stop the indiscriminate slaughter of game and fish in this region. … Visitors will ordinarily have no difficulty in finding accommodations.” [Stoddard; description repeated through 1884 edition].

Moore dismissed. Myron Buttles made Superintendent of Upper Works, and David Hunter, son of Robert Hunter, made Superintendent of Lower Works. [10]

$150 appropriated for repairs to the boarding house (later known as the Club House). [10]

Club planned to lease farms at Lower Works to acceptable parties, but never developed. [10]

Boarding house remodeled for use as a club house, including new chimney on north side (club room), and old barns in front removed. Tank with troughs capable of holding 100,000 fry installed in the kitchen or long room in the rear of the Club House under Seth Green’s supervision. Soon abandoned for a hatchery built at the river near the falls. [9]

13,000 California salmon and 40,000 lake trout placed in Lake Henderson in April. Black bass introduced in Lake Sanford, and speckled trout stocked elsewhere. [10]

Bull and cow moose from Nova Scotia placed in 50 acre breeding pen on ridge behind the Club House. [10]


Club House “painted and renovated throughout, and piazza enlarged.” [Masten (ADV 181)] “The building is now occupied, during the summer, by members of the Adirondack Club, who have put it in good repair.” [Stoddard (TDV 301)]

1878 Francis H. Weeks obtains permission “to repair the house now called the Hunter House8 for his own exclusive use;” first cottage occupied by a member. [ADV 147] [9]

1880 McIntyre, Henderson and Robertson heirs appoint Thompson as Trustee to hold and administer property. [9]

Building adjoining Club House, known as the Annex in 1923, is to be reconstructed for better accommodation. Construction of a six-boat boathouse on river at head of Lake Sanford is authorized. [10]

1881 Annex referred to as “new Club House,” and equipped with lockers, [10] two fireplaces, running water and bath; double porch entirely over front. (1926).

1884 Club Executive Committee purchases George W. Folsom camp on Preston Ponds for $125. (Replaced by newer building ca. 1913.) [9]

>1884 Alexander Taylor Jr. builds log camp at Lake Colden, which was later purchased by Club, and was standing in 1923. [9]

1885 Ruined village “is now the headquarters of the Adirondack Club, who have leased and hold the surrounding territory as a preserve for the use of themselves and friends, where, it is understood, uninvited guests are not welcome.” Entry is constant through 1886. [Stoddard]

1887 Thompson succeeded as trustee by James MacNaughton of Albany, a grandson of A. MacIntyre.

Stoddard revises 1885 entry: “To-day but little appears of the ruined village. All but two or three of the buildings that stood there in 1873 have been removed or destroyed. The ancient schoolhouse now does duty as a fish hatchery, and the old kilns are overgrown with vines and shrubbery. … This is now the headquarters of the Adirondack Club, who have leased and hold the surrounding territory as a game and fish preserve for the use of themselves and friends, and while their rules proclaim them a ‘close corporation,’ no one understanding the circumstances can find reasonable objection. Stringent rules apply to all members of the club. No member is permitted to hunt or fish outside the season as established by law, or hunt at all except on regularly appointed occasions. The small house at Tahawus and the large building at the Upper Works are under competent management, and although primarily intended for accommodations of the club, provide excellent fare for the chance visitor. Price for accommodations is fixed at $3.00 per day for all persons except guides and servants, and no person not a member of the club or their guests, will be entertained for more than a single night unless under pressing conditions. Parties who go through to Avalanche Pass from the north and return

8 Today called the MacNaughton Cottage.


by Indian pass, or vice versa, usually find the way too long for a single day, but breaking the trip at the Upper Works divides it evenly enough. Those who come are made welcome and entertained at the Club House in excellent shape. Myron Buttles is a walking encyclopedia of fact and figures, tireless in discharge of his duty as manager, and unremitting in his attention as host.” Entry remains constant through 1892. [Stoddard]

1890 Buttles dies, replaced by Hunter as superintendent with summer headquarters at Upper Works. [9]

1891 Regulations state: “Members may erect private houses or camps on club premises, or fit up any vacant houses thereon, provided, however, that no such house or camp shall be erected or vacant house occupied without the previous consent in writing, of the Executive Committee; and provided further, that at any time after the expiration of two years, from the time of granting such permission, the club may, on six month’s notice, purchase any house or camp, on payment to the member erecting or refitting the same, the amount necessarily expended by him in the construction or refitting thereof. Such private houses or camps shall be deemed in all respects the private property of the member erecting or refitting the same.”

1891-? Alexander Taylor Jr. (member 1891-?), of Mamaroneck, N.Y., builds Taylor-Bonner-Terry cottage, first cottage for private occupation, at the head of the street on the west side.

1893 Stoddard revises 1889 entry: “The Adirondack Club, whose headquarters are at the Upper Adirondack Works. Once there were extensive buildings at this place. … Meals can be had here or entertainment for a night, if the traveler wishes, although uninvited visitors are not encouraged.” Entry remains unchanged through 1900 edition.

1894 Trust arrangement fails. Judgment in suit brought by some heirs results in sale of the property to McIntyre Iron Company and issuance of stocks, with James MacNaughton as president. McIntyre Iron Company, a holding company, is authorized to buy, sell and lease lands, open and work mines or quarries, manufacture iron, steel and lumber, mill grain and tan hides. [9; Porter]

1897 Adirondack Club becomes moribund. [9] MacNaughton declines to renew original ten-year lease. [10]

III-B (1898 - 1920): Tahawus Club

1898 Tahawus Club formed, largely through efforts of Alexander Taylor Jr., replacing Adirondack Club. Large turnover in membership. New families from Boston; earlier Philadelphia families defect to Ausable Club. [10]

1899 President George Wheelock informed the members of the Club at the annual meeting that the first year had been a success, and that four new cottages were ordered to be built over the winter. These probably were among the following:


• Abbott-Geer-Nichols-Lockwood cottage, adjacent to the Crocker premises, built by Gordon Abbott of Boston, who was elected a director that year.

• Coe-Edmonds-Williams-Ferris cottage built by E. Holloway Coe of New York.

• Jennings-Geer-Rives cottage on the east side of the river, built by Walter Jennings of New York, who was elected a director at the meeting.

• James-Terry-Savage cottage, located adjacent to the site of the old Store House, built by Dr. Walter B. James of New York, but never occupied by him.

Michael Breen assumes charge of Lower Works. [9]

1900 In November, Wheelock reports “four additional cottages have been built and occupied during the past season, so that we now have eight cottages on the premises in the immediate vicinity of the Club. … A new water supply system … from the Calamity Pond stream, drawn from a point of sufficient altitude and at a distance of two-thirds of a mile from the Club, has been installed at an expense of $1,800. … The dock at Lake Henderson has been completely rebuilt. … Lake Sandford boat house and landing stage were altered and enlarged to accommodate more boats, the bridge across the river renewed, new target range prepared and fixed in a safe position above the cottages, and a proper foot bridge to it thrown across.”

George I. Nichols of New York builds Nichols-Ordway-Debevoise cottage east of street and near river [Masten 1935].

1901 Theodore Roosevelt visits; stays at MacNaughton cottage. [9]

Stoddard belatedly revises entry used since 1893: “The Tahawus Club has leased the hunting and fishing privileges from the MacIntyre Iron Co., consisting of nearly 90,000 acres, extending to the Upper Ausable Lake on the east and from the Lower Works to include Lake Tear-of-the-Clouds and Lake Colden to north, with headquarters at the Upper Works. … Uninvited visitors are not encouraged.” Entry remains constant through 1905 edition.

1901-? Dr. George E. Brewer builds Brewer-Williams cottage near site of old schoolhouse, south of Club House and north of gate.

1905 Arthur Masten builds “Gabbro” on the ridge below the gate, west of the barn; destroyed by fire in 1926; rebuilt in 1927.

1906 Witherbee, Sherman & Company, owners of mining property near Port Henry, purchases property; new company called Tahawus Iron Company. [9]

Stoddard revises 1901 entry. “The Tahawus Club … will provide fare for the chance visitor, primarily intended for accommodation of Club members.” Entry remains constant through 1914 edition.

1906-09 Extensive explorations of ore conducted, and new road opened from Lake Sanford to the East River Falls. [9]


1907 MacIntyre Iron Company builds Foote cottage on east side of Lake Sanford for use of company officials.

1908 Champlain & Sanford Railroad Company organized, proposing route from Lake Sanford to Addison Junction near Ticonderoga to avoid state-owned land. [9]

1910 Wallace T. Foote, principal proponent at Witherbee, Sherman & Company for re-opening mining operations, dies. [9]

1914 Schoolhouse [fish hatchery] which stood on the west bank of the river just below falls is broken up and carried downstream in freshet. [10]

III-C (1921-1947): Tahawus Club/ Tahawus Purchase/Upper Works Club

1921 New York State Conservation Commission acquires Lake Colden gore from Club.

Considerable tracts of land sold to Finch, Pruyn & Co. for logging, with Tahawus Club reserving rights to hunt and fish thereon for a limited number of years. 10,874 acres remain in ownership of MacIntyre Iron Co. in vicinity of Lake Sanford and the Club House. [9]

1923 New York State Conservation Commission acquires Indian Pass gore from Club.

1926 David Hunter dies; replaced by Breen as superintendent.

1932 W.R.K. Taylor builds cottage on east side of street, on site of studio to north of “Lazy Lodge” (1935), which had been built by Alexander Taylor Jr. for his daughter.

±1932 E. Farrar Bateson builds cottage across street from original site of schoolhouse on main street.

1933 Annex to Taylor/Bonner/Terry cottage, “Lipstick Lodge,” built. [10] Seely and Jessup cottages on Lake Sanford are completed. [10] Tahawus Club taken over by Tahawus Purchase Inc.

1941 Club re-forms as Upper Works Club, sells 6,000 acres to National Lead Co., and leases Adirondac site for six years. [4]

1947 National Lead does not renew lease with Club; Club relocates to Lower Works vicinity, resumes Tahawus Club name. [4]

Phase IV. Titanium Pigment Co./National Lead (1941 to present)

Background

1892 Auguste J. Rossi, a French metallurgist employed to study and improve methods of smelting titaniferous ores. Study results in patents on methods of smelting and manufacture of various titanium alloys. [Stephenson]

1893 Rossi publishes “Titaniferous Ores in the Blast Furnace,” AIME Trans. 21:832-67.


1906-09 Magnetic surveys of ore bodies conducted, followed by “considerable” diamond drilling.

1908 Rossi discovers suitability of titanium oxide as a white paint pigment following further investigation of McIntyre ore. [Stephenson]

1912-14 15,000 to 20,000 tons of ore shipped as a result of temporary mining operations. Concentrating plant and/or magnetic separator built on east shore of Lake Sanford, but hauling of ore proves too costly. [9; Porter]

1916 Owners of McIntyre mine form Titanium Pigment Co. [4]

1921 National Lead Company acquires control of Titanium Pigment Co. [4]

1941 Titanium Division of the National Lead Company of New York (or a subsidiary, Titanium Pigment Corporation) purchases iron mines in September (Time Magazine) or April (Wall Street Journal) from MacIntyre Iron Co. for mining of ilmenite to be used in manufacturing of titanium paint pigments at plants in St. Louis and Sayerville, New Jersey.

1942 MacIntyre Development (Titanium Division) of National Lead Company and E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Company, with assistance from the Federal Office of Production Management, begins mining operations for titanium and vanadium in July after a year of construction. Forty buildings constructed; eight miles of highway built. Magnetite separated from ilmenite by magnetic process. Engineers live in “tents and ghost-city shanties” during start-up.

±1944 Railroad constructed from North Creek.

1945 Tahawus is a community of 300 persons, 84 modern insulated housing units, two apartment buildings (one 12 units, the other 15 units), boarding house, 80-person dormitory, restaurant, recreation hall, movie hall, pool room, post office, and store. Children bussed to school in Newcomb.

>1947 Buildings at Upper Works are used by workers at mines.

1963 Requiring more space for mining, buildings at Tahawus — including churches, houses and apartments — are moved to Winebrook subdivision on eastern edge of Newcomb hamlet. [Pope] [NL employees are also removed from Upper Works houses; site is abandoned.]

1982 Ilmenite mining ceases.

1986 Harold C. Simmons of Dallas gains control of NL Industries.

1989 NL Industries close the mine.

1990 NL Chemical Inc. becomes Kronos Inc. of Houston.

Sources: Chronology [1] Harold K. Hochschild, “The MacIntyre Mine: From Failure to Fortune” (Blue

Mountain Lake, NY: 1962) [ADV 12-25].


[2] Henry Dornburgh, “Why the Wilderness is Called Adirondack” (Glens Falls: 1885) [TDV 336-351].

[3] Village of Adirondac–Tahawus Club district (?) [4] James P. Gold et al., “An Assessment Report, Tahawus/Adirondack Iron and Steel

Company: Upper Works, Town of Newcomb, Essex County, New York” (unpublished typescript, Bureau of Historic Sites, Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation: 1989).

[5] Seneca Ray Stoddard “The Adirondacks Illustrated” (Albany: Weed, Parsons & Co., 1874).

[6] “Fall Sport at Blooming Grove Park,” American Sportsman, December 27, 1873, III, 201.

[7] H. J. Cookingham, “The Bisby Club and the Adirondacks,” American Field, March 10, 1883, XVIII, 172.

[8] John Burroughs, “Wake-Robin” (2nd ed.; Boston, 1891) [TDV 202-206], 102. [9] Arthur H. Masten, “The Story of Adirondac” (privately published, 1923) [ADV 39-

153]. [10] Arthur H. Masten, “Tahawus Club, 1898-1933” (privately published, 1935) [ADV

155-222]

455

2. Site survey

Overview The site surveyed for this study is located along a road beginning at the New Furnace

and terminating at the New York State trailhead to Mount Marcy. The site is bordered by a steep ridge to the west and the East Branch of the Hudson River to the east. The site includes structures on the east bank of the river, but these were not inspected at close range due to difficulty in crossing the river.

The built environment of this site contains extant features constructed over a period of approximately 100 years, beginning in the 1830s. The earliest features, the McMartin/McIntyre house and the New Furnace, were constructed in Phase I. With the exception of a concrete block pumphouse (Building #1-A), which was probably constructed in Phase IV, the remaining fifteen buildings are related to the Club occupation of the site.

The following inventory of structures is presented in three sections: 1. The documented vanished buildings and structures are listed first. 2. These are followed by survey notes of the extant structures at the site, including

photographs and comments on history and condition. This section also includes an assessment of general conditions.

3. The third section lists other related extant structures excluded from the survey.

VANISHED BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES

The following list of vanished buildings and structures is arranged chronologically. Principal sources referred to are:

1840 Inventory (“Reports and Documents Relative to the Iron Ore Veins, Water Power and Wood Land, &c. &c. In and Around the Village of McIntyre, in the Town of Newcomb, Essex County, State of New York,” New York: P. Miller, Jan. 1, 1840 [AML]).

1847 Inventory (Painting Invoice 9/16) 1851 Inventory (“Advantage of the Works and Property of the Adirondac Iron & Steel

Co.,” Philadelphia: Howell Evans, 1851 [AML]). 1854 Inventory (“The Adirondack Iron & Steel Company, New-York,” New York:

W.E. & J. Sibell, 1854 [AML]).

“Iron” dam (possibly by 1826) Location: Across river at Upper Works. Description: Not known. Notes: In 1856, the dam at the Upper Works was destroyed by flooding of the Hudson

River.9

9 See the note at the front of this volume on the “1856 flood,” which actually occurred in 1857; per Masten, only “the upper dam at Adirondac” (of the three dams shown on an 1854 map) was destroyed. Benson Lossing, visiting the Upper Works in 1859, included drawing captioned “The Iron Dam” in his book, “The Hudson.”


Saw mill (by 1832) Location: Adjacent to river. Description: This or a later replacement structure was a one-story, gable-roofed, open-

sided, braced-timber framed structure, approximately five bays long and one bay wide, located parallel to the river. The roof appears to have been clad with vertical boards nailed to purlins or breathers, capped with ridgeboards. [1]

Notes: In 1847, a Mr. Taylor builds a sawmill at the Upper or Lower Works. Sources: 1. Updated photograph in Masten, “Tahawus Club,” opposite p. 12. 2. A. McIntyre to A. Porteous, February 12, 1847.

Log house, aka old boarding house (by 1832; extended 1833) Location: Not known. Description: Possibly a two-story, gable-roofed log house with a chimney at the north

end, “well finished for the country.” Notes: In 1833, a one-story, gable-roofed log wing with a chimney at the south end

was added to the south, possibly over a cellar, and described as a “comfortable and convenient dwelling attached to the South End of the log house.”

Probably the building referred to in 1840 as “large boarding house accommodating a family and 30 boarders” [4], and in 1847 as “old Boarding house” [5].

Sources: 1. Log cabin and south wing as pictured in “View of Adirondack [Group] from the

Newcomb Farm,” in Emmons 1842, vol. II, based on sketch by Henderson. 2. A. McIntyre, diary entry, October 24, 1832, quoted in Hochschild, p. 4. 3. O. Henderson to A. McIntyre, September 8, 1833. 4. 1840 inventory. 5. 1847 inventory.

Forge for a hammer & two fires (1832) Location: Probably near the head of the village street, a short distance from the “iron”

dam, adjacent to the “old” furnace. Description: Blooming forge, probably built of stone. Source: “Nearly finished,” A. McIntyre diary entry, October 24, 1832, quoted in

Hochschild, p. 4.

Coal house (by 1832) Location: Not known. Description: Not known. Source: A. McIntyre, diary entry, October 24, 1832, quoted in Hochschild, p. 4.

Blacksmith shop (by 1832) Location: Not known. Description: Not known. Source: A. McIntyre, diary entry, October 24, 1832, quoted in Hochschild, p. 4.


Stables/Barns (begun by 1832) Location: Barn complex appears to have been located on east side of street, across

from the schoolhouse, near the south entrance to the village [4]. Later referred to as in front of the new boarding house [5].

Description: Unknown. Notes: By 1840, possibly enlarged/replaced with two barns [2]. By 1854, “3 Large Barns, several Cow Stables and Cattle Sheds, and 1 Piggery

present” [3]. In 1863, barns described as good, and apparently actively used [6]. In 1877, “old barns” in front of the boarding house were removed. In 1879, a brick barn 100 feet south of the club house was in good condition; it remained standing until 1901.

Sources: 1. “Some little stabling,” A. McIntyre diary entry, October 24, 1832, quoted in

Hochschild, p. 4. 2. 1840 inventory. 3. 1854 inventory. 4. Lossing. 5. Masten, “Tahawus Club.” 6. Burroughs.

Charring kilns? (1832 or 33?) Location: Unknown. Description: “Charring kilns to be built thickness of length of brick (if brick) or 8

inches and 10 feet high.” [1]. “Enquire about Doolittle’s Patent Kilne for Charcoal” [2]. Sources: 1. Lengthy description in A McIntyre to D. McMartin, March 20, 1832. “Charring

kilns” not identified in subsequent inventories; possibly a description of the forge, coal house or lime kilns?

2. A. McIntyre to D. McMartin, January 2, 1832.

Street from the house to the saw mill (1833) Road from the landing to the settlement (1833)

Description: Corduroy road? Notes: Corduroy road by 1840 [2]. Sources: 1. D. Henderson to A. McIntyre, September 8,1833. 2. A. McIntyre to A. Porteous, January 22, 1840.

Lime kiln (by 1834) [1] Location: Not known. Description: Not known. Notes: Pendleton limestone proved to be ill-suited for lime; proprieters considered

importing lime to works in 1840 [2]. Sources: 1. A. McMartin to D. McMartin, June 23,1834. 2. A. McIntyre to A. Porteous,January 22,1840.


Daniel McMartin house (1834) Notes: This is probably the McMartin/McIntyre, aka, Proprietor’s and/or

MacNaughton House. See extant buildings. Sources: A. McMartin to D. McMartin, 23 June 1834.

Dwelling house (1834) Location: Across road from the lime kiln [1]. Description: Plain, frame construction[ 1]. Notes: Not the D. McMartin House [1]. Sources: A. McMartin to D. McMartin, 23 June 1834.

Storehouse (1834) Location: Probably on west side of road, north of site of annex. Description: Frame [2]. Possibly had “a counting room and bed or bed rooms” [3]. Notes: Remained standing in 1883 or later [1]. Sources: 1. Masten, 1935. 2. A. McMartin to D. McMartin, June 23, 1834. 3. A. McIntyre to D. McMartin, January 2, 1833.

Puddling furnace (1837) [1] Location: Not known. Description: Not known. Notes: Possibly replaced in 1845: “Mr. Rufsel the refiner is now with the mason

erecting a puddling furnace fed by spruce.” [2]. Sources: 1. Dornburgh. 2. D. Henderson to A. McIntyre, June 14, 1845, from Adirondac.

Andrew Porteous house [1] (by 1838)[2] Location: Not known. Description: Not known. Sources: 1. 1840 inventory. 2. “I shall be anxious to hear from you frequently in relation to our business, and

particularly … [your] removal into your house at the works.” A. McIntyre to A. Porteous, November 10, 1838.

“Old” blast furnace, aka quarter furnace (1838)

Location: Near the head of the village street, a short distance from the “iron” dam. Description: The first chimney of the furnace, constructed of fieldstone, appears not to

have survived the first year due to poor mortar [1] and/or quality of stonework. First rebuilt in 1840, possibly by a mason from New Jersey [2], lined with brick [3] and using lime on chimney parts exposed to the weather and clay elsewhere [4].


In 1845, the hearth was possibly modified, “and is altogether more substantial than anything which had been in the furnace before — being of massive blocks of stone closely fitted together in place of the patchwork of former hearths.” [5].

Notes: By 1863, “smelting works were also much crumbled by time” [6]. By 1873, “At the head of the street was the old furnace, a part of one chimney still standing, and another shattered by the thunder bolt lay in ruins at its feet” [7]. In 1989, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation reported: “The stone furnace stack is collapsed, wooden blowing cylinders, water wheels, etc. have rotted away, leaving isolated pieces of iron hardware scattered around. It is not clear which of the visible remains are associated with the blooming forge and which are part of the blast furnace.” See building #1A for visible remains.

Sources: 1. “The chimney ought not be rebuilt until it can be rebuilt with our own clay. Clay

ought probably be got out and piled this season for uses next spring. … I shall not regret the loss of the chimney.” A. McIntyre to A. Porteous, August 1, 1839.

2. “Probable that Henderson will send up mason from New Jersey to erect chimney and properly fire it.” A. McIntyre to A. Porteous, January 22, 1840.

3. A. McIntyre to A. Porteous, March 3, 1840. 4. A. McIntyre to A. Porteous, February 6, 1840. 5. D. Henderson to A. McIntyre, September 1, 1844. 6. Burroughs [TDV 204]. 7. Stoddard [TDV 300]. 8. NYSOPRHP. 9. Joseph M. Thatcher, “Technology Evaluation, Tahawus,” in Gold et al.,

NYSOPRHP, pp. 37-38.

Cheney house [1] (by 1839) [2] Location: Unknown. Description: Unknown. Notes: Possibly one of dwellings previously mentioned. Sources: 1. 1847 Inventory. 2. “It is worthy of consideration whether a [kitchen similar to one at A. Porteous

house] ought not be added to the house occupied by John Cheney. Let this be avoided however unless you deem it important to be done.” A. McIntyre to A. Porteous, January 25, 1839.

Stamping and separating house? (1839?)

Location: Unknown. Description: “An ample house and machinery for stamping and separating must be

built in the spring.” [1] Sources: A. McIntyre to A. Porteous, January 3, 1839.

Unidentified dwelling house (by 1840) Location: Unknown.


Description: Unknown. Notes: Possibly John Cheney house. Sources: 1840 inventory.

Carpenter’s shop (by 1840) Location: Unknown. Description: Unknown. Sources: 1840 inventory.

Coal houses (by 1840) Location: Probably adjacent to forge/old furnace. Description: Capacity 100,000 bushels of charcoal in 1840 [1]. Six coal houses present

in 1854, some near new furnace. Notes: By 1863, “a building filled with charcoal was bursting open and the coal going

to waste on the ground” [2]. Sources: 1. 1840 inventory. 2. Burroughs [TDV 204].

Tahawus blast furnace (1844)

Location: Lower Works. Description: Not available.

Tilting hammer (1845) Location: Lower Works? Description: Unknown. Notes: Included equipment to work steel into small bars. Sources: “The forge with new hammer — healing[?] furnace, etc., will not be ready

until first week of June.” D. Henderson to A. McIntyre, April 18, 1845.

Several houses (by 1847) Several houses listed in the 1847 inventory may have already been mentioned; nothing

else is known of these houses: • House opposite “Old Blacks.” Shop (by 1847) • Beedy house (by 1847) • Snyder house (by 1847) • Kellog house (by 1847) • Sargent house (by 1847)

Schoolhouse (by 1847) Location: West side of street, south of new boarding house. Description: One-story, frame, gable-roofed schoolhouse with cupola, shingle- or

shake-clad walls, and chimney at west end. Notes: Discussed as early as 1839 [1] but first mentioned in 1847 inventory [2]. In

1863, “schoolhouse with cupola and a bell in it … still used. … The district library


contained nearly one-hundred readable books which were well thumbed.” [3] By 1873, “the steps … rotted and fallen, the windows were almost paneless, the walls cracked and rent asunder where the foundation had dropped away, and the doors yawned wide.” [4] In 1878 or 1879, the schoolhouse was modified as a fish hatchery and relocated to the west bank of the river just below the falls [5]. In 1914, the building was broken up and carried downstream in freshet [5].

Sources: 1. “It appears to me that we ought not to convert the upper flat of the store into a

meeting or school house.” A. McIntyre to A. Porteous, March 16, 1839. 2. 1847 Inventory. 3. Burroughs [TDV 204]. 4. Stoddard [TDV 300]. 5. Masten, 1935 [ADV 189].

New Boarding House aka Club House (1847) Location: West side of street, across from and south of McMartin/McIntyre house. Description: Massive two story, frame, gable-roofed core with end chimneys, four

bays deep, with one-and-one-half story kitchen ell perpendicular to west. Main ridge parallel with street. Core measured 50 x 37 feet; kitchen 22 x 18 feet. Contained a walnut staircase [1].

Notes: In 1877, $150 appropriated for repairs to the boarding house, remodeled as the club house, including a new chimney on north side (club room), painting and renovating throughout, and enlargement of the piazza. Tank with troughs capable of holding 100,000 fry were installed in the kitchen or long room in the rear of the club house under Seth Green’s supervision, but soon abandoned for a hatchery built at the river near the falls. In 1879, a chimney was proposed to be added to the south side of club house for an open fireplace.

Sources: 1. Draft specifications. 2. Undated photograph “Upper Works Clubhouse, occupied by the Adirondack Club in

1877,” view from southeast, reproduced in Hochschild, p. 17 [Stoddard, 1888]. 3. Undated photograph “Village Street about 1900,” view from southeast, reproduced

in Masten, 1935, opp. p. 32.

16 Dwelling houses for workmen (by 1854) Location: Unknown. Description: Described by Burroughs in 1863 as “small frame houses with a door and

two windows opening into a small yard in front and a garden in the rear, such as are usually occupied by the laborers in a country manufacturing district” [2]. By 1873, “On either side [of the grass grown street] once stood neat cottages and pleasant homes, now stained and blackened by time; broken windows, doors unhinged, falling roof, rotting sills and crumbling foundations, pointed to the ruin that must surely come” [3].

Sources: 1. 1854 Inventory. 2. Burroughs. 3. Stoddard.


Andrew Porteous’s sketch, notes, “Plan of houses for Adirondack”

Church of Tubal-Cain (by 1854) Location: On north side of road connecting new furnace and Lake Hamish [1]. Description: [2] Sources: 1. “Ground Plan of Beds and Veins of Magnetic Oxide of Iron: etc.” [1854] [Note that

this map shows the church as being on the south side of the road, not the north.] 2. Watercolor view [by Robert H. Robertson, 1910], Adirondack Museum.

Miscellaneous buildings (by 1854) Nothing is known of the following buildings, except that they were listed in the 1854

inventory: • Mill for driving small machinery • Grist Mill • Hay Scales • 2 Kilns for roa[s]ting ore • Brick House • Granary


• Tool House • 3 Coal Kilns • Long Wood house • Ice house • Powder house • Building with Steaming Apparatus

Blast Furnace — aka ‘New’ Furnace — dependencies (1854) Location: On east side of road, 0.6 miles south of Upper Works. Description: Connected to the furnace were a new wheel house, carpenter shop,

[casting house, covered charging bridge,] and two large coal houses. By 1873, the “new forge” [casting house?] described as a “huge building in a dilapidated condition, but the great stone furnace, forty feet square at its base, stands firm as and solid as when made” [2].

Notes: Furnace first fired August 20, 1854. Sources: 1. 1854 Inventory. 2. Stoddard [TDV 299].

Club House Annex (1880)

Location: On the west side of the road between the Abbott cottage and McMartin/McIntyre house.

Notes: Reconstructed in 1880 from a house adjoining the Club House for better accommodation. Referred to as “new Club House,” equipped with lockers in 1881. [1] Called the “Annex” in 1906. [2] In 1926, described as having two fireplaces, running water and bath, and double porch entirely over front. [3]

Sources: 1. Masten. 2. 1906 Survey. 3. 1926 Survey.

George W. Folsom camp (by 1884) Location: Preston Ponds. Description: Unknown. Notes: Club Executive Committee purchased it for $125 in 1884. In 1913, replaced by

a newer building. Sources: Masten.

Alexander Taylor Jr. camp (after 1884) Location: Lake Colden. Description: Log camp. Notes: Later purchased by Club. Reported standing in 1923. Sources: Masten.



DESCRIPTION OF SURVIVING BUILDINGS AND FEATURES

The surviving buildings are listed numerically by the numbers assigned by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, which start on the north end of the east side of the village street (along the river), go south, then cross to the west side and go north. Roof plans, showing the general layout of each structure, and photographs for each building appear after the individual narrative descriptions.

East side

1a. Pump house 1-1b. Coe-Edmonds-Williams-Ferris Cottage 2. Jennings-Geer-Rives Cottage 3. W.R.K. Taylor Jr. Cottage 4. Mrs. Taylor’s Cottage (“Lazy Lodge”) 5. Abbott-Geer-Nichols-Lockwood Cottage 6. McMartin/McIntyre House (MacNaughton Cottage) 7. Nichols-Ordway-Debevoise Cottage 8. Bateson Cottage

West side 9. Brewer-Williams Cottage

Former clubhouse, annex site 10, 10a. James(?)-Terry-Savage Cottage and shed 11. “New” cottage 12. Taylor-Bonner-Terry Cottage 12a. “Lipstick Lodge” (Terry Cottage annex)


BUILDING #1A — PUMP HOUSE This small pump house appears to have been constructed during Phase IV. The

building contains inoperative mid-20th century electrical equipment. The building is not visually related to other extant features at the site.

Historical: No information has been found. [Note: In 2002, Tahawus Club member Anne Knox, whose family first brought her to

the Upper Works for the summer in 1926, recalled that the only telephone at the Upper Works during the Tahawus Club occupation was located inside the pump house.]

Architectural: The one-story concrete block building is located on a steeply sloped

site above the west bank of the river to the north of Cottage #1. The building measures 12 x 14’ at the base. The foundation, which is partially cantilevered to the east, and the roof are constructed of concrete slabs, which serve as the finish floor and ceiling respectively. A two-panel door is in the doorway, which faces west, and windows contain two-over-two double-hung sash. An iron cylinder, which appears to have been fabricated of plate iron during Phase I for a blooming forge, is located to the west of the pump house.

Conditions: The concrete floor slab and adjacent blocks are spalled and eroded from

apparent periodic flooding and rebar corrosion at the southeast corner.

Photo 112. Building #1A, view from northwest (December 1993)


COTTAGE # 1/1B — COE-EDMONDS-WILLIAMS-FERRIS COTTAGE (CA. 1899) The Coe-Edmonds-Williams-Ferris cottage, which appears to be located on the site of

an earlier Phase I or Phase III-A structure, is an example of a cottage begun in Phase III-B and enlarged with subsequent additions. The cottage retains its general appearance as fully evolved when it was illustrated in plan in the 1923 survey with the exception of the removal of its rustic verandah. The core exhibits serious structural deterioration at the ridge and west sill, and many of its additions are near collapse.

Historical: The cottage was built around 1899 by E. Holloway Coe (member 1899-

1916) of New York. Subsequent owners or occupants were Walter D. Edmonds (novelist, born 1903, author of “Drums Along the Mohawk,” and member 1916 to ca. 1926), Thomas Williams (member 1916-1933), and Morris Douw Ferris (member 1924- ) who occupied the cottage in 1935. The cottage was identified as “Coes” in the 1906 survey. In 1926, the 36,780 cubic feet “Coe cottage” was described as having “two fireplaces, plumbing and 8’ porch two sides.”

Architectural: Sited on a steeply sloped bank, the first floor level of the original T-

shaped core is entered on grade with the road at the west end and elevated on vertical logs the height of a full story at its east end. The area within the vertical logs was infilled subsequent to the building’s original construction. A fully excavated basement, which is atypical of Phase III construction and probably incorporates the foundation of an earlier structure, is located below the southern section of the core. Above the basement, other visible structural characteristics and finishes are typical. The 1½-story cottage core is massed below a transverse gable roof with its main ridge running north-south (parallel to the road) and containing dormers. Enclosed porches are appended to the north and east walls of the core, and it is connected to a small, gable-roofed one-story annex located in the southeast corner (NYSOPRHP #1B). A verandah, identified in the 1923 survey and evidenced by ghosts and fragments on the core, formerly wrapped the west, south and west end of the north facades. The roadway has encroached upon the west facade where the verandah previously stood.

Site: The main, west entrance to the first floor is approximately on grade with the

road. The site slopes steeply downward to the east, providing a series of finished rooms in the rear at the basement level.

Exterior Features Foundation: The walls of the basement below the south section of the core are

constructed of quarry-faced random ashlar (probably Phase I) below common-bond brick (Phase III). Openings are rectilinear. The exterior is partially reinforced with a concrete retaining wall above grade. Elsewhere, the building is supported by log posts atop fieldstone footings. Annex is built upon fieldstone curb wall.

Structure: Where exposed in the excavated basement, the first floor is heavily framed with unpeeled log joists carried by sawn or hewn girders and sills (identical to Brewer-Williams cottage). Annex floor is framed with log joists approximately 2’ above earth in crawl space. Wall framing is not evident, but sheathing is attached with wire nails. Exposed


2”x rafter tails in lower eaves of core and annex. Raking eaves are faced with a running-molded eaves board in core.

Chimneys: Two brick chimneys are present, one along the secondary ridge of the core, and one against the south wall of the rear.

Roof: Geometrically complex form, surfaced with wood shingles. Verandahs: Early or original verandah was rustic based upon fragment surviving on

north facade, but elsewhere removed. Enclosed shed-roofed porches in rear at the first floor level are carried by peeled log stilts. These were added after original construction of the rear.

Walls: Clad with shingles stained red-brown. Windows: Two-over-two double-hung sash where visible in core; four-over-four

double-hung sash in annex. Doors: Covered with plywood at west. Interior Features Floors: Matched hardwood strip flooring. Walls and Ceilings: Matched beaded board, painted. Other: Six-panel (three-over-three) doors with stamped iron knobs in fascia surrounds.

Stamped iron hardware. Conditions 1. The main north-south ridge is deflected. 2. The sill and plate of the west wall are deflected, and the west wall is settled.

Sections of the first floor and joists are rotted along the west edge south of the door. 3. The floors of the enclosed porches in the northeast comer have collapsed, and the

exposed hewn east sill is rotted at its south connection. Most other structural elements of the porches appear to be unsound.

4. The wood shingle roof is waterlogged and open to the weather above the rear porches and annex.

5. The interior of the first and second floors was not accessible, but where visible through windows, first floor wainscoting appears to be intact with limited water damage. Wainscoting, flooring, and floor framing in basement and annex are more extensively water damaged.


Coe-Edmonds-Williams-Ferris Cottage (#1/1B) roof plan

Photo 42. Coe-Edmonds-Williams-Ferris cottage (Cottage # 1), west facade (December 1993).


Photo 43. Coe-Edmonds-Williams-Ferris cottage (Cottage # 1/1B), view from south-southwest (December 1993).

Photo 44. Coe-Edmonds-Williams-Ferris cottage (Cottage # 1/1B), view from southeast, with cottage 1B in foreground (May 1991).


Photo 45. Coe-Edmonds-Williams-Ferris cottage (Cottage # 1/1B), view from southwest (May 1991).

Photo 46. Coe-Edmonds-Williams-Ferris cottage (Cottage # 1), view from east (December 1993).


Photo 47. Coe-Edmonds-Williams-Ferris cottage (Cottage # 1), view from northeast (December 1993).

Photo 48. Coe-Edmonds-Williams-Ferris cottage (Cottage # 1), view from north-northwest (December 1993).


Photo 49. Coe-Edmonds-Williams-Ferris cottage (Cottage # 1B), detail of wall construction, southeast corner (December 1993).


COTTAGE #2 — JENNINGS-GEER-RIVES COTTAGE (CA. 1899) The Jennings-Geer-Rives cottage, located on the east bank of the river, appears to be

representative of Phase III-B construction. The small annex, connected by a rustic covered walkway, is an unusual surviving feature. The west and south features of the cottage do not appear to have been altered or enlarged from their original condition. Although no major structural deficiencies are visible from across the river, the building is in fragile condition.

Historical: The Jennings-Geer-Rives cottage was built around 1899 by Walter

Jennings (member 1900-1926) of New York, who was elected a director at the 1899 meeting. Subsequent owners or occupants were Marshall Geer (member 1913-1926) and Bayard Rives (member 1926- ). The annex does not appear to have been present in 1906, when the cottage was identified as “Jennings.” In 1926, the 22,446 cubic feet “Jennings cottage” with its 3,640 cubic feet annex was described as having “two fireplaces, plumbing, porch and bridge.” The cottage was occupied by Rives in 1935.

Architectural: The cottage was originally approached by a foot bridge which is no

longer extant. The two-story, gable-roofed cottage, located adjacent to the riverbank, is connected to the one-story hip-roofed annex to its east by a partially extant covered walkway. The annex is not clearly visible from the opposite shore.

Site: The main, south entrance to the first floor is several feet above adjacent grade.

The site slopes gradually downward to the west. Exterior Features Foundation: Not visible. [A 2004 archeological survey by the New York State

Museum concluded that this cottage had been built on the pre-existing foundation of a Phase I iron forge.]

Structure: Framing is not visible. Exposed rafter tails in lower eaves of cottage. Raking eaves are faced with a running-molded eaves board in core.

Chimneys: One concrete block chimney is present near center of west slope of cottage roof. Roof: Relatively simple massings surfaced with wood shingles. Verandahs: An early or original verandah, which previously wrapped around the west

and south facades and connected the cottage to the footbridge and rustic covered walkway to annex, is no longer present but evident in ghosts.

Walls: Clad with shingles stained red-brown. Windows: Two-over-two double-hung sash where visible in core. Doors: Not visible. Interior Features Floors: Not visible. Walls and Ceilings: Matched beaded board, painted. Conditions: Rustic covered walkway is near collapse, and annex appears to be

ruinous.


Jennings-Geer-Rives Cottage (#2) roof plan

Photo 50. Jennings-Geer-Rives cottage (Cottage #2) view across river from southwest (December 1993)


Photo 51. Jennings-Geer-Rives cottage (Cottage #2) view across river of south facade (December 1993)

Photo 52. Jennings-Geer-Rives cottage (Cottage #2) detail of west dormer and south eaves from southwest (December 1993)


Photo 53. Jennings-Geer-Rives cottage (Cottage #2) view across river of annex from southwest (December 1993)


COTTAGE #3 — W.R.K. TAYLOR JR. COTTAGE (1932) The W.R.K. Taylor Jr. cottage is the best-preserved of the three examples of Phase III-

C construction on the site. Historical: The cottage was built in 1932 by W.R.K. Taylor Jr. (member 1929-1933)

replacing a small cabin constructed in Phase III-B and used as a studio by a daughter of Alexander Taylor.

Architectural: The one-story cottage, constructed during the last years of Phase III,

contains two unconnected units, each with a living room approached from its own entrance. Unlike the earlier cottages, this dwelling was planned to accommodate indoor plumbing. The main ridge of the transverse gable roof runs north-south, with the entrance to the south unit massed beneath the west end of the transverse gable. The entrance to the north unit is made through a shed-roofed rustic porch which is present in fragments. A rustic verandah, which is now completely collapsed, was attached to the east facade overlooking the river.

Site: The floor of the building is located on grade with the road at the west edge. The

site slopes steeply downward to the east between the road and the river. Exterior Features Foundation: The building stands on log-post stilts on fieldstone and concrete footings. Structure: The floor, roof, walls and partitions are lightly framed with nominal

dimension lumber throughout. Shiplap sheathing is fastened with wire nails. Exposed nominal dimension 2”x rafter tails are faced with plain fascia eaves board on raking eaves.

Chimneys: Three brick chimneys are present, located on the center of the south facade, west of center on the north wall, and near the center of the base of the east roof slope. Exterior fireplace chimneys are constructed in typical corbelled setback manner of Phase III. Fireplace hearths are faced with fieldstone.

Roof: The roof massing is of relatively simple form, and surfaced with wood shingles. Verandahs: Debris remains of a rustic verandah formerly constructed on log stilts are

located to the east of the cottage, and a small rustic porch is located on the north facade. Walls: Wood shingles stained reddish brown. Windows: Two-over-two double-hung sash. Doors: Stock unit with two vertical panels surmounted by four glass panes. Interior Features Floors: Matched hardwood strip floor. Walls and Ceilings: Painted matched beaded board wall finish in living south room,

and plasterboard walls and ceilings elsewhere. Other: Two-panel stock millwork door units in fascia surrounds. Conditions 1. The south end of the west wall has been pushed in by vandals and is open to the

elements.


2. Floor is rotted adjacent to open west wall and below roof leaks. 3. Roof is open to the weather in numerous areas on west slope. Leaks have damaged

isolated areas of interior finishes. 4. Masonry of south chimney is deteriorated. 5. East verandah is collapsed and north porch is unsound. 6. Interior partitions are extensively vandalized.

W.R.K. Taylor Jr. Cottage (#3) roof plan

Photo 91. W.R.K. Taylor Jr. cottage, (Cottage #3), west (principal) facade (December 1993)


Photo 92. W.R.K. Taylor Jr. cottage, (Cottage #3),

view from northwest (December 1993)


detail of chimney and rustic porch on north facade, view from northwest (December 1993)



view from southeast (May, 1991)

Photo 96. W.R.K. Taylor Jr. cottage, (Cottage #3), view toward southwest of south sitting room (December 1993).


Photo 95. W.R.K. Taylor Jr. cottage, (Cottage #3), detail of deteriorated wall in recessed entrance, view from southwest (December 1993)


COTTAGE #4 — TAYLOR COTTAGE aka “Mrs. Taylor’s cottage,” “Lazy Lodge”

(begun 1890s, enlarged and renovated 1906-1910) This cottage, which originated from a small, possibly Phase III-A core, retains its

general configuration and finish as enlarged and renovated in Phases III-B and III-C. The cottage incorporates at least three distinct construction campaigns and possesses some early interior finishes which are not typical of Phase III-B. The cottage has a major sill problem along its east edge, and is missing its original verandah.

Historical: Masten reported that “Lazy Lodge” was built in 1906-1910 by Alexander

Taylor Jr. (member 1891-?) of Mamaroneck who had earlier built the Taylor-Bonner-Terry cottage (#12). The building appears to have incorporated an earlier core of undocumented origin which was occupied by [William F.?] King (a member 1898-1905) in the 1906 survey. Subsequent owners and occupants were W.R.K. Taylor (member 1910-1933) and Mrs. W.R.K. Taylor (member 1922-1923). In 1926, the 17,560 cubic feet “Mrs. Taylor’s cottage” was described as having two fireplaces, plumbing, and porches measuring 20x20’ and 10x16’. The cottage was referred to as “Lazy Lodge” in 1935. The interior appears to have been subdivided into two units during Phase IV.

Architectural: The earliest phases appear to be the cottage’s south and center sections,

to which were added the north end and two small gable-roofed bathroom additions. The walls of the center section were originally finished with wallpapered plaster on sawn lath, which was subsequently covered with wainscoting. The floor in this area appears to have been replaced at that time. With the exception of the bathroom addition at the south end, the building attained its existing configuration by the time of the 1923 survey. The cottage core is massed below a transverse gable roof, with a low pitched, chalet-form roof perpendicular to the road at the south end, intersected by a secondary gable roof and interrupted by shallow-pitched shed roofs at the south and parallel to the road. A rustic verandah remains standing at the south end of the east facade, and a collapsed rustic verandah was previously attached to the east wall overlooking the river.

Site: The main, west entrance to the first floor is approximately on grade with the

road. The site slopes steeply downward to the east. Exterior Features Foundation: The building is supported by log post stilts atop concrete or fieldstone

footings. Structure: Three types of floor framing are present. The center section is heavily

framed with unpeeled log joists tenoned into hewn sills. The south section (below the “chalet” roof) is framed with rough-sawn lumber mortised into hewn girders and sills. The north end and bathroom additions are lightly framed with nominal dimension 2” lumber. Interior partitions in the center and south sections are framed with rough-sawn full-dimension 2x4” lumber; elsewhere, partitions are framed with nominal 2x4” lumber. Butt-joint sheathing is attached with wire nails. Roofs in the center and south sections are


framed with rough-sawn rafters. Rafters in the south (chalet) roof are supported by purlins at mid-span to support snow load. Exposed rafter tails in lower eaves; raking eaves are faced with a running-molded eaves board.

Chimneys: Two brick chimneys are present. The chimney on the east wall of the south section north of center is a typical setback corbel form on a random ashlar footing. The chimney at the north end of the ridge of the center section was originally an exterior chimney. Brick fireplaces on interior.

Roof: Massing is geometrically complex, with many intersections due to additions. Most of the roof is of a gable form with intersecting gables. Roof is surfaced with wood shingles.

Verandahs: An early or original rustic shed-roofed verandah at south end of east facade. Debris of rustic verandah between “chalet” projection and north bathroom addition on east facade.

Walls: Clad with shingles stained red-brown. Windows: Predominantly two-over-two double-hung sash, with some non-conforming

double-hung and casement sash in smaller windows. Doors: Stock millwork unit containing four glazed panels over three vertical panels. Interior Features Floors: Matched 4” boards in south section; matched 2.5” strip flooring elsewhere. Walls and Ceilings: Matched beaded board, painted. Wainscoting installed over

wallpapered plaster or earlier wainscoting in center section. Other: Six-panel (three-over-three) doors in beveled-edge fascia surrounds; some trim

has been reset. Conditions 1. The collapse of the rear verandah appears to have dislodged adjacent areas of the main

roof membrane and exposed the east sill and adjacent flooring to the weather. The sill, floor, and joist connections are very rotted at the north end of the center section.

2. Roof leaks have rotted the floor in limited areas. 3. The extant rustic verandah is structurally unsound. 4. North fireplace mantle has been vandalized.

Taylor Cottage (‘Lazy Lodge’) (#4) roof plan


Photo 67. Taylor cottage, “Lazy Lodge” (Cottage #4), west (principal) facade (December 1993)

Photo 68. Taylor cottage, “Lazy Lodge” (Cottage #4), view from southwest (December 1993)


Photo 69. Taylor cottage, “Lazy Lodge” (Cottage #4), view from northeast (May 1991)

Photo 70. Taylor cottage, “Lazy Lodge” (Cottage #4), entry porch, west facade (December 1993)


Photo 71. Taylor cottage, “Lazy Lodge” (Cottage #4) east rustic verandah (December 1993)

Photo 72. Taylor cottage, “Lazy Lodge” (Cottage #4), detail, running moulded eaves board and exposed rafter tails, southwest corner.

These are typical Phase III-B details (December 1993).


Photo 73. Taylor cottage, “Lazy Lodge” (Cottage #4), detail of trees growing into north gable eaves (December 1993)

Photo 74. Taylor cottage, “Lazy Lodge” (Cottage #4), rough-sawn floor framing below southernmost section in crawl space.

Insulation was added in Phase IV (December 1993).


Photo 75. Taylor cottage, “Lazy Lodge” (Cottage #4), main sitting room in northeast corner of south section,

view toward northeast (December 1993)

Photo 76. Taylor cottage, “Lazy Lodge” (Cottage #4), large north room in center section view toward northeast. Note wallpapered section of wall exposed at right hand side of photograph (December 1993).


COTTAGE #5 — ABBOTT-GEER-NICHOLS-LOCKWOOD COTTAGE (1899) The Abbott cottage is one of the better-preserved cottages and a representative

example of Phase III-B construction. The cottage is generally in better condition than its contemporaries.

Historical: The cottage was built in 1899 adjacent to the Crocker premises1 by Gordon

Abbott (member 1899-1913) of Boston who was elected a director that year. The cottage was identified as “Abbot” in the 1906 survey. In 1926, the “Abbott cottage” was described as being 10,440 cu. ft., with two fireplaces, plumbing and porches. Subsequent owner/occupants were Marshall Geer (member 1913-1926), Acosta Nichols (member 1921-1928), and [William A.] Lockwood (member 1929- ), who occupied the cottage in 1935. The cottage was occupied as housing during Phase IV.

Architectural: This compact one-story cottage retains much of its original character.

Like neighboring cottage #4 to its north, the building is massed below a low pitched, chalet form roof perpendicular to the road. A rustic verandah, now collapsed, originally covered the north facade, extending around the northeast corner as evidenced by a ghost on the shingles.

Site: The main entrance to the first floor, located at the east end of the north facade, is

approximately on grade with the road and originally accessed by the verandah. A second door is located at the rear. The site slopes downward from the road to the east.

External Features Foundation: The building is supported by log posts atop concrete footings. Structure: Floor is heavily framed with unpeeled log joists tenoned into hewn sills.

Roof is framed with rough-sawn rafters reinforced with collar ties and purlins at mid-span to withstand snow load. Exposed 2”x rafter tails in lower eaves; raking eaves are faced with a running-molded eaves board.

Chimneys: One corbelled brick chimney is present on the east wall south of the ridge, with two brick fireplaces on interior.

Roof: Roof massing is relatively simple. Asphalt shingle membrane with aluminum snow slides appears to be the most recent roof at the site.

Verandahs: Debris of rustic verandah on north facade. Walls: Clad with shingles stained red-brown. Windows: Two-over-two double-hung sash. Doors: Original door in north entrance is a stock millwork unit containing four glazed

panels over three vertical panels. Interior Features Floors: Matched 4” boards. Walls and Ceilings: Matched beaded board, painted. Other: Six-panel doors (three-over-three) in bevel-edged fascia surrounds.

1 Today known as the MacNaughton Cottage.


Conditions 1. The footing of the chimney is cracked, and the corbelling is weathered. 2. The roof is in better condition on this cottage than on others, but leaks in limited

areas. The major moisture problem on the interior, evident in peeling paint, appears to result from trapped condensation. Plywood window covers are unvented.

3. The interior floor level is dished in the northwest corner. 4. The verandah is collapsed.

Abbott-Geer-Nichols-Lockwood Cottage (#5) roof plan

Photo 37. Abbott-Geer-Nichols-Lockwood cottage (Cottage #5), west facade (December 1993)


Photo 38. Abbott-Geer-Nichols-Lockwood cottage (Cottage #5), view from southwest (December 1993)

Photo 39. Abbott-Geer-Nichols-Lockwood cottage (Cottage #5) view from northeast (December 1993)


Photo 40. Abbott-Geer-Nichols-Lockwood cottage (Cottage #5), typical Phase III-B floor framing in crawl space.

Insulation was added in Phase IV (December 1993).


BUILDING #6 — McMARTIN/McINTYRE HOUSE (CA. 1834) aka “house used by original proprietors for their own occupancy,”

Hunter house, Cocktail Hall, Crocker House, and MacNaughton Cottage The McMartin/McIntyre house is the oldest surviving building at the Upper Works and

one of the most significant structures in the Adirondacks. Constructed around 1834, the two-story house with a one-story office wing to its south is a remarkably well preserved early 19th century building which incorporates several Phase III alterations.

Historical: The house appears to have been built and first occupied by Daniel

McMartin between 1834-1837. The building served as the office and residence of the proprietors and their agents, and for lodging invited guests and potential investors. Among the probable occupants of the house were managers David Henderson (1837 to 1845), Andrew Porteous (1845 to 1852), Robert Clarke and/or Alexander Ralph (1852 to 1857); caretakers Robert Hunter (1857 to 1872) and John Moore (ca. 1872 to 1877). In 1878, club member Francis H. Weeks repaired the house, then called “Hunter House,” for his own exclusive use, and it was the first cottage occupied by a member. Weeks and Robert W. deForest jointly occupied the house to around 1894, when they were succeeded until 1905 by James MacNaughton and Arthur Masten, who nicknamed it “Cocktail Hall.” The rustic verandah was probably added around this time. The cottage was occupied by Robert H. Robertson between 1905-1919, but was referred to as “MacNaughton” in the 1906 survey. In 1935, Masten appears to refer to it as the Crocker cottage.

Architectural: The earliest components of the house are the two-story, central

chimney saltbox-massed core and one-story, gable-roofed wing, referred to by Masten as the “bank,” attached to the south. The roof ridges run parallel to the road. The original core measured four bays wide by two bays deep, with second floor windows on the west, or principal facade. The one-room “bank” wing measured two bays wide by one bay deep. The core was enlarged during Phase III by the addition of a shed-roofed dormer to the east roof slope. The rustic verandah was also added during Phase III, with a section of it enclosed as a room during late Phase III or Phase IV. A shed-roofed lean-to was added to the east of the “bank” wing at an undocumented date.

The interior of the core retains much of its original character, including planning elements, volumes and finishes. The first story was divided into four rooms, with two large parlors containing the hearths along the western edge, and two smaller chambers divided by a staircase to the east. The staircase, approached by an exterior door on the east facade, runs east to west to a hallway landing on the second floor. The existing configurations of the north and south chambers, separated by a small vestibule west of the chimney, appear to be original with the exception of a closet enclosure in the northeast corner. The plan of the hallway and space below the saltbox roof is altered from its early 19th century plan to include additional rooms added one-step down from the original second floor level within the shed dormer. Many of original plaster and trim finishes, including baseboards, chair rails, architraves and door and window units remain exposed or covered by 20th century plasterboard. Unvandalized windows on the first floor of the core are generally modified from their original condition.


Site: The site slopes downward toward the river to the east of the house. The main, west entrance to the first floor is up two steps from grade, and the basement floor is located just below grade along the eastern edge.

Foundation: A fully excavated basement, constructed with a native fieldstone wall, is

located below the core of the house. Masonry of the basement walls is primarily random rubble with some ashlar units present. A low fieldstone footing of uncertain depth and unexcavated within is located below the “bank” wing. The verandah and later rear additions are constructed on log piers with stone or concrete footings.

Structure: The core and “bank” wing are framed with post-and-beam structures. The

first floor of the core is framed with heavy hewn sills, girders and joists carried by the foundation walls and peeled log posts on formed-in-place concrete footings. Posts are cased where exposed on the perimeter walls of the first and second floor interiors. The core roof is framed with sawn rafters and decking. The eaves of the core and “bank” wing are finished with tight-running moulded eaves boards. The large shed dormer on the east roof slope and additions at the rear of the core are framed with nominal dimension lumber. The verandah is framed with peeled pole posts and full dimension sawn 2” joists and rafters. Rafter tails are exposed on the verandah and east dormer roofs.

Exterior features Chimneys: A central brick chimney with four hearths is constructed on a massive

fieldstone foundation. Roof: The original geometry of the roof, which was relatively simple, has been

complicated by the east dormer and rear additions. The roof is finished with wood shingles. Verandah: A continuous rustic verandah with a hip roof covers the west, north and east

facades of the core. A section of the east verandah has been enclosed. Walls: Clad with painted clapboards or weatherboards throughout. The eaves moulding

returns to form a full pediment on the south facade of the “bank” addition. Windows: Original twelve-over-twelve and nine-over-six double-hung sashes survive,

respectively, in the “bank” wing and west windows of the core’s second story. Most first story windows in the core appear to have been doubled in size during Phase III with the addition of paired, multi-paned sash. Two-over-two sash is present in the newer rear additions.

Doors: The west entrance doors to the core and “bank” wing have enframements comprised of pilasters with running moulded capitals, prominent blank friezes and deeply projecting architraves. The door units contain six panels.

Interior Features Floors: Matched plank flooring in core and “bank” wing, and matched strip flooring

elsewhere. Walls and Ceilings: Plaster walls and ceilings throughout core and “bank” wing, some

surfaces covered with plasterboard. Plasterboard in rear additions and dormer area. Some walls in first floor rooms retain fragments of original beaded-edge baseboard and chair rails, and non-original picture rails.

Other: Five-panel doors in fascia surrounds with beaded inner edges and running-moulded perimeters are typical.


Conditions 1. The first floor framing of the core is generally sound, with the exception of

deterioration from roof leaks in the northeast corner. Hence, the foundation wall is partially collapsed, and a large section of sill, floor joist connections and flooring is rotted.

2. A large area of roofing and flashing is open to the weather at the eastern base of the chimney. Roof leakage is also evident south of the chimney near the main ridge. Water penetration in these areas has damaged limited adjacent areas of floor and ceiling finishes on the first and second floors. Loose fill ceiling insulation in the attic is saturated.

3. The lower eave of the east dormer is seriously deflected. 4. The enclosed room on the east verandah and small porch to its south are structurally

unsound from water penetration. 5. The lean-to east of the “bank” wing is settling to the east. 6. While most of the exterior siding is intact, several weatherboards are missing from

the core’s south gable, and the eaves moulding is missing from the southwest return. 7. The building is not secure from vandals. First floor windows are extensively broken,

and most hardware is missing from doors.

McMartin/McIntyre House (Bldg. #6) roof plan


Photo 2. McMartin/McIntyre house (Building #6), west (principal) facade (May 1991)

Photo 3. McMartin/McIntyre house (Building #6), west (principal) facade (December 1993)


Photo 5. McMartin/McIntyre house (Building #6), detail of main entrance, west facade (December 1993)


Photo 6. McMartin/McIntyre house (Building #6), detail of verandah eave and framing, northwest corner (December 1993)

Photo 7. McMartin/McIntyre house (Building #6), detail of main eave, northwest corner (December 1993)


Photo 8. McMartin/McIntyre house (Building #6), south facades (May 1991)

Photo 9. McMartin/McIntyre house (Building #6), view from southwest with office wing in foreground (December 1993)


Photo 10. McMartin/McIntyre house (Building #6), detail of separation between office wing and

lean-to addition, south facade (December 1993)


Photo 11. McMartin/McIntyre house (Building #6), view from southeast (May 1991)

Photo 12. McMartin/McIntyre house (Building #6), detail of main eave, southwest corner (May 1991)


Photo 13. McMartin/McIntyre house (Building #6), detail of dormer added in 20th century, southeast corner (May 1991)

Photo 16. McMartin/McIntyre house (Building #6), detail of enclosed section of verandah, east facade.

Note rotted sill. (December 1993)


Photo 14. McMartin/McIntyre house (Building #6), view from east. Note presence of railing. (May 1991)

Photo 15. McMartin/McIntyre house (Building #6), view from east. Note absence of railing. (December 1993)


Photo 17. McMartin/McIntyre house (Building #6), foundations and first floor framing, view to south in basement below original core (December 1993).

Photo 18. McMartin/McIntyre house (Building #6), deteriorated foundation and first floor framing in northeast corner of basement (December 1993).


Photo 19. McMartin/McIntyre house (Building #6), roof framing and chimney stack in attic of core. The blue patch in the upper

right-hand corner is the sky through an opening in the roof (December 1993).

Photo 20. McMartin/McIntyre house (Building #6), large southwest room on first floor, view toward northwest. Paired windows

were enlarged from single openings in Phase III. Plasterboard finish (Phase III-C or IV) is applied over original plaster on lath (December 1993).


Photo 21. McMartin/McIntyre house (Building #6), small northeast room on first floor, view toward west-northwest. With the exception of the picture rail, the finishes appear to be

original to Phase I. This room is located above area in photograph 18 (December 1993).


Photo 22. McMartin/McIntyre house (Building #6), small enclosed verandah room near center of east perimeter, view toward northeast.

Interior view of conditions in photograph 16 (December 1993).

Photo 23. McMartin/McIntyre house (Building #6), interior of office wing, view to north-northwest (December 1993).


Photo 24. McMartin/McIntyre house (Building #6), view west up staircase (December 1993).


Photo 25. McMartin/McIntyre house (Building #6), southwest chamber, second floor, view toward northwest (December 1993).

Photo 26. McMartin/McIntyre house (Building #6), northwest chamber, second floor, view toward west (December 1993).


Photo 4. McMartin/McIntyre house (Building #6), view from northwest (December 1993)


COTTAGE #7 — NICHOLS-ORDWAY-DEBEVOISE COTTAGE (1900) The Nichols-Ordway-Debevoise cottage is typical of Phase III-B construction,

massing and finish, and survives with its original core and verandah features intact. The major alterations to its original state have been the enlargement of its massing by small enclosed additions (after 1923) and deterioration of its materials.

Historical: The cottage was built by George I. Nichols of New York City in 1900,

“east of the street and near the river” according to Masten. Subsequent owners or occupants were Judge Samuel H. Ordway (member 1902-1921) and [Thomas M.] Debevoise (member 1923- ), who purchased it in 1922 and owned it in 1935. The cottage was identified as “Nichols” in the 1906 survey. In 1926, the 20,000 cubic feet “Debevoise cottage” was described as including “a Main Bldg measuring 37’x32’x15’ with three annexes, an 8’x37’ porch, one fireplace, and plumbing.”

Architectural: The one-and-one-half story, low-pitched gable-roofed core with east-

west ridge is wrapped by a rustic verandah at the northeast corner and an enclosed shed-roofed porch south of center on the east facade. Both features were present in 1923. Subsequent to this date, enclosed entryways were added near the centers of the south facade (gable-roofed) and west facade (hip-roofed).

Site: The first floor of the building is located up several steps from grade at the

northwest corner. The site slopes gently downward to the east between the road and the building, and more steeply from the building to the river.

Exterior Features Foundation: Log stilts on poured-in-place concrete footings. Structure: The first floor is heavily framed with unpeeled log joists tenoned into hewn

sills and girders. Rough-sawn sheathing is fastened with wire nails. Exposed rafter tails. Chimneys: Two brick chimneys, located at the southeast and northeast corners of the

core. Northeast fireplace chimney is constructed on massive fieldstone footing. Southeast stove chimney is constructed on brick footing.

Roof: Relatively simple massing surfaced with wood shingles. Verandahs: A hip-roofed, rustic verandah constructed of logs wraps the northeast

corner. Walls: Wood shingles. Windows: One-over-one double-hung sash. Doors: Stock millwork units with glazed panes above recessed panels. Interior Features Floors: Matched hardwood strip floor. Walls and Ceilings: Painted matched beaded-board. Doors: Six-panel (three-over-three) units in fascia trim.


Conditions 1. West end of south wall is collapsed and open to the elements. Framing elements

above are unsupported. 2. Verandah is nearly intact but unsound. Decking is rotted.

Nichols-Ordway-Debevoise Cottage (#7) Roof Plan

Photo 54. Nichols-Ordway-Debevoise cottage (Cottage #7), view from northwest (December 1993)


Photo 55. Nichols-Ordway-Debevoise cottage (Cottage #7), north facade (December 1993)

Photo 56. Nichols-Ordway-Debevoise cottage (Cottage #7), view from northeast. This rustic verandah is the best-preserved example at the Upper Works (December 1993).


Photo 57. Nichols-Ordway-Debevoise cottage (Cottage #7), east facade (December 1993)

Photo 58. Nichols-Ordway-Debevoise cottage (Cottage #7), detail of southwest comer where wall has collapsed (December 1993)


Photo 59. Nichols-Ordway-Debevoise cottage (Cottage #7), detail of chimney foundation at northeast corner (December 1993)


COTTAGE #8 — BATESON(?) COTTAGE (CA. 1932) This prefabricated structure appears to be one of several “recent creations” referred to

by Masten, in this case as the cottage built around 1932 by E. Farrar Bateson “on the opposite side of the street … from the site of the old schoolhouse.”

Historical: E. Farrar Bateson was a member of the Tahawus Club from 1929 to 1933.

Prefabricated cottages such as this, which were available from the turn of the century on, were inexpensive alternatives to site-built cottages and used elsewhere in the Adirondacks during the Depression, especially at remote sites. The cottage is generally out of plumb and extensively heaved.

Architectural: The one-story cottage, roughly “U”-shaped in plan, is comprised of a

series of connected, prefabricated, gable-roofed units. The cottage is arranged to form an open court facing north. A verandah, now extensively collapsed, was located along the west side of the court. The clapboard wall sections are constructed of pre-assembled sections. The main entrances on the south facade are sheltered by a gable-roofed porch. A larger, shed-roofed porch is located at the north entrance.

Site: The cottage is deeply set back from the road. The floor of the building is located

up several steps from grade. The site gradually slopes to the road at the west edge and is overgrown.

Exterior Features Foundation: The building stands on stilts on concrete footings. Structure: The floor, roof, walls and partitions are lightly framed with proprietary

nominal dimension lumber throughout. Chimneys: Two small brick fireplace chimneys, and one stove chimney. Roof: The roof massing is of relatively complex form due to the numerous

intersections, and is surfaced with asphalt shingles. Verandahs: Debris remains of a verandah located on the east facade of the

westernmost wing. Small porches are located at entrances on the south and east facades. Walls: Narrow clapboards painted white. Windows: Six-over-six double-hung sash in first floor windows, louvered bents in

gable-ends at attic. Doors: Glazed and paneled stock millwork units. Interior Features Floors: Matched hardwood strip floor. Walls and Ceilings: Painted fiberboard panels with wood battens at joints. Conditions 1. The main ridge of the west unit is deflected. 2. The floor is generally heaved and cupped throughout.


3. Joints at the intersection among units are open to water leaks, and connecting wood members are rotted.

4. Interior finishes are generally moisture-damaged.

Bateson(?) Cottage (#8) roof plan

Photo 100. Cottage #8, view of west wing from southwest (December 1993)


Photo 101. Cottage #8, view of west wing gable and south entrance from south (December 1993)

Photo 102. Cottage #8, view of south wing from southeast (December 1993)


Photo 103. Cottage #8, view of south wing gable from east (December 1993)

Photo 104. Cottage #8, view of north facade of east wing from north (December 1993)


Photo 105. Cottage #8, view of “courtyard” facades of east and south wings from north (December 1993)

Photo 106. Cottage #8, view of north gable of west wing into “courtyard” from north; collapsed verandah roof is near center of photograph (December 1993).


COTTAGE #9 — BREWER-WILLIAMS COTTAGE (CA. 1901) The Brewer-Williams cottage is a large, representative example of Phase III-B

construction and retains most of its original visible core features and finishes. The west wing and verandah are ruinous, and the west wall of the core is structurally deteriorated.

Historical: The cottage was built around 1901 by Dr. George E. Brewer (member

1901-1926) “near the site of the old schoolhouse, south of the Club House and north of the gate.” The cottage was identified as “Brewers” in 1906. The subsequent owner or occupant was Thomas R. Williams (member 1916- ) who occupied at the time of Masten’s book (1935). In 1926, the 26,180 cubic feet “Williams cottage” was described as having four fireplaces, plumbing, and porches measuring 22 x 8’ and 72 x 6’. (Note: There is no visible evidence of porches of these reported sizes attached to the building walls. There is, however, a pile of debris running south from the cottage which is possibly the remains of a large verandah.)

Architectural: The cottage is comprised of a symmetrically massed two-story core

with asymmetrical fenestration beneath a hipped roof. A one-story shed-roofed addition is attached to its west, and the front entrance door faces south. A shed-roofed rustic verandah, now essentially collapsed, covered the first story of the core and addition on the south facade.

Site: The site slopes downward to the east, being very steep to the immediate west of

the building and moderating toward the road. The first floor entrance is located several feet above grade on the south facade. The original approach to the cottage is overgrown and not clearly evident. The gable roof of a small log outbuilding is located to the north of the cottage at its rear.

External Features Foundation: The building is constructed on log stilts resting on poured-in-place

concrete footings. Structure: The first floor is framed identically to that of the Coe-Edwards-Williams-

Ferris cottage, with unpeeled log joists bearing on and/or tenoned into sawn girders and sills.

Chimneys: A massive brick chimney constructed on a fieldstone rubble foundation is located at the center of the main hip ridge. The interior fireplaces, where visible, are brick.

Roof: The roof massing is of relatively simple hipped form and covered with wood shingles.

Verandahs: A rustic porch, now essentially collapsed, is attached to the south facade of the core.

Walls: Surfaced with red-brown stained shingles. Windows: Two-over-two double-hung sash in most windows, some paired. Tri-partite

“landscape” windows, comprised of two-over-two sash flanked by one-over-one sash in one window, on east facade.


Interior Features Floors: Matched hardwood strip floor. Walls and Ceilings: Painted matched beaded board. Conditions 1. The west wall of the core is structurally deteriorated. The sill appears to be rotted,

and the wall is seriously deflected. The staircase to the second floor, located at the south end of the west wall, is collapsed.

2. The west wing is very deteriorated. The floor is completely rotted, and the roof is nearly collapsed.

3. The verandah is collapsed.

Brewer-Williams Cottage (#9) roof plan


Photo 60. Brewer-Williams cottage (Cottage #9), south (principal) facade (December 1993)

Photo 61. Brewer-Williams cottage (Cottage #9), view from southeast (December 1993)


Photo 62. Brewer-Williams cottage (Cottage #9), east facade (December 1993)

Photo 63. Brewer-Williams cottage (Cottage #9), view from northwest (December 1993)


Photo 64. Brewer-Williams cottage (Cottage #9), detail of open joint at intersection of core and west lean-to addition (December 1993)


Photo 65. Brewer-Williams cottage (Cottage #9), front room of first floor, view toward east from west wall (December 1993)

Photo 66. Brewer-Williams cottage (Cottage #9), gable roof remnant of former outbuilding located northwest of cottage (December 1993)


COTTAGE #10/10A — JAMES(?)-TERRY-SAVAGE COTTAGE (AFTER 1906) Cottage #10 was constructed in two phases and is one of the largest structures at the

site. Although the site was not yet developed according to the 1906 survey, the earlier south wing is typical of Phase III-B construction, while the north wing, which is present by 1926, is constructed of lighter framing. Both sections retain most original finishes, but the older wing is structurally damaged along the southern sill. The site retains evidence of its outbuildings, including a small standing shed (#10A), ruins of a shed, and some early 20th century laundry and household equipment.

Historical: The ownership and occupancy of this cottage is unclear. Acknowledging a

possible inconsistency in either Masten or the 1906 survey, it is possibly the cottage “adjacent to the site of the old Store House” — which, according to Masten, was built but never occupied by Dr. Walter B. James of New York (member 1901?) around 1899. Subsequent owners and occupants of the James cottage, which has not otherwise been located, include John T. Terry (member 1902-1921) and Rev. Theodore T. Savage (member 1923-), who occupied it in 1935. A description of the “Savage cottage” in the 1926 inventory, measuring 38,637 cubic feet and having “two fireplaces, plumbing and porches” appears to refer to a building of this size.

Architectural: The two-story, low-pitched gable-roofed core with east-west ridge is

joined to a two-story addition with a steeper gable roof to its northwest. A small shed-roofed rustic porch is located at the east end of the north facade at the northeast corner. Another entrance, which originally led to a stair hall providing access to the second floor, is located on the west facade. A third entrance, lacking a porch, is provided on the east facade of the addition. The interior stairs appear to have been replaced by an exterior staircase, now collapsed, on the north facade of the addition as the sole means to the second floor. The first floor originally contained a large sitting room in the northeast corner and bedrooms in the remaining corners, with a bathroom between the south bedrooms.

Site: The building occupies a relatively level site on a low ridge, with a slope toward

the east. The first floor of the building is located up several steps from grade at the entrances to the core, but up a single step in the rear addition.

Exterior Features Foundation: The south wing and extant porch rest on log stilts on fieldstone or poured-

in-place concrete footings. The sill of the north wing stands on rubble fieldstone footings at the corners.

Structure: The first floor of the south wing is heavily framed with unpeeled log joists tenoned into sawn sills and girders. The first floor of the north wing, second floor of both wings and roofs are framed with rough sawn full dimension 2” joists and rafters. Roofs terminate in exposed 2”x rafter tails in lower eaves of both wings. Raking eaves are faced with running moulded eaves boards on the south wing and plain fascia on the north wing.

Chimneys: Two brick chimneys are present. The main chimney, located near the center of the east facade, is of typical setback corbel construction, and provides two interior


fireplace hearths, one of which is segmentally arched. A stove chimney is located in the southwest corner of the west entrance porch.

Roof: Roof massing is relatively complex due to the addition, and is surfaced with wood shingles.

Verandahs: A hip-roofed, rustic porch constructed of logs is located at the northeast entrance. An enclosed, gable-roofed porch encloses the west entrance. The collapsed exterior stairway had a raking shed roof on the north facade of the addition.

Walls: Wood shingles stained reddish brown. Windows: Large two-over-two double-hung sash. Doors: The front (northeast) door is a stock millwork unit containing two glazed panes

over three vertical panels. Outbuilding: The outbuilding (#10A) is a small, one-room gable-roofed structure

framed with full-dimension 2”x lumber and clad with reddish-brown stained shingles. The door is a typical six-panel (three-over-three) unit.

Interior Features Floors: Matched hardwood strip floor. Walls and Ceilings: Painted and varnished matched beaded-board. Other: Typical six-panel (three-over-three) interior doors in fascia surrounds. Conditions 1. The sill, joist connections and flooring are rotted along the south sill from roof

leaks. 2. The eaves in the northeast corner of the north wing are fractured. 3. The verandah is unsound.

James(?)-Terry-Savage Cottage (#10) roof plan


Photo 77. Cottage #10, view from southeast (December 1993)

Photo 78. Cottage #10, view of south wing from east-southeast (December 1993)


Photo 79. Cottage #10, view from northeast, with north wing on the right (December 1993)

Photo 80. Cottage #10, north facade of south wing, with principal entrance on left (December 1993)


Photo 81. Cottage #10, detail of rustic entrance porch on north facade of south wing, view from northeast (December 1993)


Photo 82. Cottage #10, view of north wing from northeast. The second floor entrance, its stairway collapsed, is the sole means of access to the second floor (December 1993).


Photo 83. Cottage #10, view of north wing from northwest (December 1993)

Photo 84. Cottage #10, view of west facade (December 1993)


Photo 85. Cottage #10, view of principal sitting room, located in the northeast corner of the south wing, view toward southeast (December 1993)

Photo 86. Cottage #10, view toward east in southeast room of the south wing (December 1993)


Photo 87. Cottage #10, view toward south in south-center room (a bathroom) of south wing, first floor. Deterioration of floor and

framing is typical of conditions along south sill (December 1993).


Photo 88. Building #10A, view from southeast (December 1993)

Photo 89. Collapsed ruin of small outbuilding located to the southwest of cottage #10, view from northwest (December 1993)


Photo 90. Discarded appliances located to the southwest of cottage #10, view from northeast (December 1993).


COTTAGE #11 — ‘NEW’ COTTAGE (AFTER 1935) This small cottage postdates Masten’s book and is not typical of Phase III cottage

construction. The building, which is fully framed with nominal lumber and finished with plasterboard, is very deteriorated.

Historical: The building appears to have been built after 1935. The first and

subsequent owners and occupants are not documented. Architectural: The one-story cottage, constructed during the last years of Phase III, is

a simple rectangle in plan, with its entrance on center in the east facade. The ridge of the main gable runs approximately east-west. A small shed roof carried by knee braces shelters the entrance.

Site: The site slopes gradually to the south and east, with the level of the sill near

grade in the northwest corner, and up three steps in the southeast corner. Exterior Features Foundation: The building stands on log post stilts on concrete footings. Structure: The floor, roof, walls, partitions and ceilings are lightly framed with

nominal dimension lumber throughout. Sheathing is tongue-and-groove. Exposed nominal dimension 2”x rafter tails are faced with plain fascia eaves board on raking eaves.

Chimneys: One typical setback corbelled fireplace chimney is located near the center of the north facade. The fireplace hearth is faced with fieldstone.

Roof: The roof massing is of simple gable form and is surfaced with asphalt shingles. Verandahs: A small shed roof is located above the east entrance. Walls: Wood shingles stained green-grey. Windows: Six-over-six double-hung sash. Doors: Stock millwork “Dutch” door in east doorway, with six glazed panes above a

single panel. Interior Features Floors: Matched hardwood strip floor. Walls and Ceilings: Plasterboard. Other: Two-panel stock millwork door units in fascia surrounds. Conditions 1. A large windfall tree has damaged the north roof slope. 2. The south sill is deflected southward, and the floor structure is severely heaved. 3. Interior plasterboard finishes are extensively water-damaged. 4. Roof is open to the weather in numerous areas on west slope. Leaks have damaged

isolated areas of interior finishes. 5. Steps up to east door are unsound.


‘New’ Cottage (#11) roof plan

Photo 107. Cottage #11, east (principal) facade (December 1993)


Photo 108. Cottage #11, view from southeast (December 1993)

Photo 109. Cottage #11, view from southwest (December 1993)


Photo 110. Cottage #11, view from northeast (December 1993)

Photo 111. Cottage #11, view toward northeast of sitting room (December 1993)


COTTAGE #12 — TAYLOR-BONNER-TERRY COTTAGE (188?) The Taylor-Bonner-Terry cottage, which is the only extant structure related to Phase

III-A (Adirondack Club period) development, is reasonably well-preserved in terms of original finish. The major problem with the building is the deterioration of its north sill.

Historical: The cottage was built in the 1880s by Alexander Taylor Jr. (member

1891-?) of Mamaroneck, New York, at the head of the street on the west side. Subsequent owner/occupants were Robert Bonner [according to Masten, 1935]1 and John T. Terry Jr. (member 1921- ). The cottage was identified as “Bonner” in the 1906 survey. In 1926, the 20,380 cubic feet Terry cottage was described as having “two fireplaces, plumbing and porch.” The cottage was occupied by Terry in 1934.

Architectural: This compact, symmetrical two-story cottage is the earliest

documented Club cottage and appears to retain its original appearance with the exception of the enclosure of a window on the west facade. The core of the hip-roofed building is rectilinear in plan, with a one-story shed-roofed porch to the west, a small enclosure to the stairs on the north facade, and a rustic verandah on the south facade. The ridge runs approximately northeast-southwest without reference to the road. The front door, facing south, is located on axis with the main chimney constructed against the rear wall.

The interior plan is symmetrical. The first floor contains a center sitting room, with two smaller sleeping chambers to the east, and two storage rooms to the west. This plan is reflected on the second floor, with a large center room flanked by smaller rooms to the east and west. The northwest room on the first floor contains some Phase IV kitchen furnishings, and a second floor room was converted to a bathroom after original construction.

Unlike cottage construction at the turn of the century, the core is built on sleepers rather than raised above grade on piers, and differs in several exterior and interior finishes, including corner boards, soffit treatment, flooring and wainscoting. At least one reinstalled Greek Revival door is present. Like the earlier MacIntyre-McMartin house, the second floor is accessed from an exterior doorway on the rear facade. A verandah, located along the entire front facade, was represented in the 1923 survey.

Site: The site is relatively level adjacent to the cottage. The main, southeast entrance

to the first floor is up one step from grade. The site generally slopes downward toward the road to the east.

Exterior Features Foundation: No foundation is evident. Structure: All visible framing lumber is rough sawn. The first floor is framed with

sleepers. Where visible, wall framing is full dimension rough 2” x 4” clad with rough-sawn

1 Masten’s “Tahawus Club, 1898-1933” shows a Frederic Bonner as one of the original members of the Tahawus Club upon its incorporation in 1898. He also shows a Frederick Bonner as a Club member from 1894 to 1910, and a Mrs. Frederick Bonner from 1910 to 1913 — but no Robert Bonner.


1” sheathing attached with wire nails. The roof is framed 4” rafters and terminates on the exterior in raking eaves faced with a formal running-molded eaves board.

Chimneys: Two corbelled-setback brick chimneys are present: one along the rear wall, and one against the wall closest to the road.

Roof: Relatively simple geometry, finished with wood shingles. Verandah: A rustic verandah with a shed roof covers the entrance on the south facade. Walls: Clad with shingles against flush cornerboards (not typical at site) on core. Stair

entry enclosure is clad with roll asphalt. Windows: Two-over-two double-hung sash on first floor, six-over-one sash upstairs

where visible. (Evidence of closed window opening on west facade). Doors: Original door in west entrance is a stock cruciform millwork unit containing

two glazed panels above two recessed panels with applied edge. Front door, with four glazed panes over two wood panels, is a replacement unit.

Interior Features Floors: Matched 4” board flooring. Walls and Ceilings: Matched double-beaded board, painted. Other: Six-panel doors (three-over-three) in fascia surrounds are typical; one earlier

door with five raised panels at second floor. Conditions 1. The first floor framing is extensively rotted and settled from ground contact near the

main chimney. The adjacent sill and plate above are deflected. Plate has settled away from chimney.

2. The south verandah is near collapse.

Taylor-Bonner-Terry Cottage (#12) and annex (#12A)roof plan


Photo 28. Taylor-Bonner-Terry cottage (Cottage #12) and annex (#12A), north facades (December 1993).

Photo 29. Taylor-Bonner-Terry cottage (Cottage #12), view from northwest (December 1993)


Photo 30. Taylor-Bonner-Terry cottage (Cottage #12), view from northeast (December 1993)

Photo 31. Taylor-Bonner-Terry cottage (Cottage #12), view from southeast (December 1993)


Photo 32. Taylor-Bonner-Terry cottage (Cottage #12), detail of rustic porch, view from southeast (December 1993)

Photo 33. Taylor-Bonner-Terry cottage (Cottage #12), detail of eave and cornerboard, northwest corner (December 1993)


Photo 34. Taylor-Bonner-Terry cottage (Cottage #12), view toward northwest in large first-floor sitting room. Note rotting of floor framing and flooring (December 1993).

Photo 36. Taylor-Bonner-Terry cottage (Cottage #12), view toward northwest and stairwell in center room, second floor. The Greek Revival door

appears to have been recycled from an earlier building (December 1993).


Photo 35. Taylor-Bonner-Terry cottage (Cottage #12), view toward east in southeast room, first floor. Double-beaded board wainscoting is unique to this building (December 1993).


#12A — TERRY COTTAGE ANNEX, AKA ‘LIPSTICK LODGE’ (1933) “Lipstick Lodge” recalls and possibly intentionally revives an earlier Adirondack

building type of the 1870s [1840s? see the earlier Porteous sketch of workers’ houses]. Apart from some racking of the frame, the small building is basically sound.

Historical: “Lipstick Lodge” was probably built by John T. Terry Jr. in 1933 as an

annex to cottage #12. Subsequent owners or occupants are not documented. [Anne Knox, a Tahawus Club colony resident since 1926, recalled in 2002 that “Lipstick Lodge” had been built for Terry’s two teen-aged daughters.]

Architectural: This gable-roofed, two-room cabin, located adjacent to and southwest

of the Taylor-Bonner-Terry cottage, is clad with cedar bark and differs in scale and finish from the other Club-period structures. The cabin is entered from the south, up about one step from grade to its east. A rustic shed-roofed verandah is attached to its south facade.

Site: The site slopes gradually to the west, requiring the cabin to be constructed on log

stilts. Exterior Features Foundation: The building stands on log-post stilts on concrete footings. Structure: The floor, roof, walls and partitions are lightly framed with nominal

dimension lumber throughout. Tongue-and-groove sheathing is fastened with wire nails. Exposed nominal dimension 2”x rafter tails are exposed at lower eaves, and faced with plain fascia eaves board on raking eaves.

Chimneys: No chimney is present. Roof: The roof massing is of simple form, and surfaced with asphalt shingles. Verandahs: A shed-roofed rustic verandah constructed on log stilts is located on the

south facade. Walls: Cedar bark nailed to sheathing, with comer boards moulded with quarter-round

profile at outer edge. Windows: Not visible. Doors: Not present. Interior Features Floors: Matched hardwood strip floor. Walls and Ceilings: Varnished matched beaded-board walls, no ceiling finish. Conditions 1. The frame is racked due to displacement of log stilts toward the west. 2. The verandah structure and floor are very fragile. 3. Door and window finishes are missing.


Photo 97. Terry cottage annex, “Lipstick Lodge” (Cabin #12A), south (principal) facade (December 1993)


Photo 98. Terry cottage annex, “Lipstick Lodge” (Cabin #12A), west facade (December 1993)

Photo 99. Terry cottage annex, “Lipstick Lodge” (Cabin #12A), view from northwest (December 1993)


SUMMARY: GENERAL CONDITIONS OF SURVIVING BUILDINGS & FEATURES In addition to the specific conditions noted for each building, the extant structures

share several common problems: 1. The roof membranes are not watertight and allow much moisture into the buildings. 2. Another source of moisture in the cottages on the east side of the road stems from

the roadway drainage. The roadway has been widened along the east edge from its configuration in 1923. Rain runoff is poorly controlled at this edge, and accumulated snow melts into the buildings’ sills.

3. Several factors restrict the removal and drying of trapped moisture in the buildings, including:

a. The sites are densely overgrown with brambles, conifers and other plants in the immediate vicinity of the buildings. Access is difficult, and conifers retain moisture at the sites.

b. Debris from collapsed verandahs, porches and other features retains and/or conducts moisture into the buildings.

c. Most buildings were winterized during Phase IV with batt floor and loose fill ceiling insulation, and sheathing clad with simulated brick pattern roll asphalt as a windbreak over the open crawl spaces. While the floor insulation is fragmentary, where present below roof leaks it retains moisture next to floor joists. Ceiling insulation is generally waterlogged. Crawl space sheathing restricts air drying of structural framing members.

d. Plywood window and door covers, which are not vented, also contribute to the retention of moisture. The covers are not vandal-proof. 4. Shingle siding is generally in fair condition. Nearly all cottages have limited areas

of missing shingles caused by impact of tree limbs or vandals. Protective stain finishes are very weathered, and shingles have shrunk in dimension where exposed to ultraviolet light in open sun.

5. Window glass is typically broken where exposed, and many sash elements are damaged. Exterior doors are typically jimmied or damaged where present.

6. Wainscoting and flooring are generally in fair condition. These finishes are damaged in the areas of roof leaks and open windows and doors.

7. Many interior doors are partially damaged, and nearly all latching hardware is missing.


OTHER RELATED STRUCTURES Masten cottage, aka “Gabbro” (1905; burned 1926; rebuilt 1927) “Gabbro” was rebuilt in 1927 by Arthur Masten (member Tahawus Club 1902-1933)

on the site of his earlier cottage dating from 1905 and destroyed by fire in 1926. The cottage is located on the ridge below the gate, west of a former barn; destroyed by fire in 1926; rebuilt 1927. The cottage is not visible from the road and is not included in this survey.

Foote cottage (1907) The Foote cottage was built in 1907 by the MacIntyre Iron Company on the east side

of Lake Sanford for use by its officials. The cottage was used by George C. Foote (member, Tahawus Club 1922-1931), Marshall Gerr (member, Tahawus Club 1913-?), and Major McLean. The cottage is presently used for meetings and as a guest house, and is not included in this survey.

Seely cottage (1933) The Seely cottage was built by deBenville K. Seely (member, Tahawus Club 1923-

1933) in 1933 on Lake Sanford. Subsequent owners or occupants during Phase III are not documented. The cottage was disassembled and reconstructed at Tahawus in 1957. In 1963, the cottage was moved intact to Newcomb for use as the Episcopal Church.

Jesup cottage (1933) The Jesup cottage was built by E.N. Jesup (member, Tahawus Club 1923-1933) in

1933 on Lake Sanford. Subsequent owners or occupants, and survival of the cottage during Phases III and IV, are unknown. [NL sources say that the Jesup cottage was airlifted by helicpter to Upper Preston Pond, where it replaced an earlier camp. As part of a 2004 deal with the Adirondack Park Agency, it was set aside from the Open Space Institute’s conveyance of 6,813 acres of the Tahawus Tract into the state Forest Preserve. In 2009, the Jesup cottage still stood on Upper Preston Pond.]


FURNACE, AKA ‘NEW’ BLAST FURNACE (1854) The massive masonry blast furnace, located on the east side of the road approximately

0.4 miles south of Upper Works, is the most significant technological feature at the Upper Works. The structure was extensively surveyed and documented by measured drawings by the Historic American Engineering Record. First fired August 20, 1854, by 1873 the “new forge” was described as a “huge building in a dilapidated condition, but the great stone furnace, forty feet square at its base, stands firm as and solid as when made.”

Conditions 1. Brick outer shell of hot blast stove is partially collapsed, exposing interior cast iron

manifolds and brickwork to weather. 2. Rubble fill between stack and liner is shifted; the liner is in danger of collapse. 3. Upper masonry is not stabilized to exclude water, and plant growth is dislodging

masonry.

Photo 27. “New Furnace,” view from northwest (December 1993).

556

3. Recommendations

Preservation and/or restoration potential and priorities The built environment of the Upper Works can best be characterized today as a

potentially valuable resource that is in a severely deteriorated condition. The general visual impression the buildings and structures at the Upper Works make it that of an abandoned “ghost town.” Given the remarkable history of the site, its location near the Adirondack Park Agency’s Newcomb Visitor Interpretive Center and at the trailhead to the Indian Pass and Mount Marcy, and the quality of construction evident in many of the buildings, it is not difficult to imagine the recreational and interpretive potential of the Upper Works. At present, however, the structures pose a threat to a curious public. Without corrective action in the near future, the resource will vanish.

Most of the buildings should be stabilized to prevent further deterioration. The critical mass of extant buildings together reflect the historicity of the site and convey a strong sense of place, no matter how deteriorated individual units have become. Buildings in similar or worse condition have been successfully interpreted elsewhere, whether as ruins or as buildings returned to habitable use. It is beyond the scope of this report to recommend a comprehensive program of restoration, for the question of use of the site has yet to be studied. Suffice it to say that the buildings could be rehabilitated and/or restored if deterioration is slowed or arrested in the near future.

The majority of the extant buildings and structures contribute to the understanding of the site and should be preserved. Based upon the research and fieldwork conducted in the preparation of this report, stabilization work should be implemented according to the following priorities:

The first priority should be to secure the McMartin/McIntyre house (#6) and the New Furnace from the elements and further vandalism. These two Period I structures are unquestionably the most significant features at the site.

The second priority should be to protect representative examples of Club cottages. Of these, the Taylor-Bonner-Terry cottage (#12), Abbott-Geer-Nichols-Lockwood cottage (#5), and Terry cottage annex/”Lipstick Lodge” (#12A), which respectively represent periods III-A, III-B and III-C construction, possess the greatest integrity, and should be secured following stabilization of the first priority structures.

Stabilization of the remaining period III-B Club cottages, each of which suffers from one or more structural defects, should be considered as the third priority. This group includes the Coe-Edmonds-Williams-Ferris cottage (#1/1B), the Jennings-Geer-Rives cottage (#2), “Mrs. Taylor’s cottage”/”Lazy Lodge” (#4), the Nichols-Ordway-Debevoise cottage (#7), the Brewer-Williams cottage (#9), and Cottage #10/10A.

The remaining cottages (#3, #7 and #11) and building #1A are constructed almost exclusively of non-native materials and with standardized technologies and finishes commonly used in late 20th century buildings. Of these, cottage #3 is in the most repairable condition as originally built. Cottages #7 and #11 are beyond reasonable repair in their present conditions, but salvageable prefabricated components of the former could be salvaged and even reused in reassembly. Building #1A is a strictly utilitarian structure that is not harmonious with its context. While it could be argued that these structures reflect an


episode in the history of the Upper Works, their loss would have minimal impact on the site, and their stabilization should be considered to be of the lowest priority.

General stabilization measures

The following program of stabilization is intended to “mothball” the buildings pending study and determination of a new use. Great care should be taken in planning and executing stabilization and repair measures. The buildings are presently unsafe to work in, on or near, and will remain so until preliminary structural repairs are made.

1. All brush, saplings and brambles should be removed within 15 feet of the cottages. 2. All collapsed porches, verandahs, and seriously deteriorated additions should be

removed from the core buildings. Architectural drawings of these features should be prepared prior to and during removal.

3. Deteriorated framing elements should be professionally shored following removal of appendages.

4. Roof membranes should be made water-tight. 5. Windbreak sheathing covering crawl spaces and all insulation should be removed. 6. All exposed framing members should be treated with a fire-retardant solution. 7. Plywood window and door covers should be replaced with vented units held in the

openings with tamper-resistant 2x4” cross-ties. 8. A good drainage trench should be introduced along the east side of the road, and

snow fencing should be installed in front of cottages #1, #3, and #4 in the winter. Consideration should be given to realigning the roadbed by widening it along its west edge.

9. Deteriorated shingle siding should be repaired and treated with a clear wood preservative containing an ultraviolet screen.

10. Rotted flooring should be removed. Holes in flooring should be repaired with temporary panelized flooring, which is vented and screened.

Future research

It is possible that additional information on the site can be found in several repositories not consulted in preparing this report. Among these, the Tahawus Club, as well as descendants of the members associated with the cottages, are likely sources of photographic and other primary materials. Collections of papers associated with the scientists and artists who visited the site during Phases I and II (see Appendix A) are other possible sources.

558

4. BIBLIOGRAPHY

General Sources [ACM] Adirondack [History] Center Museum, Elizabethtown [AML] Adirondack Museum Library, Blue Mountain Lake

Adirondac Iron & Steel Co. and general site history “Advantages of the Works and Property of the Adirondac Iron & Steel Co.”

Philadelphia: Howell Evans, 1851. [AML] Allen, Richard Sanders. “Special Report: McIntyre Iron Works,” unpublished

typescript, November 30, 1968. Allen, Ross, James Dawson, Morris Glenn et al. “An Archaeological Survey of

Bloomery Forges in the Adirondacks,” typescript, May 1990. Beach, N.J. Letter to Emily [Beach], 14 June 1841. Typescript transcription. [AML] Burroughs, John. “Wake-Robin.” 2nd ed.; Boston, 1891. [TDV 202-205] Dana, Richard H. “How We Met John Brown,” Atlantic Monthly, July 1871. [TDV

146-158; also see Dana’s Adirondack diary, TDV 132-145] Donaldson, Alfred L. “A History of the Adirondacks.” New York: Century Co., 1921.

[ADV 3-11] Dornburgh, Henry. “Why the Wilderness is Called Adirondack.” Glens Falls, N.Y.:

Daily Times, 1885. [ACM] [TDV 336-351]. “Early Proprietors of Tahawus Works Got Lottery Money,” Record-Post, February 28,

1952. [Emmons, Ebenezer, et al.]. “Papers and Documents Relative to the Iron Ore Veins,

Water Power and Wood Land &c. &c. In and Around the Village of McIntyre in the Town of Newcomb, Essex County, State of New York.” New York: P. Miller, 1840. [Includes Introduction by A. McIntyre, D. Henderson and A. Robertson; Emmons’ report on geology; abstract of E.N. Horsford’s report of the survey of the Adirondack river; extract of W.R. Johnson’s report on experiments on the iron; description of settlement; and charter of the Adirondack Iron and Steel Company.] [AML]

Gold, James P. et al., “An Assessment Report, Tahawus/Adirondack Iron and Steel Company: Upper Works, Town of Newcomb, Essex County, New York” (unpublished typescript, Bureau of Historic Sites, Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation: August 1989). [ADV ___]

Historic American Engineering Record, Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service [Bowie, John R., Seely, Bruce E., and Richards, Barry A.] “Adirondack Iron and Steel Company, ‘New Furnace,’ 1849-1854, Near Tahawus, New York.” Documentation drawings, 1978. [13 sheets]. [ADV 223-430]

Hochschild, Harold K. “The MacIntyre Mine: From Failure to Fortune.” Blue Mountain Lake, N.Y.: 1962. [ADV 12-25]

Hyde, Floy S. “Adirondack Forests, Fields and Mines.” Lakemont, N.Y: North Country Books, 1974.

MacIntyre Iron Company to Tahawus Purchase Inc., Deed, March 21, 1930. [AML] Masten, Arthur H. “The Story of Adirondac.” Privately published, 1923. [ADV 39-

153]


New York State Office of Parks and Recreation, Division of Historic Preservation [Manley, Doris Vanderlipp]. “National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Upper Works: Adirondack Iron and Steel Company.” Unpublished typescript, March 1976. [ADV ___]

Pope, Connie. “Ghost Town of Northern New York: Tahawus.” Summer 1969. [AML] Porter, Marjorie L. “Iron Ore Treasures of Adirondack Region,” Plattsburgh Press-

Republican, April 11, 1962. Richards, T. Addison. “The Adirondack Woods and Waters,” Harper’s New Monthly

Magazine, XIX, September 1859. [Illustrated]. [TDV 159-171] Smith, H.P., ed. “History of Essex County.” Syracuse: D. Mason & Co., 1885. [TDV

374-401] Stoddard, Seneca Ray. “The Adirondacks Illustrated.” Albany: Weed, Parsons & Co.,

1874. [TDV 296-309] Swank, James M. “History of the Manufacture of Iron In All Ages.” 1892; reprinted

New York: Burt Franklin, pp. 391-394. [AML] Tierney, Jack. “Ghost Town of the Adirondacks.” The Upstate Monthly, February

1941, pp. 12-13. [AML] Transactions of the New York State Agricultural Societv, Vol. XI, 1851. [Assembly

Doc. No. 126] Albany: 1852, pp. 142-146. [Address on presenting Medals of the Society to Adirondac Iron and Steel Co. et. al. who received awards at the Great Exhibition in London.]

Watson, Winslow C. “The Military and Civil History of the County of Essex, New York.” Albany: J. Munsell, 1869. [TDV 273-275]

Youngken, M. Joan. “A Blast From the Past,” Adirondack Life, September-October 1989, pp. 32-38.

Adirondac/McIntyre: Visiting scientific expeditions

Aldrich, Michelle Alexis La Clerque. “New York Natural History Survey,” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Texas at Austin, 1974.

Carson, Russell M.L. “Mount Redfield was named for William C. Redfield,” Cloudsplitter, 1940, III:6, pp. 2-3, 12-14; III:7, pp. 2-9.

Clarke, John Mason. “James Hall of Albany: Geologist and Paleontologist.” Albany, N.Y.: no pub., 1923.

Emmons, Ebenezer. “First Annual Report of the Second Geological District of the State of New York,” in “[NYS] Assembly Document No. 161: 1837,” Albany: 1837.

Emmons, Ebenezer. “Report of E. Emmons, Geologist of the 2nd Geological District of the State of New York,” in “[NYS] Assembly Document No. 200: 1838,” Albany: 1838.

Hall, James. Letter re: Marcy ascent, Albany Daily Advertiser, August 15, 1837. Merrill, George P. “Ebenezer Emmons,” Dictionary of American Biography, Vol. VI.

New York, Scribner, 1931, p. 149. Redfield, William C. “Some Account of Two Visits to the Mountains in Essex County,

New York, in the Years 1836 and 1837; with a Sketch of the Northern Sources of the Hudson,” American Journal of Science and Arts, July-December 1837, p. 316. [TDV 10-33]


Reznick, Samuel. “The Emergence of a Scientific Community in New York State a Century Ago,” New York History, 43, July 1962, p. 215.

Rodgers, Andrew Denny III. “John Torrey: A Story of North American Botany.” New York: Hafner, 1965.

Schneer, Cecil J. “Ebenezer Emmons and the Foundation of American Geology,” Isis 60, Winter 1969, p. 459.

“Ebenezer Emmons,” Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Vol. IV. New York: Scribner, 1971, pp. 363-365.

Torrey, John. John Torrey Papers, unpublished, Library of the New York Botanical Gardens.

Preston Ponds/Adirondack/Tahawus Clubs (chronological)

[Note: Club minutes from 1884-1921, according to Masten, were missing in 1935.] Roosevelt, Robert Barnwell, and Seth Green. “Fish Hatching, and Fish Catching.”

Rochester, N.Y.: 1879. Allard, Dean C. Jr. “Spencer Fullerton Baird and the U.S. Fish Commission: A Study

in the History of American Science,” Ph.D. dissertation, George Washington University, 1967.

Adirondack Club. “Constitution and Rules and Regulations of the Executive Committee, Officers and Members of the Adirondack Club, Founded 1877.” n.pl.: 1891. [AML]

Tahawus Club. “Rules of the Executive Committee.” n.pl.: 1898. [AML] Wheelock, William H., Secretary. “To the Members of the Tahawus Club,”

Typescript, 6 October 1898. [Letter re: Club lease with MacIntyre Iron Co.] [AML] “Tahawus Club: Officers, Members and Constitution for 1899,” typescript, n.d. [AML] Lewis, Walter H., et al. “Circular Letter to the Executive Committee,” Typescript, 6

February 1899. [Re: financial state of Tahawus Club]. [AML] Wheelock, Dr. Geo. G., Secretary. “To the Members of the Tahawus Club,”

Typescript, December 5, 1899. [Minutes of annual meeting November 1899; mentions four new cottages ordered during past season, and other improvements.] [AML]

“Tahawus Club Members: 1900,” typescript, n.d. [AML] Wheelock, Dr. Geo. G., Secretary. “To the Members of the Tahawus Club,”

Typescript, February 1, 1901. [Minutes of annual meeting November 13, 1900; mentions four additional cottages built and occupied during past season, so that now there are eight cottages total on the premises in the immediate vicinity of the Club House; and other improvements; members list.] [AML]

Terry, John T. Jr., Secretary. “Tahawus Club Bulletin,” Typescript, January 1904. [Mentions minor improvements.] [AML]

Terry, John T. Jr., Secretary. “Tahawus Club Bulletin,” Typescript, January 1905. [Mentions minor improvements.] [AML]

Ordway, Samuel H., Secretary. “Letter to Members of the Tahawus Club.” Typeset letter, October 27, 1913. [Re: assessment of cottage owners for new water system.] [AML]

Tahawus Club. [Constitution and Rules of the Executive Committee, Officers and Members of the Tahawus Club]. n.pl.: 1924 [AML]


Masten, Arthur H. “Tahawus Club: 1898-1933.” New York: privately published, 1935. [ADV 155-222]

General Adirondacks, 19th Century Hunting/Fishing Preserves/Clubs

Cookingham, H.J. “The Bisby Club and the Adirondacks,” American Field, March 10, 1883, XVIII, 172.

“Fall Sport at Blooming Grove Park,” American Sportsman, December 27, 1873, III, 201.

Hammond, S.H. “Hills, Lakes and Forest Streams.” New York: 1854. Headley, Joel T. “The Adirondack: or, Life in the Woods.” New York: Baker &

Scribner, 1849. [TDV 87-114] Headley, The Rev. J.T. “Letters from the Backwoods and the Adirondac.” New York:

John S. Taylor, 1850. Hoffman, Charles Fenno. “Wild Scenes in the Forest.” 2 vols. London: 1839. [TDV

34-68] Reiger, John F. “American Sportsmen and the Origins of Conservation.” New York:

Winchester Press, 1975. Street, Alfred B. “The Indian Pass.” New York: 1869. [TDV 224-272] Street, Alfred B. “Woods and Waters.” New York: 1860. Terrie, Philip G. “Forever Wild: Environmental Aesthetics and the Adirondack Forest

Preserve.” Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1985. Ziegenfuss, Henry L. “Piseco and T Lake Falls,” Forest and Stream, February 16,

1882, pp. 44-45. [re: Piseco Trout Club].

National Lead “N.Y. Firm [Titanium Pigment Corporation] Negotiating to Buy MacIntyre Mine at

Tahawus,” unidentified newspaper clipping, n.d., ca. WWII. “National Lead Company Takes Option on MacIntyre Iron Co. Properties Located at

Tahawus,” Essex County Republican, February 28, 1941, p. 1. “Tahawus Mines Are Purchased by Natl. Lead Co.,” Essex County Republican, April

11, 1941, p. 1. Hagar, I.D. “Titanium and the MacIntyre Development,” Paint Industry Magazine,

December 1941. “Mining Operations at Tahawus Started; Trucks Begin Hauling Products to North

Creek Soon,” Essex County Republican, July 3, 1942, p. 1. “Record Publishing Series of Articles on Mine at Tahawus,” Record-Post, December

11, 1942. [Historical account]. Porter, Marjorie Lansing. “Tahawus is Re-Discovered,” Record-Post, January 18,

1945. “Mrs. Marjorie L. Porter Writes on Visit to Tahawus,” Essex County Republican, Part

1: January 19, 1945; Part 2: January 26, 1945. Stephenson, Robert C. “Titaniferous Magnetite Deposits of the Lake Sanford Area,

New York,” New York State Museum Bulletin Number 340. Albany: University of the State of New York, 1945.


National Lead Company, Titanium Division. “MacIntyre Development, Tahawus, New York.” Unpublished typescript, 1958.

Tahawus Cloudsplitter. Patton, Joan. “Today, Plant Sits Silently After 50 Years,” Syracuse Post-Standard,

January 7, 1990. Patton, Joan. “Looking for Next Chapter in Newcomb Story,” Syracuse Post-Standard,

January 7, 1990. “Essex County Signs NL Agreement,” and “Indian Lake Opposes Sale.” North Creek

News, January 25, 1990.

Cadastral [1854] “Ground Plan/ of Beds and veins of/ Magnetic oxide of Iron:/ Traversing the

Hypersthene and Feldspathic Rocks at/ Adirondack/ Essex County, New York/ Part of 104,000 acres belonging to the/ Adirondack Iron and Steel Co.” New York: 1854. Lithographic print accompanying “The Adirondack Iron and Steel Company, New-York,” New York: W.E. & J. Sibell, 1854 [AML]. Clearly shows buildings at village.

1876 Gray, O.W., & Son. “Atlas of Essex County, New York.” Philadelphia: Walker, Jewett & Miller, 1876, pp. 72-73. “Adirondack/’The Deserted Village’/ 1836.”

1904 U.S. Geological Survey, “Santanoni Quadrangle.” 1904 edition; reprinted 1906. 1906 “Magnetic Survey/ of Part of the Property of the/ MacIntyre Iron Co./ made by

the/ Tahawus Iron Ore Co./ August 1906.” Unpublished ink on linen. [AML] Clearly shows buildings at village with cottage owners names.

1921 U.S. Geological Survey, “Santanoni Quadrangle.” 1904 edition; reprinted 1915. Annotated in ink with proposed public trail routes, and accompanying note by W.G. Howard, Asst. Supt. State Forests, NYS Conservation Commission, January 6, 1921. [AML]

1923 Rolls, F. C. “McIntyre Iron Co./ Proposed Sale to Arthur H. Masten/ Part of Township 47 and Gore East of/ Township 47, Essex County, N.Y./ Feb. 9, 1923” Unpublished paper print. [AML] Diagrammatically shows buildings at Club.

1923 Rolls, F.C. “McIntyre Iron Co./ Upper Works/ Part of Township 47 and Gore East of Township 47, Essex County, N.Y./ Feb. 24, 1923” Unpublished paper print. [AML] 1” = 100’. Clearly shows buildings at Club.

1968 Allen, R.S. “McIntyre Iron Works/Tahawus/Essex County, N.Y., as of 1968.” Unpublished, unmeasured sketch diagram of Upper Works accompanying report.


Appendix A

BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILES

Iron works owners/proprietors, superintendents & employees BUTLER, BENJAMIN C. (1820-1887), a lumberman from Luzerne who headed

syndicate that purchased works in 1853 and defaulted in 1855. CHENEY, JOHN (1800-1877), “the mighty hunter” who was born in New Hampshire,

moved to area after 1830, and was employed, on and off, at the works; guided hunting, fishing and hiking parties for many years.

CLARKE, ROBERT (1829-1899) of Cincinnati, a relative of David Henderson who was employed in the business management of the works beginning in 1848.

DORNBURGH, HENRY (1816-1915), born in Montgomery County, settled in Newcomb in 1844, and worked at Adirondac until the abandonment of the settlement. Married Phoebe Shaw of Minerva, who taught school at the works. Relocated to Olmsteadville, and later Ticonderoga, where he wrote “Why the Wilderness is Called Adirondack” in 1885.

DURANT, DR. THOMAS CLARK (1820-1885), Adirondack entrepreneur who owned Adirondack Iron and Steel Company property from 1863 to 1871.

GREGORY, DUDLEY S. (1800-1874) of Jersey City, N.J., a partner of David Henderson in the pottery works who assumed most of his business responsibilities upon his death; became shareholder in 1850, and owner of the Jersey City plant in 1863.

HEMENWAY, LUKE (1803-1870?), Archibald McIntyre’s bookkeeper, who became a director in 1839.

HENDERSON, DAVID (1793-1845) of Jersey City, a member of the 1826 prospecting party and later a son-in-law of Archibald McIntyre. Scottish by birth, he was proprietor of the Pottery Co. in Jersey City, an amateur artist and musician. [For D.H.’s account of “iron dam” discovery, see TDV 1-9]

HUNTER, ROBERT ( - ), a former brickmaker at the works who was made guardian of village in 1859 and occupied “proprietor’s house.” [Masten 1935]

McINTYRE, ARCHIBALD (1772-1858), principal investor in the ironworks. Born in Kenmore, Perthshire, Scotland; migrated to America in 1774; moved to Haverstraw, then to Broadalbin with five other Gaelic-speaking Scottish families; relocated to Albany at the time of the War of Independence; taught school in Albany as an adolescent; relocated to Broadalbin as a farmer for two years; apprenticed in the conveying office of a Judge Palmer in Ballston; soon after took up surveying; relocated to Broadalbin; elected member of New York State Assembly 1799, 1800, 1801; served as Deputy Secretary of State (1801-1806); Comptroller (1806-1821); elected New York State Senate 1823; relocated to Albany in 1835. Member, Second Presbyterian Church, Albany. Played a role in the development of the Erie Canal and the Morris Canal in New Jersey. Appointed in 1822 as an agent for the state lottery, regarded today as a prototype in investment banking. [Source: Sprague, William B. “A Sermon Addressed to the Second Presbyterian Congregation, Albany, Sunday Afternoon, May 9, 1858, on Occassion of the Death of the Hon. Archibald McIntyre.” Albany: Van Bentthuysen’s Print, 1858. Manuscript materials, including letters


to and from Henderson, Porteous and D. McMartin concerning the iron works, are in the collection of the Adirondack Museum.]

MCINTYRE, JOHN McDONALD ( - ), son of Archibald, member of the 1826 prospecting party, and original patentee in 1827; appointed to the committee to look after the company affairs in 1859.

McMARTIN, ARCHIBALD ( - ), invalid son of Duncan, sent with brother Daniel to summer at works in 1834.

McMARTIN, DANIEL ( - ), son of Duncan, superintended development of site in 1834.

McMARTIN JR., JUDGE DUNCAN ( -1837) of Broadalbin, brother-in-law of Archibald McIntyre, brother of Malcolm, member of the 1826 prospecting party, original patentee in 1827, and acting superintendent at the works until around 1834. A land surveyor who served as judge in the Court of Common Pleas; elected to New York State Assembly in 1819; served New York State Senate between 1820-1830; owned a large farm, lumber and grist mill, and woolen factory in Broadalbin.

McMARTIN, MALCOLM ( - ) member of the 1826 prospecting party, brother of Duncan McMartin Jr., and former partner with brother-in-law Archibald McIntyre in the Elba Iron and Steel Manufacturing Co. in 1809.

McMARTIN, PETER ( - ), son of Duncan, nephew of Archibald McIntyre, and original patentee in 1827.

McMARTIN, PETER (1805- ), son of Malcolm, nephew of Archibald McIntyre, who became director in 1839.

MacNAUGHTON, DR. JAMES (1796-1874) of Albany, personal physician to and a son-in-law of McIntyre, who became a shareholder in 1850.

MacNAUGHTON, JAMES (1851-1905) of Albany, a grandson of Archibald McIntyre, who succeeded Thompson as administrative trustee in 1887.

PORTEOUS, ANDREW (1812-1884), superintendent at the works from 1837 to 1852; later moved to Luzerne, N.Y.

RALPH, ALEXANDER ( - ), a relative of Henderson who succeeded Porteous as superintendent at the works in 1852. [Married Louisa McCrea in Potsdam, N.Y., Oct. 8, 1860.]

ROBERTSON, ARCHIBALD ( - ) of Philadelphia, nephew of Archibald McIntyre and husband of Henderson’s sister, becomes patentee in 1837 upon death of D. McMartin. [Father of Robert H. Robertson.]

STRONG, OLIVER S. ( - ) of New York, a son-in-law of Archibald McIntyre, who visited works in 1837; appointed to the committee to look after the company affairs in 1859.

THOMPSON, DYER ( - ) of Broadalbin, a nephew of A. McIntyre. THOMPSON, JAMES R. (ca. 1822-1887), originally of Broadalbin, son of Dyer and

nephew of Henderson, who had clerked under Porteous; was superintendent of Jersey City steel manufacturing plant (1849-1853 or 1857); appointed to the committee to look after the company affairs and to act as its agent in sale of the property in 1859; appointed trustee to administer property in 1880.


Nineteenth century visitors (1836-1837) COLDEN, DAVID CALDWALLADER, of Jersey City (1797-1850), a friend of

Henderson; visited 1836 and 1844. Graduated Union College 1817; admitted to bar; married Frances Wilkes, 1819; vice president, Society for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents (1846-1850), a commissioner of emigration(?); superintended the extension of the Croton Aqueduct system from Manhattan to Ward’s Island. Treasurer, Union Club; one of founders of Century Association. [Source: Purple, Edwin R. “Genealogical Notes of the Colden Family in America.” New York: privately printed, 1873; (Note: no manuscript materials relating to McIntyre works at the New York State Historical Society).]

EMMONS, EBENEZER (1799-1863) geologist, visited 1836 and 1837 as part of New York Natural History Survey. [Note: papers not located.] [See TDV 69-73, 74-86]

EMMONS JR., EBENEZER ( - ), son of E. Emmons. HALL, JAMES (1811-1898) geologist and, later, paleontologist, visited 1836 and

1837 as part of New York Natural History Survey. Probably Emmons’ assistant in 1836. [Note: James Hall papers in collection of New York State Library Manuscripts and Archives.]

HOFFMAN, CHARLES FENNO (1806-1884) visited works in September 1837 and gathered material for “Wild Scenes.” [See TDV 34-68]

INGHAM, CHARLES CROMWELL (1796-1863), painter, of New York City, assigned to New York Natural History Survey, visited Upper Works in 1837 [Source: Archives of American Art].

MILLER, JOHN ( - ), Torrey’s assistant as part of New York Natural History Survey in 1837. [Note: diary at Princeton University]

REDFIELD, WILLIAM C. (1789-1857) amateur scientist, visited 1836. Regarded as a pioneer meteorologist, and associate of van Santvoord; other interests included steamboat navigation, canal and railroad construction (Hudson River and Harlem Railroads); founder/first president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1843. [Note: kept field notes of 1836 and 1837 expeditions; copy of field notes were in possession of Mills Blake of Albany in 1927.] [See TDV 10-33]

TORREY, JOHN (1798-1873), visited 1837 as botanist of New York Natural History Survey; earned medical degree 1818; specialized early in career in chemistry and mineralogy, later took up botany; professor of chemistry, geology and mineralogy at West Point, 1824; later professor of chemistry and botany at College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York City; professor of chemistry and natural history at Princeton, 1830-1854; advised F.L. Olmsted on selection of species in Central Park; author, “Catalogue of Plants Within Thirty Miles of New York” (1819), “A Flora of Northern and Middle States of North America” (1824); “A Flora of North America” (with Asa Gray, 1839). [John Torrey papers at the New York Botanical Garden Library, Bronx. No journal, but a letter describing travel arrangements to McIntyre is in the collection.]

van SANTVOORD, ABRAHAM ( - ), visited 1836. A man of means involved in the transport business in the Mohawk Valley and steamboat enterprises in New York, whom Henderson wished to interest in the property. [Note: no manuscript materials at New York Historical Society.]


Other 19th/early 20th century visitors BAKER, CHARLES (1818-1862), painter whose work includes “View of Lake

Henderson” (1849) and “Camp Preston Pond” (1854). BURROUGHS, JOHN (1837-1921), naturalist and writer, who visited works in 1863

and described the village in “Wake-Robin.” [John Burroughs, “Wake-Robin” (2nd ed.; Boston, 1891), 102.] [See TDV 202-206]

COLE, THOMAS (1801-1848), painter. [Note: based on note by William K. Verner in AML, Cole first visited Adirondacks in 1835 “in search of the picturesque toward the headwater of the Hudson,” but probably did not reach the Upper Works; his second visit was with his wife and Asher B. Durand in 1837; on his last visit in September 1846 he appears to have visited ironworks.] [Albany Institute; Archives of American Art.]

DANA, RICHARD HENRY (1815-1882), visited works in 1849 while exploring Indian Pass; account, based on his diary, published in 1871. [Source: Richard H. Dana, “How We Met John Brown,” Atlantic Monthly, July 1871.] [TDV 146-158; corresponding diary entries, TDV 132-145]

DURAND, ASHER BROWN (1796-1886), painter. [Note: based on note by William K. Verner in AML, Durand visited Adirondacks in 1837 with Thomas Cole, and separately in 1848.] [Archives of American Art; Durand papers, New York Public Library.]

GIGNOUX, REGIS FRANCOIS (1816-1882), painter, who painted “Indian Pass in the Adirondacks,” first exhibited in 1843 and assumed to have been based upon field sketches made earlier that year. [Note: based on note by William K. Verner in AML.] [Archives of American Art]

INMAN, HENRY (1801-1846), painter. [Note: based on note by William K. Verner in AML.]

KATES, HERBERT (1894-1947), artist, who painted watercolor, “McIntyre Iron Works” (1935).

LOSSING, BENSON J. (1873-1891), illustrator and author who visited Adirondac in 1859 and described it in his book, “The Hudson, From the Wilderness to the Sea,” as “a deserted little village.” [Note: diary of trip, with sketches, in collection of Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery; San Marino, California.] [Benson J. Lossing, “The Hudson, From the Wilderness to the Sea” (Troy, 1866)] [TDV 185-201]

MacREADY, WILLIAM CHARLES (1793-1873), English actor who visited site in June 1844. [No entries in published diary, but letter to wife in New York Historical Society describes experience camping and the general environs.]

MARTIN, HOMER DODGE (1836-1897), painter and co-author of “The Adirondack Spruce” (1898). [Note: based on note by William K. Verner in AML.]

PINCHOT, GIFFORD (1865-1946), forester and “father” of the National Forest Service and co-author of “The Adirondack Spruce” (1898), hired as a consultant to advise the Adirondack Club on forestry, registered at Club on February 8, 1899. On this trip, he made the first recorded winter ascent of Mount Marcy from the west from the Club’s camp on Lake Colden.

RICHARDS, T. ADDISON (1820-1900), artist and journalist who visited works in 1857 or earlier and published illustrated account. He was a member of the National Academy of Design and died in New York City. [Source: T. Addison Richards, “The


Adirondack Woods and Waters,” Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, XIX, September 1859.] [TDV 159-171]

ROOSEVELT, THEODORE (1855-1919). During his visit to the Club in 1901, T.R. became president upon the death of William McKinley. [Roosevelt, Theodore. Archives, Sagamore, Oyster Bay, N.Y.].

STODDARD, SENECA RAY (1844-1917), photographer and publisher of guidebooks, visited Upper Works in [1870 and] 1873, and published a lengthy description annually. [See TDV 296-309]

VAN HOEVENBERG, HENRY (1849-1918), a patron of the High Peaks trail system, founder of the Adirondack Camp and Trail Club around 1880, and builder and proprietor of the original Adirondack Lodge on Heart Lake. His earliest entry in the Adirondack Club guest register was September 17, 1878, and appears to have visited most years after, hiking from Adirondack Lodge. Authored a short story, “The Forsaken Village,” loosely adapted from the history of the Upper Works, that appeared in Stoddard’s Northern Monthly in June 1906, Vol. 1, No. 2. [TDV 352-359]

CLUB FOUNDERS, MEMBERS AND EMPLOYEES

Honorary members

BAIRD, SPENCER FULLERTON (1823-1887), naturalist who inaugurated the method of field study of botany and zoology in America. He was the first head of the U.S. Fish Commission and an early proponent of the “fish culture idea,” the restoration of game fish to waters depleted by pollution, who also advocated the introduction of the carp as a cheap food fish.

COLVIN, VERPLANCK (1847-1920), superintendent of the Adirondack and State Land Surveys. [Notebooks, Department of Environmental Conservation, Real Property Division] [See TDV 276-283, 284-287]

GREEN, SETH (1817-1888), another early fish culturist, and honorary member of the Bisby Club.

ROOSEVELT, ROBERT BARNWELL (1829-1906), banker uncle of Theodore Roosevelt, another early fish culturist who was active in promoting clubs and societies for the preservation and protection of game. He presented to the New York State Legislature the bill which resulted in the establishment of the state fishery commission.

Founding members (1876-1877)

ATTERBURY, CHARLES L. (1842-1914) BETTS, FREDERIC H. (1843-1905), a lawyer and counsel to numerous late 19th

century telecommunications industries, including Edison Electric Light Company, Bell Telephone, and Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company. (Grosvenor Atterbury was the architect of the Betts townhouse at 750 Madison Ave., corner 65th Street).

DeFOREST, LOCKWOOD (1850-1932), an artist who worked in the Middle East and India and founded workshops in Ahmadabad to revive the art of woodcarving: a member through 1878.


LOW JR., ABIEL ABBOT ( - ), son of China merchant based in South Street Seaport, and brother of Seth Low, who was mayor of New York City and president of Columbia University.

STUYVESANT, RUTHERFORD (1840-1909) of New York, in December 1887 a founding member of the Boone and Crockett Club with Theodore Roosevelt, Robert Bird Grinnell, John J. Pierrepont and others. Boone and Crockett Club intended as a sportsmen’s society with similar objectives to those of the Audubon Society (1886).

Club cottage builders

ABBOTT, GORDON (1863-1937), banker and president of Abbott H. Wheelock & Company, Merchants, Boston and New York City. [Abbott-Geer-Nichols-Lockwood cottage]

BREWER, GEORGE EMERSON (1861-1939), surgeon and professor of surgery at Columbia University (1892-1917).

COE, E. HOLLOWAY [Coe-Edmonds-Williams-Ferris cottage] JAMES, DR. WALTER B. (1858-1927), practicing physician and Bard professor of

medicine at Columbia University (1904-1909) [James-Terry-Savage cottage] NICHOLS, GEORGE I. [Nichols-Ordway-Debevoise cottage] TAYLOR JR., ALEXANDER [Taylor-Bonner-Terry cottage]

Club cottage occupants BONNER, “ROBERT” [FREDERICK?] [Taylor-Bonner-Terry cottage] DEBEVOISE, [THOMAS M.] [Nichols-Ordway-Debevoise cottage] EDMONDS, WALTER D. [Coe-Edmonds-Williams-Ferris cottage] FERRIS, MORRIS DOUW [Coe-Edmonds-Williams-Ferris cottage] GEER, MARSHALL [Abbott-Geer-Nichols-Lockwood cottage] [Jennings-Geer-Rives

cottage] KING, WILLIAM F. [James-Terry-Savage cottage] LOCKWOOD, [WILLIAM A.] [Abbott-Geer-Nichols-Lockwood cottage] NICHOLS, ACOSTA [Abbott-Geer-Nichols-Lockwood cottage] ORDWAY, JUDGE SAMUEL H. [Nichols-Ordway-Debevoise cottage] RIVES, BAYARD [Jennings-Geer-Rives cottage] TERRY, JOHN T. [James-Terry-Savage cottage] TERRY JR., JOHN T. [Taylor-Bonner-Terry cottage] SAVAGE, REV. THEODORE T. [James-Terry-Savage cottage] WEEKS, FRANCIS H. [Cocktail Hall] WILLIAMS, THOMAS [Coe-Edmonds-Williams-Ferris cottage]

Site visits, 1968-1989

571

Special report: McIntyre Iron Works RICHARD SANDERS ALLEN — NOVEMBER 1968

Historic area: McIntyre Iron Works; also called: “Adirondac,” “Adirondack Iron &

Steel Co.,” “Tahawus Club.” Location: On the upper Hudson River, between Henderson and Sanford Lakes, ±10

miles north of N.Y. 28N, in the town of Newcomb, Essex Co., N.Y. Present owner: National Lead Company, McIntyre Development, Tahawus,

Newcomb, N.Y. 12852 Subject: Early American Industry Type: Extensive Visible Ruins; other remains buried.

Historic significance 1. Iron Works operated by early pioneers in the Adirondack-Champlain iron industry:

Archibald McIntyre, Duncan McMartin, David Henderson, Joseph Dixon and Charles C. Alger, the last two being of national prominence.

2. The “Adirondac Works” are said to have produced the pig iron from which the first cast steel in America was manufactured, c. 1848-50.

Significance of physical remains

1. The largest and best-preserved stone blast furnace stack remaining in the Champlain-Adirondack iron region, and possibly the best-preserved in New York State.

2. Extremely rare machinery and apparatus, illustrative of the operation of an improved mid-19th century hot blast charcoal iron furnace. A great deal of material is intact, or recoverable.

Short history

The “iron dam,” a 50-foot vein of rich magnetic iron ore, was discovered here in 1826 by the McIntyre, McMartin and Henderson families. After establishing title, they slowly developed an industrial community in the depths of the Adirondack wilderness, called “McIntyre” or “Adirondac.” An iron forge was erected in 1832, a cupola furnace in 1837(?), and the first blast furnace in 1844.

Joseph Dixon, famed for his work with crucibles of graphite, was hired to make cast steel from McIntyre pig iron, with a new plant especially built at Jersey City, N.J. Despite David Henderson’s accidental death [in 1845], the enterprise grew and prospered from 1848 to 1853, when it was sold to a syndicate of New York businessmen. They hired as consulting engineer Charles C. Alger of Stockbridge, Mass. and Hudson, N.Y., who in 1854 built a new McIntyre Furnace, incorporating the latest Alger improvements and patents in blast furnace machinery. This stone structure was 36’ square and 48’ high, with four cast iron blowing cylinders, and had a capacity of 14 tons of pig iron per day. The great furnace was operated for only two years before the syndicate failed and the works reverted to the heirs of the original owners.

For nearly a century the property served only as timberland and as a private hunting and fishing preserve, with the iron works virtually undisturbed but gradually falling into ruins. National Lead Company acquired the McIntyre property in 1941, and now has


extensive open-pit mining operations at Sanford Lake, about a mile south of the 1854 Blast Furnace. At what is now called Tahawus, National Lead mines, processes and ships ilmenite concentrate (for titanium production) and magnetite iron in sintered form.

Description

McIntyre Iron Works (or “Old Tahawus Club”) today consists of a scattering of a dozen unoccupied wooden buildings and structures along a ¾-mile stretch of paved highway, which ends at the north edge of the “deserted village.” They only original wooden structure appears to be the “McNaughton House,” to which the small addition once used as the McIntyre Bank is attached. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt was visiting here at the time of William McKinley’s death in 1901, and from this point began his famous “Buckboard Dash” to North Creek, Saratoga, Buffalo and the presidency.

At the north end of the area is the mound of rubble surrounding the blast furnace of 1844. Scattered about are a number of iron gears, rods, guides, etc., and parts of the cylindrical laminated wooden blowing tubs used for pumping air to the blast furnace, run by waterpower.

At the south end of the historic area is the huge blast furnace of 1854. This still has the hot-blast ovens mounted on top of the stone stack, and portions of the cast-iron conductor pipes.

To the rear, close by the bank of the infant Hudson River, are the stone portions of a high, heavy dam, races and flumes. In a wheel pit are the iron portions of an overshot water wheel, perhaps 12’ to 15’ in diameter, with a double set of toothed iron gear segments.

A profusion of iron bases, wheels, cams and rods are still connected to the four cast-iron blowing cylinders, which are about the size and shape of a modern 500-gallon fuel oil tank.

Many “odd” iron pieces are to be found scattered about the immediate area. In the slag heap east of what was obviously the casting house are pieces of the last run of iron pigs, just as they cooled in the troughs of sand.

Observations

The writer made a special visit to the McIntyre Iron Works on November 9, 1968, in company with Roland Wells Robbins of Lincoln, Mass. Mr. Robbins is well-known for his historical excavations at Saugus, Walden Pond, Crown Point, etc., plus former iron works at Katahdin, Maine, Sterling Forest, N.Y. and Hewitt, N.J.

Despite fresh snow, much of the foundations of the two old furnaces, dams and races, charging bridge, casting house, etc. were more discernible than at other times of the year, and the layout and probable use of the machinery more recognizable.

Mr. Robbins is of the opinion that clearing and some excavation around the site of the 1854 furnace would greatly enhance its historic value as an important early industrial landmark. It would also doubtless bring to light more early machinery that is now hidden and buried.

The writer has visited and examined perhaps 30 to 40 charcoal blast furnace sites in the eastern United States, and nowhere has seen such a profusion of old machinery intact. Possible exceptions are the reconstructed Hopewell and Cornwall furnaces in Pennsylvania.

SITE VISITS, 1968-1989 573

The four cast-iron blowing cylinders (114 years old) are very likely unique and rare. Their survival, together with the rest of the iron machinery, is due only to the fact that at this site for nearly a century the property was kept as a private hunting preserve. This kept out scrap iron collectors, and to some extent curbed vandalism.

Recommendations

1. All possible historical information and source material on McIntyre Iron Works should be assembled in one spot. Research in depth should be undertaken to ascertain the source of the machinery.

2. Details of all structures and machinery should be recorded, and, if warranted, drawings made, and possibly models. If, in the future, the site might be obliterated by mining operations of National Lead Co., these would then be of even greater historic worth.

3. The site of the 1844 (upper) furnace should be cleared, and any further machinery exposed. Wooden portions (such as remaining beams and the blowing tub parts) should be placed under cover to prevent further deterioration.

4. The site of the 1854 (lower) furnace should be cleared, partially fenced off (as at present), and a pedestrian observation trail made for viewing. The remaining machinery should be restored as nearly as possible to its former position. (Note: Full restoration and/or reconstruction of this furnace is not really feasible or desirable.)

5. National Lead Company, owners of the site, should be made more fully aware of its historical worth and significance. There is an opportunity here in public relations to contrast mineral production of a century ago with the modern methods at the nearby MacIntyre Development.

6. All possibly interested national, state and regional agencies, organizations, firms and individuals should be made aware of the McIntyre Iron Works historic area.

Richard Sanders Allen Historical Research Consultant Round Lake, N.Y. 12151 November 30, 1968

References “The Story of Adirondac,” Arthur H. Masten (1923) [ADV 39-153] “The MacIntyre Mine: From Failure to Fortune,” Harold K. Hochschild (1962) [ADV 12-25] Prospectus: “The Adirondack Iron & Steel Co.” (1854) Personal interviews, notes and clippings (1958-1968)


Map of suggested historic district by Richard Sanders Allen, November 9, 1968

575

Site visit, McIntyre Iron Works VICTOR R. ROLANDO — AUGUST 14, 1974

Early in 1974, I was contacted by the Lands Manager of National Lead Company’s

Titanium Division at Tahawus, N.Y. relating the company’s interest in undertaking some sort of preservation program at its 19th century iron furnace sites near Lake Henderson. Furnaces were built here in 1838, 1844, and 1854 following the discovery of iron ore in 1826. During the weekend of July 26-28, I visited the site, camping in the vicinity of the furnaces.

The ironworks are located northeast of Newcomb, N.Y. (Essex County) at the end of the private road off Route 28N leading into NLC’s McIntyre Development, which runs along the northern extremity of the Hudson River. Ironworks and mining operations commenced here in the 1830s, but were abandoned in 1856 at the climax of a succession of calamities. Following the Civil War, sportsmen leased the area until 1941, at which time the holdings were bought by National Lead Corporation for its titanium.1 NLC still works huge open-pit mines a few miles south of the original iron works sites.2

The 1844 furnace, probably built on the foundation of the 1838 furnace, is a collapsed but identifiable ruin. The 1854 site, a few miles south, is an impressive structure. Its arches are in good condition, top ovens intact, all its end plates and pins in place, and hearth and bosh in apparent undamaged condition. Located between the furnaces are about a half dozen boarded-up houses, the total remains of the old abandoned ironworks village of Adirondac.3 But the site’s most valuable treasures are the abundance of blast furnace machinery, scattered randomly about each of the furnace sites.

Between the 1844 site and the river are dozens of unfamiliar but massive pieces of machinery, gears, rods, etc. Slightly upstream are two six-foot-long piston rods with wooden heads, more gears and rods, and the sorry remains of original laminated wooden blowing tubs, probably preserved by their muddy environment. The riverbed is likewise endowed with bits and pieces of machinery for dozens of feet downstream.

Similarly, at the 1854 site furnace, a quantity of blowing machinery is visible, including an assembly of four cast-iron blowing tubs, complete with rods, shafts, and linkages, all next to a swampy water-wheel pit full of dozens of ponderous axles and mechanisms, and parts of waterwheels.

NLC has been encouraged many times in the last few years to “do something” with this rare collection of blast furnace machinery, but to date, the pieces sit only to fall prey to periodic raids by vandals. With an eye on its budget, NLC would listen to a plan to preserve or stabilize the site provided that any “outside” funding does not compromise future company options to mine the site, or otherwise limit NLC’s options to expand into the area.

1 LM: The club then leased the Upper Works from National Lead until 1947. 2 LM: Mine operations ceased completely in 1989. 3 LM: Rolando was apparently not aware that all but one of the abandoned houses at the Adirondac site (the MacNaughton Cottage) were actually built by the Adirondack Club/Tahawus Club in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For complete documentation of the remaining dwellings at the Upper Works settlement, see Wesley Haynes’ report.


Subject to comments or suggestions from SIA [Society for Industrial Archeology] members, I am planning to proceed with the following five-point program:

First: Process necessary paperwork to place both furnaces and the abandoned village on the New York State and National Registry as one Historic District.

Second: Apply for grant funds to hire a full-time curator to live on-site, say in the McNaughton House (where Teddy Roosevelt started his famous “buckboard dash” to North Creek and the presidency following McKinley’s assassination). The curator’s duties would be to keep an eye on things, assist visitors, collect data, etc. NLC will be contacted to consider rehabilitation of the house for curator residence.

Third: Plan a program to stabilize and preserve the sites by cutting paths and trails through the dense undergrowth, protect the machinery with open-sided rustic pavilions, etc.

Fourth: Collect and identify machine parts to reconstruct the site by supervising volunteer summer student help. Publish pamphlets and historical booklets.

Fifth: Eventually encourage NLC to relax restrictions on further historic activities in the abandoned village, the local forge, dam, and related environs, such that an industrial historic district can emerge to reflect the total nature of that wilderness economy.

New York State Historic and Natural Districts Inventory Form

Name of district: Adirondac Ironworks Historic District Village: Adirondac (abandoned) Town: Newcomb County: Essex Description: This district encompasses all within that land area that lays between Lake

Henderson on the West, Lake Henderson outlet on the North, the Hudson River on the East, and a line from the NW end of Sanford Lake NW to the SE end of Lake Henderson (approximately 500 acres). It includes the abandoned village of Adirondac, an 1838/1844 collapsed furnace ruin, a standing 1854 furnace stack, assorted blast furnace machinery for both furnace sites, dam, sluiceway, and forge remains, and the McNaughton House from which Teddy Roosevelt began his famous “buckboard dash” to the Presidency.

Significance: In contrast to almost all standing furnace ruins in New York State, this site retains almost all of its original blast furnace machinery, water power sites, and ironworkers’ homes, offices,4 etc.

Sources: Collections of the Adirondack Museum, Blue Mountain Lake. Personal collections of Mr. Richard S. Allen, Office of State History.

Threats to area: By developers (National Lead Corporation). By deterioration. By vandalism (many Adirondack hiking trails cross through the area).

Local attitudes toward the area: National Lead Corporation would like the district preserved and utilized as an historic resource. Realistic proposals to NLC along these lines may result in definite improvement of the district’s becoming better understood as the wilderness industrial site that it was.

4 LM: Actually, not the “ironworkers’ home” or “offices.”

SITE VISITS, 1968-1989 577

Hand-drawn map of Adirondac Ironworks Historic District, by Victor Rolando

578

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES

Adirondack Iron & Steel Company: Upper Works TAHAWUS, NEW YORK — OCTOBER 5, 1977

PREPARED BY:

DORIS VANDERLIP MANLEY, PROGRAM ANALYST NEW YORK STATE OFFICE OF PARKS AND RECREATION DIVISION FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION — MARCH 1976

Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance

The site of that portion of the Adirondack Iron and Steel Company operation which was known as the Upper Works is located in the Town of Newcomb in Essex County within the boundaries of the Adirondack Forest Preserve.5 The area is wild, mountainous and densely wooded, except for the open space to the south and east which has been created by the pit mining operations of NL [National Lead] Industries. It is this company which owns the property upon which the remains of the old ironworks are located.

The original Upper Works of the Adirondack Iron and Steel Company was located on both banks of the Hudson River approximately 1/3 of a mile south of its source in Lake Henderson. The settlement was called “Adirondack.” A cluster of deserted camp buildings now occupies the site of the old village. With the exception of the MacNaughton House, those are not the original buildings which housed the early ironworkers, but date from a much later period when a sportsmen’s club occupied the site.

Approximately 1/2 mile south of the site of the original iron works and blast furnace site is a second industrial site containing the ruins of the huge blast furnace of 1854.

MacNaughton House is a simple, two-story frame farmhouse, five bays wide with a central chimney. It has a porch with a rustic railing on the front façade. Attached to MacNaughton House is a small one-room structure with a pedimented gable and a doorway framed by pilasters and cornice. This served as the McIntyre Bank for a few years around the middle of the 19th century.

In November of 1968, Richard Allen and Roland Wells Robbins paid a visit to the site. Mr. Allen reported on his trip:

At the north end of the area is the mound of rubble surrounding the blast furnace of

1844. Scattered about are a number of iron gears, rods, guides, etc., and parts of the cylindrical laminated wooden blowing tubs. ...

At the south end of the historic area is the huge blast furnace of 1854. This still has the hot blast ovens mounted on top of the stone stack, and portions of the cast iron conductor pipes. …

To the rear, close by the bank of the infant Hudson River, are the stone portions of a high, heavy dam, races and flumes. In the wheel pit are the iron portions of an overshot water wheel, perhaps 12-15’ in diameter, with a double set of toothed iron gear segments. …

A profusion of iron bases, wheels, cams and rods are still connected to the four cast iron blowing cylinders. …

5 LM: That is, surrounded by the Forest Preserve but, as private property, not a part of the state-owned Forest Preserve.

SITE VISITS, 1968-1989 579

Many “odd” iron pieces are to be found scattered about the immediate area, including a blowing nozzle or “Tuyere.” In the slag heap east of what was obviously the casting house are pieces of the last run of iron pigs, just as they cooled in the troughs of sand.6 Victor Rolando, Rensselaer County Historian, visited the site in July of 1974 and

corroborated the existence of the above-listed remains.7 During the 1850s, a dam at the “Lower Works” (eleven miles south of the Upper

Works) provided slack water navigation all the way up to the 1854 furnace, where another dam provided the head of water to operate the furnace’s blasting machines.

The extent of the whole operation, both the Upper Works and also the Lower Works, was tabulated in a prospectus issued in 1854.8 At that time the Upper Works consisted of a cupola furnace, two blast furnaces, a forge and puddling furnace, a stamping mill, sawmill, grist mill, two kilns for roasting ore and at least two dozen other structures. The new blast furnace was described as having been built at a cost of $43,000.

The Essex County atlas of 1876 shows a cluster of eight structures at the Upper Works with the caption “Adirondack, the deserted village.” The Lower Works shows a few buildings and the label “Tahawus P.O.” Stoddard reported on his 1873 visit to the area. He found the Lower Works obliterated, the 1854 furnace in good condition, and the village of Adirondack at the Upper Works crumbling into ruins.

Huge blocks of iron, piles of rusty ore, charcoal bursting from the crumbling kilns, great

shafts broken and bent, rotting timbers, stones and rubbish lay in one common grave, over which living nature had thrown a shroud of creeping vines.9 Since Stoddard’s visit, further changes have occurred. South of the historic area,

mining operations begun during World War II by a predecessor of NL Industries have resulted in a modern industrial complex, with crushing, washing and sintering plants, offices and railroad facilities, all surrounded by huge, deep open mine pits and vast piles of tailings. Land contours and river courses which existed 35 years ago are today obliterated and unrecognizable.

This industrial activity has not affected the old Upper Works site, however, nor is it expected to do so in the foreseeable future. The boarded-up camp buildings in the hamlet of Adirondack are attractive to hikers and may have to be demolished by NL Industries as a safety precaution. If this proves necessary, the present plans of the company include retaining the old MacNaughton House.

Statement of significance

The history of the old McIntyre Iron Works and the deserted village of Adirondack has intrigued numerous authors, who reported on their visits to the once-bustling area in the town of Newcomb.

6 From Richard Sanders Allen, “Special Report: McIntyre Iron Works,” 1968 (ADV 571-574). 7 LM: For Rolando’s site report, see ADV 575-577. 8 Arthur H. Masten, “The Story of Adirondac” (privately published, 1923), pp. 130-132. [See ADV 115-120] 9 Seneca Ray Stoddard, “Old Times in the Adirondacks” (Burlington, Vermont: George Little Press, Inc., 1971), p. 123. [Same as Stoddard’s “The Adirondacks Illustrated.” See TDV 300.]


Even today, the sight of the huge 1854 blast furnace, decaying and immersed in conifers, recalls the time when men poured money and sweat into the development of these remote iron deposits, only to be thwarted by the inaccessibility of the site. In addition to its importance in the story of North Country mining and the struggle to develop the Adirondack resources, the site preserves, virtually untouched, the buried remains of a whole complex of abruptly terminated functions associated with the iron industry — an archeological treasure house from which a picture of mid-19th century operations may someday be derived.

The Adirondack mountain area consists of a body of very old, precambrian, metamorphosed rocks which form poor soils owing to their resistance to weathering. But these same rocks, though inhospitable to farmers, offered vast resources of minerals to settlers able to extract and transport them.

The presence of magnetic iron ores that occur in the anorthosite underlying much of the Adirondack region was early discovered by surveyors whose compass needles were deflected by concentrated masses of ore. In the early 1880s, dozens of small iron mining operations and forges were located near Lake Champlain. By 1841 the Sixth Federal Census reported nine “Adirondack Counties” as producing 16,561 tons of cast and bar iron, while in 1880, Clinton and Essex Counties were supplying almost a quarter of all the iron ore mined in the United States.10

Among those who shared in the general ferment to exploit the mineral resources of the Adirondacks were Archibald McIntyre (b. 1772-d. 1858), Duncan McMartin (d. 1837) and David Henderson (b. 1793-d. 1845).

In 1826, a small party that included McMartin, Henderson and McIntyre’s son discovered the “Iron Dam,” a massive outcropping of rock containing visible veins of iron that stretches across the Hudson River north of Sanford Lake. Henderson’s fascinating letter to McIntyre telling of this discovery is quoted in full by Masten in his history of Adirondac.11

Although David Henderson was a young engineer at this time, McIntyre and McMartin were already men of considerable means. Archibald McIntyre had served as assemblyman for Montgomery County, state comptroller, and agent for the state lottery. Duncan McMartin had been elected to the assembly and then the state senate. He owned lumber and grist mills as well as a woolen factory.

The partners hastened to acquire a vast tract of land in the vicinity of their find and commenced the development of the property. The remoteness of the site, lack of roads, and severe climate made progress very slow. By 1839 the state geologist, Professor [Ebenezer] Emmons, reported that a small community had been established just below Lake Henderson. It consisted of housing, a sawmill, a forge with two fires, a trip hammer and storage for charcoal. Emmons found the supply of ore inexhaustible. A rough wagon road had been built so that ore in future could be taken eastward to Lake Champlain, a distance of forty miles.

Year after year, McIntyre, McMartin and Henderson continued to provide the expenditures of time and money needed to develop the business, despite all obstacles. More

10 Floy S. Hyde, “Adirondack Forests, Fields and Mines” (Lakemont, N.Y.: North Country Books, 1974), p. 146. 11 Ibid., pp. 18-27. [ADV 51-55]

SITE VISITS, 1968-1989 581

than 10 years went by without a positive result. After the death of McMartin, the assets were incorporated as the Adirondac Iron and Steel Company (1839). Archibald McIntyre, David Henderson, Archibald Robertson (a nephew of McIntyre), Peter McMartin (Duncan’s son) and Luke Hemenway were its first directors. To date, it was still unknown whether or not iron could be successfully produced from the ores.

Although discouraged by the continual outflow of money without a commensurate return, the new company built a blast furnace in 1844. Experiments showed that an extremely high quality steel could be made from the ore. Henderson, who had assumed leadership, became encouraged. For the first time, the success of the 18-year-long venture seemed within reach.

Unfortunately, Henderson was accidentally killed by his own pistol, which discharged while he was on a field trip [Sept. 3, 1845]. No one else connected with the business could provide his leadership. Still, things progressed for a few years. The Adirondack Steel Manufacturing Company built a plant in Jersey City in 1848. For several years this facility produced two tons of the highest quality steel every day using Adirondack iron — the first American-made steel.

From 1848 to 1854 was the period of the company’s greatest activity. A new and bigger blast furnace was constructed in 1854. However, since efforts to obtain rail service continually aborted, the problem of transporting the iron was never satisfactorily solved. In addition, steel men objected to the presence in the iron of large amounts of titanium.

Archibald McIntyre was now an old man. His death in 1858, and that of his nephew Robertson in the same year, left the company without any responsible head and its ownership vested in numerous heirs, no one of which was capable of taking control.

In 1887 a grandson of McIntyre, James MacNaughton, became trustee for the company and subsequently assisted in the sale of the Adirondack Iron and Steel Company’s assets to the MacIntyre Iron Company. As president of the latter company, MacNaughton set out to overcome the prejudice of the trade against ores containing titanium. In 1905, just before his death, MacNaughton engineered the transfer of the property to Wallace Foote Jr., a member of a family long identified with the iron business.

Again, the death of the person who could have provided leadership, this time Foote, prevented further development of the property, now called the Sanford Mines.

During the 1890s, cheaper iron from the Mesabi Range in Minnesota had begun to replace North Country iron. No further attempts to exploit the McIntyre ores seemed worthwhile. The villages of Adirondack and Tahawus became ghost towns as the forest moved in to reclaim its own.

A succession of sportsmen’s clubs — the Preston Ponds Club, the Adirondack Club and the Tahawus Club — leased and later purchased the acreage. Clubhouse buildings and cottages were built at the site of the old deserted village of Adirondack. Eventually, the MacNaughton House and the 1854 blast furnace were the only original structures remaining.

It would seem that this should be the end of the story, but a new chapter began in 1941 with the reopening of the mines at Lake Sanford (south of Adirondack) to supply ilmenite or titanium ore. A highway, bridges, power lines, railroad and processing plants were hastily constructed. In 1953, Lake Sanford was filled in with tailings from the open-pit operation.


Another change came when the village of Tahawus, on the east shore of Sanford Lake, was moved bodily to Newcomb [in 1963] so that its site could be mined. [Workers at the Tahawus mines who were living in the Tahawus Club buildings at Adirondack, or the Upper Works, were evicted at the same time by the mining company that owned the property.]

During all of these extensive modern mining operations, the area of the old Upper Works was left untouched. Today, hikers pass MacNaughton House and the 1854 blast furnace on the way to Mount Marcy, unaware of the 125 years of human history that left these few traces among the trees.

Though the ruins of 19th century iron works and blast furnaces dot the northeast and middle Atlantic states, the historic area of the McIntyre works and its two blast furnace sites offer unique opportunities for industrial archaeology and historic preservation.

Owing to the remoteness of the site, and to retention of ownership that allowed the sites to moulder undisturbed, no scrap dealer has taken out salvageable iron, as has occurred at virtually all other charcoal iron furnace sites.

Thus, significant and unique machinery — such as the blow mechanisms of both furnaces — still exists nearly intact.

Bibliography Allen, Richard Sanders. “Special Report: McIntyre Iron Works,” 1968. [ADV 571-574] Hyde, Floy S. “Adirondack Forest, Fields and Mines.” Lakemont, N.Y.: North Country

Books, 1974. Masten, Arthur H. “The Story of Adirondac.” The Adirondack Museum: Syracuse

University Press, 1968. Reprint of 1923 Edition. [ADV 39-153] Stoddard, Seneca Ray. “Old Times in the Adirondacks.” ed.: Maitland C. DeSormo.

Burlington, Vt.: George Little Press, Inc., 1971. [Same as Stoddard’s “The Adirondacks Illustrated.” See TDV 296-309.]

Tahawus Cloudsplitter. Vol. XX, No. 6 — Vol, XXI, No. 6.

Verbal boundary The northern boundary follows the shore of Lake Henderson from its southernmost tip

to the outlet that forms the Hudson River. The eastern boundary runs north-south 1½ miles east of the Hudson River, to terminate at a knoll to the east of Lake Sanford. The southern boundary consists of a ½-mile-long east-west line from the knoll to the western edge of Lake Sanford, while the western boundary connects this spot with the southernmost tip of Lake Henderson.

Acreage of nominated property: between 390 and 400 acres.

SITE VISITS, 1968-1989 583

Boundary map of 1977 National Register historic district

584

Recommendations for Stabilization & Preservation of the McIntyre Ironworks

Historic Site, Tahawus, New York DUNCAN E. HAY, NOVEMBER 197812

INTRODUCTION

This report contains a series of recommended procedures that will radically decrease or halt the deterioration of artifacts and structural features at the McIntyre Ironworks historic site near Tahawus, New York.

The McIntyre site is unique in that it is the only mid-19th century American blast furnace to survive with most of its related machinery intact. The spatial relationship between the furnace, its machinery, the Hudson River, and the topography of the site is so important that it warrants on-site preservation of all the component parts.

The following recommendations are general. To implement them the sponsoring agency(s) will have to hire a foreman with experience in preservation/stabilization work to supervise daily operations. Historical materials, even iron and stone, are far too fragile to be handled by inexperienced workmen.

SEVENTEEN MILES NORTH of the village of Newcomb, Essex County, New York,

on the banks of the upper Hudson, stand the remains of two blast furnaces and the iron-making village of Adirondac. These works saw feverish activity during the second quarter of the nineteenth century when they were operated by the Adirondack Iron and Steel Company, headed by Archibald McIntyre, Duncan McMartin, and David Henderson. Although the proprietors pumped over $600,000 into the operation between 1826 and 1857, shipping difficulties, labor problems, depressions and the deaths of the three men combined to force the abandonment of the entire project. Except for a brief, unsuccessful mining venture between 1912 and 1917, the huge ore reserves in western Essex County remained untouched until the National Lead Corporation started mining for ilmenite (titanium dioxide ore) and magnetite (iron ore) in 1941.

It is difficult for the modern visitors to the Adirondack high peaks to conceive of the area as a heavily industrialized region. Yet throughout the 19th century, over 50 iron smelting furnaces and forges operated within the boundaries of today’s Adirondack Park.Timber was stripped from hillsides around these furnaces and converted into charcoal. Medium-sized smelters required approximately an acre’s worth of charcoal per day; some needed far more. The impact of iron working on the landscape of the Adirondacks was enormous, yet today little remains of the mines, mills and furnaces but a few deteriorating stone towers swallowed up by the woods. It is important to the understanding and interpretation of the economic, social and ecological history of the Adirondacks that some evidence of the region’s industrial past be preserved.

The “new” furnace at Adirondac, built by the McIntyre Iron Co. in 1850, put into blast in 1854, and abandoned in 1857, is an important survival of mid-19th century American

12 LM: Written while Hay was an intern at the Adirondack Museum in a position similar to that held the year before by Richard Youngkin, who mapped the archeological resources of the McIntyre site.

SITE VISITS, 1968-1989 585

iron-making technology. This site is unique in two respects: First, the majority of its operating components are intact and in place. Second, there is no other extant site that illustrates the transition between cold- and hot-blast technologies.

The new furnace site includes a 47-foot-tall furnace stack with a brick hot-blast stove on top and four brick-lined arches at the base. Four huge cast-iron blowing cylinders, which compressed blast air to fan the furnace fire, stand on the riverbank along with the remnants of the 16-foot-diameter waterwheel that powered them. Lengths of line shafting that carried power from a second waterwheel to ore-crushing stamps behind the stack lie scattered throughout the area once covered by a casting shed.

If studied long enough, these seemingly disparate pieces of iron and stone begin to form a remarkably clear picture of the place’s operation. Almost all of the functional parts lie somewhere on the site, forming an inviting puzzle to historians. Last summer Richie Youngkin, an intern at the Adirondack Museum, did a preliminary field survey to locate and identify artifacts throughout the Adirondac/Tahawus complex. This summer other historians got a chance to manipulate the puzzle. A team from the Historic American Engineering Record spent 10 weeks doing measured drawings and manuscript research on the McIntyre site through the sponsorship of N.L. Industries, the present owner of the McIntyre property. The products of these labors are an historical monograph by Bruce Seely and thirteen sheets of drawings by architects Barry Richards and John Bowie.

It is unusual, and very exciting, to find a furnace with most of its machinery intact. This site’s remote location and long isolation from paved roads and rail lines (factors which led to its demise in the first place) let it be bypassed by the scrap drives of World Wars I and II (which cleared out many historical furnaces in other areas of the country). After its abandonment, the area around the ironworks was controlled by a succession of powerful sportsmen’s clubs that managed to secure the area against outside encroachments or visitation. N.L. Industries (formerly National Lead Co.) has shown considerable interest in the old workings since it acquired the land in 1941.

The massive stone furnace stack has piqued the curiosity of hundreds of hikers who pass it each year on their way into the high peaks. It stands directly alongside the road to the Upper Works parking lot, the third most heavily used trailhead in the Adirondack Park. Hikers headed into Indian Pass, Avalanche Pass, or mounts Adams, Colden, Marcy or Santanoni frequently stop to wander around the new furnace site and speculate on the original function of this bizarre structure. Non-hikers, having heard about the site through “The Story of Adirondac” by Arthur Masten, Time-Life’s “Ancient Adirondacks” by Lincoln Barnett, articles in Adirondack Life magazine and various newspapers, stop by often on their way to or from the visitors’ overlook at N.L.’s McIntyre Development. Publicity surrounding the HAER study brought even more visitors to the site this year. Without any formal publicity, the site drew over fifty visitors on days when the HAER team was in the field. It is impossible to say how many people actually stop at the furnace in the course of a year.

Despite public curiosity and interest in the site shown by certain Tahawus Club members and N.L. employees through the years, nothing has been done to stabilize the site against deterioration. Surprisingly, it has survived the past 130 years without treatment. The stack is basically sound, and iron artifacts are in fair condition, despite their constant exposure to the elements.


Unfortunately, benign neglect is no longer sufficient to preserve this site. Despite the stack’s massive construction and fine craftsmanship, deteriorating brick and stonework require attention. Likewise, the rusting of iron pieces has to be stopped if they are to remain with us in the future. This is not to say that the stack is in imminent danger of collapse or that the machinery is due to disappear into piles of rust. The problem here is one of maintenance. If left much longer, parts of the stack and machinery will deteriorate to a point where stabilization procedures will be much more complicated and costly (and proportionately less feasible).

This report is not a proposal or plan for restoration of the McIntyre works. There is a very real difference between restoration, which implies that an historic site be restored to operating or near operating condition, and stabilization, which involves treatments to prevent further deterioration. Restoration demands not only years of careful research to insure historical accuracy, but also tremendous outlays of money. Stabilization also requires thorough planning and a great deal of care to prevent destroying or severely disturbing existing historic fabric, but it does not need the labor or expense of a full-scale restoration. Stabilized sites do not have to be mothballed or closed to visitors. The stabilized ruins of fortifications at Crown Point, New York provide a good example of an effective and informative site that has not undergone complete restoration. Many museum professionals and laymen prefer the display of verified historical remains to hypothetical reconstructions using modern materials.

The McIntyre site not only needs work, it deserves it. Nowhere else in the Adirondacks can the story of 19th century iron working be told so well. Granted, there are other furnace stacks scattered through the forests on the eastern side of the mountains, but none are as sound or complete as the one here. If the history of the Adirondack iron industry is to be told anywhere, it might as well be told at the McIntyre works.

Regardless of the treatments performed at Adirondac in the near future, it should be stressed that no stabilization effort is permanent. Stabilized sites require periodic maintenance every bit as much as occupied structures do. If stabilization is properly conducted in the first place, that maintenance should consist of little more than clearing brush every four or five years and recoating painted surfaces every six to eight. Stabilization treatments are wasted money if the responsible party is not willing to perform minimal maintenance on a routine basis.

All stabilization efforts on structures and artifacts, just like conservation procedures for works of art, must be well-documented and reversible. Before treatment begins, photos and descriptions should be made to show existing conditions and reasons for work. Then, as work progresses, similar documentation should be made to show actions taken. When working with historical material, no treatments should be done that cannot be undone. New procedures are constantly being developed and tested, and it could well be that today’s best methods will be supplanted in the next few years. If 1978 treatments can be removed without harm to the original fabric, then future techniques may be applied. If they cannot, then we are locked into the limitations of 1978 knowledge.

The first priority is to erect fences around the furnace stack and wheel pit. At present, remnants of a barbed wire fence and two battered “Danger No Trespassing” signs are the only things to discourage people from clambering around the base of the stack or crawling inside the crucible. Scavengers have been at work through the years, and a considerable

SITE VISITS, 1968-1989 587

amount of machinery is missing. The excavations by the HAER team have turned up more pieces that may be carted off if they are not secured. Fencing is needed for the safety of visitors and passers-by even more than it is for the security of the stack and machinery. There is a danger of loose bricks and stones falling on people, or retaining walls giving way beneath their feet. No fence will keep a truly determined individual from getting too close for his own good, but a strong, well-maintained barrier should keep most people at a safe distance. Five-foot-high chain link should provide sufficient reminder without obstructing views of the stack and machinery. The stack should be completely enclosed by a fence line set roughly parallel to the present line of barbed wire. The enclosed area should be at least 25 feet wide on all sides, preferably 30 feet or more on the road and casting house (west and east) sides. A ten-foot-wide gate should be hung on the casting house side to allow access for maintenance. There is no way to completely enclose the wheelhouse. The best alternative here is to run fences around the north, west, and south foundation walls to prevent people from standing on those walls and caving them into the pit. Since we are counting on the good faith and sense of visitors to keep them from crossing or going around fence lines, a few signs are in order. Signs that explain that this is an historic site under study, combined with panels explaining what the place was and how it worked, are probably more effective than simple “No Trespassing” signs. Signs that designate this as an historic area might attract bottle collectors and souvenir scavengers, but in the long run those labels will do no more harm than a curt (and slightly offensive) “KEEP OFF!” sign without explanation.

There are two basic groups of materials on the McIntyre site that require treatment: brick and stone masonry, and iron machinery. Masonry has suffered the greatest deterioration and should be the top priority for treatment.

Brick and stone masonry

The furnace stack is built of massive anorthosite rocks set in a bed of lime mortar, with smaller stones to fill in the chinks. It is tied together by a latticework of wrought-iron tie rods. The stone tower surrounds and supports the firebrick and sandstone lining that has been glazed and vitrified by the intense heat of the smelting process. Four brick-lined arches radiate from the crucible at the base of the stack. Three of these housed the tuyeres and blast pipes that directed the blast air into the heart of the furnace. The fourth was the casting arch through which the molten iron was channeled from the hearth to a sand bed, where it was cast into pigs. The five chimneys that originally topped the stack are gone, but the body of the brick hot-blast stove, where blast air was preheated before being driven through the tuyeres, remains (in a severely deteriorated condition).

A variety of trees and bushes have gained a foothold in the stack’s crumbling mortar joints, and some have grown to considerable size. In the process, their roots have expanded, loosening and displacing stones and opening spaces for water to enter. Freeze and thaw action by that water through many seasons has forced out small chink stones and split large blocks. The first step in stabilizing the stack, and the rest of the masonry on site, is to remove all plants. Small plants should be pulled out by the roots so that they cannot be reestablished through root stock. Larger trees that have root systems that are too extensive to be removed without damage to the wall will have to be cut flush with the stone. Even


mosses should be removed. They provide the seedbed and nutrients that larger plants need to become established.

After physical clearing, an herbicide may be applied to the stack to hinder the reintroduction of plants. The site is so close to the Hudson River that any chemical applications must be very localized, specific, and done carefully. Herbicides should be applied at close range, directly to the joints and top of the stack, rather than sprayed generally over the area.

All of the exposed masonry needs repointing, a slow process which consists of removing old mortar and then repacking the joints with fresh mortar. One hundred thirty years of weathering have left little more than crumbling powder in the joints between stones. This can be removed with pokers and streams of high-pressure air or water. Brick joints will require more careful attention. The modern practice of cutting out mortar between bricks with a carbide saw should not be used here lest bricks be cut and damaged. Hand chiseling is the only acceptable procedure for soft brick.

Under no circumstances should uncut Portland cement be used to repoint or grout historical masonry. When cured, Portland is extremely hard and rigid. It does not give when brick and stone swell due to weather conditions. As a result, the older materials spalls and shatters. In extreme cases, the end product is a honeycomb of grey cement filled with red brick dust. Portland can be tamed by mixing it with hydrated lime. A workable mixture for stone is one part white Portland cement, two parts lime, and seven to nine parts sand. For soft brick work, the lime content should be increased to five parts for every one part cement. Sand should be carefully selected to match the color of the original mortar.

The common brick was locally made and is very soft; hence, its deterioration has been rapid and highly visible. The hot blast stove has suffered severe frost wedging and spalling since its top collapsed and exposed its interior walls to the weather. The body of the stove is formed by sloping walls, three bricks thick, that are bound together with wrought iron bars and straps. About one-quarter of the wall height has broken away, leaving the top set of braces hanging free. The remaining wall sections have lost some bricks to frost and spalling but remain basically sound. A good way to secure what remains of the stove is to strip away the loosened bricks to a level three courses above the middle set of tie bars. Below that level the walls are largely continuous and sound. The newly exposed top edge should be grouted with a one-inch-thick layer of mortar to keep water from seeping between the three layers of brick. The sloping sides catch and draw water into the joints and must be repointed. After repointing and grouting, a sheet-metal roof should be built to cover the entire stove and keep rain and snow out of the interior. A second cover should be built over the charging hole to prevent erosion of the glazed brick furnace lining. (That erosion is already well underway in upper sections of the stack and near the bosh.) Whole bricks that are stripped from the stove and recovered from the pile of rubble on top of the stack should not be discarded. They will be needed to replace and repair damaged brickwork elsewhere on site.

The tuyere/casting arches are lined with two layers of red common brick and one outside layer of cream-colored fire brick. The firebrick layer on all four arches has begun to break away at their outside edges. The two common brick layers have been disrupted in the west tuyere arch but are still sound in the other three. The best treatment for these arches is to erect falsework and completely repoint/rebuild them to their original contour (using

SITE VISITS, 1968-1989 589

salvaged materials as much as possible). Short of that, they can be stabilized by grouting the existing edges and repointing. Individual firebricks that have fallen away from the interiors of the arches should be buttered with mortar and replaced in their pockets to preserve structural strength.

The composite iron and brick structure of the vertical face at the interior of the casting arch has suffered severe deterioration. This assembly includes the buck stays, timp stone (what’s left of it), dam stone, and several courses of firebrick supported by horizontal iron bars. The brackets that held these pieces together have rusted away, leaving the buck stays and horizontal bars unsupported. If these pieces collapse, they will take most of the casting arch and hearth with them. The furnace lining below the bosh will soon follow. It is imperative that the entire area be shored up before this winter sets in. The best remedy is a steel framework that ties into and supports existing iron. A truss of pressure-treated timbers will do as a temporary measure.

Excavations by the HAER team have opened the hearth area and created an attraction for curious visitors. The opening through the timp stone should be closed to prevent people from crawling inside the stack. A plywood sheet running from the level of the dam stone to the tie bars could be bolted to the remnants of the timp. A quarter-inch steel plate, connected to the steel braces, would be better.

All of the vertical brick faces at the inside of the tuyere arches have been disrupted. The south arch has an opening large enough to crawl through that should be closed with a plywood or steel cover. The other two walls should be shored up with wood or scrap bricks, but otherwise can be left unattended.

Another group of masonry structures is the retaining walls that hold back earth banks around the wheel pit and blowing engines. The north and west walls have been pushed two feet inward in some places and sections have collapsed into the pit. Once again, trees are a major part of the problem. Several birches have grown to considerable size in the walls and their roots have caused a great deal of damage. These must be removed as a first step toward stabilization, along with brush from the dam and east wall of the wheelhouse. Herbicides cannot be used in the wheelhouse because it is too close to the river.

Some attempt should be made to shore up wall sections and prevent further collapse. The only permanent solution is to tear down the walls completely and rebuild them with deadmen tied into the bank. Short of that, a row of piles, driven into the pit at the corners and along the faces of walls, will hold for quite a few years if their tops are tied back into the hillside and dam. Care must be exercised when setting piles and braces lest important artifacts get crushed. Stones that have fallen off the walls and into the pit are a hindrance to excavation and study of machinery, but they should not be removed unless some provision is made to keep the rest of the walls from following them.

The retaining walls around the back of the furnace are in good shape. There is nothing urgent that has to be done to them except for pulling bushes out of the joints. Eventually they will have to be repointed, but they should receive that treatment only after all the other masonry has been taken care of.


Iron machinery There is an enormous amount of iron at the McIntyre site. Yet, on first view it is

surprising to find any machinery parts that have survived 130 years of weathering. The wheelhouse sits in a hollow by the riverbank and is constantly damp. Only the extreme thickness of most iron parts and the absence of chloride salts have saved these pieces from becoming piles of rust.

Although there are a number of causes for iron corrosion, the active agents here are atmospheric oxidation and pitting. Atmospheric or direct oxidation occurs on all exposed iron surfaces. Its product is a fine, granular, reddish-brown rust that may be tightly attached to the parent iron or shed like coarse sand. Since direct oxidation attacks all surfaces at a more or less equal rate, it is often difficult to determine exactly how much metal has been lost. Pitting occurs in areas that cannot be reached and dried by circulating air. These areas include joints between iron pieces, contacts between iron and masonry, sections covered by thick layers of scale, and partially buried pieces. Pitting is a much more active process than atmospheric oxidation. Because it occurs in joints and recesses, the rapid deterioration is usually hidden from view and difficult to stop. The interior faces of the buck stays are a good example. Their outside faces are covered with a fine oxide coating, but their inside faces, that were in contact with the brick hearth front, are flaking off in large chunks of scale. It is reasonable to assume that the inside faces of arch supports and tie rod pads are suffering the same malady.

For the most part, excavated pieces have shown little or no surface rust. The overburden of fine soil has effectively kept oxygen from reaching the iron and prevented corrosion. Contact lines, where partially buried pieces poked through the ground, were heavily pitted. We found out, through bitter experience, that all excavated pieces began to rust as soon as they were exposed. Severe pitting would develop under patches of dirt and mud if they were not brushed off the iron immediately. Most pieces were returned to their original positions and backfilled before the HAER team left the site. It is too early to tell whether the equilibrium state that existed between the artifacts and their beds will be reestablished.

Oxidation is a self-perpetuating process. If iron artifacts are to be preserved, the existing rust layers must be removed and the cleaned surface coated with a waterproof sealer. In a museum setting, artifacts are often cleaned chemically by soaking them in hot baths of caustic soda or weak acids. This is a very costly process and totally impractical at the McIntyre site, since almost all of the iron pieces are too large for existing dip tanks. Removing pieces from the site for treatment would also severely disrupt the pattern and association of collapsed pieces, making future study almost impossible.

Mechanical cleaning is the second, and in this case preferable, option. With a few exceptions, the iron pieces on site are so massive that they do not require the meticulous cleaning needed for small and delicate items. Wire brushing and judicious sand blasting are perfectly acceptable in this situation.

After thorough cleaning, the newly exposed surface has to be covered with a waterproof coating to prevent rerusting. At the McIntyre site, where most pieces will remain exposed to the weather, that coating has to be abrasion-resistant to withstand precipitation and handling by visitors. Grease coatings and soft seals are not acceptable because they can be rubbed off, leaving surfaces unprotected. Oil coatings have long been

SITE VISITS, 1968-1989 591

used to protect machinery in both workshops and museums. They are effective, but have to be renewed frequently, especially if they are exposed to rainfall. There is an added danger of water seeping through oil layers to be trapped underneath, starting pitting. Despite their drawbacks, oil coatings will be useful at the McIntyre site. Some places, like the interiors of the blowing cylinders, cannot be treated by any other means. Penetrol, an ultra thin brand of penetrating oil, has been used at some museums with fair success. Even used motor oil can be used if it is heated to lower its viscosity and sprayed on hot. Still, this should only be regarded as a stopgap measure and not as a long-term rust preventative.

Paint has proved to be the best long-term coating for iron artifacts that are to be left outside. Properly applied paints are waterproof, resist wear and abrasion, and require only infrequent “touch up” maintenance. A procedure developed at the Hagley Museum is to clean surfaces with wire brushes and gentle (60 to 100 psi) sandblasting with 60 mesh grit, then coat with DuPont VQ 5465 penetrant to displace any remaining moisture and seal the pores. DuPont Dulux 67-739 Metal Protective Primer (red lead) is applied the same day, followed by two top coats of black Dulux Metal Protective Finish within 48 hours. Cleaning should be done on dry days, and only on those areas that can be primed the same day. If iron is left overnight, moisture can collect on cleaned surfaces and cause pitting when trapped under paint layers. The only maintenance required is renewal of the top coat every five to eight years as it is worn away.

For painting to be effective it must cover all surfaces. That is impossible in places like the back sides of tie rod pressure plates or cast iron arch supports in the stack. Other pieces, like the blowing cylinders, will need to be jacked off the ground and blocked during treatment. The blowing cylinders and crank shafts could be jacked into their original alignment and bedded on pressure treated timbers that reproduce their original mountings, thus combining treatment and display into one operation.

Blowing cylinders, cranks, crankshafts, pushrods, and cross-heads should all be sand blasted and painted as outlined above. The galvanized sheet-iron air receiver that connects the four blowing cylinders should have brush cleared off its top and be returned to its original circular cross-section so that it can shed rain and snow. That shape can be reinforced and maintained with treated wood braces and stringers on the inside. The end of the receiver that is lying on the wheelhouse floor should be put back in place with a replacement fabricated for the opposite end. The sheet iron is too thin to stand sandblasting. It should be steam cleaned to remove grime, followed by light wire brushing to remove rust along the rivet lines. After cleaning it should be primed and painted with aluminum/grey Dulux to simulate galvanizing.

Rusting on the inside of the cylinders and receiver is a big problem. Ideally they should be disassembled, cleaned, primed, and painted. This would be difficult and not terribly practical since the bolts that hold the parts together are firmly rusted in place. An alternative, after all standing water has been removed from the cylinders, is to spray the interiors with heated Penetrol through the air valve openings at the base of each one. The oil will soak through the rust layers and provide some measure of protection. After spraying, all openings should be closed or covered to prevent the cylinders from becoming trash bins for careless visitors.

The main reason for the stack’s survival is the latticework of iron tie rods and plates that hold the stones together. The rod ends and plates that are exposed appear to be in good


condition. There has been considerable surface rusting but they are structurally sound. It is impossible to tell what kind of shape they are in within the body of the stack. There are three tie-rod ends with wedges and pressure plates that have rusted badly. They all face north (two in the north tuyere arch, one on the west) so that the sun never strikes them and they are constantly damp. The wedges are exfoliating into large chunks of scale and retain little structural strength. They can be thoroughly saturated with heated Penetrol and preserved for a little while longer. That is only a stopgap, and the wedges will have to be replaced in the near future.

Ironwork on the stack should be cleaned and painted for maximum protection. This includes pieces inside the arches, since they are constantly exposed to high humidity. Care should be taken to keep wire brushing and grit sprays from eroding adjacent masonry. Stone, and especially brick, should be masked from sand streams.

The water-cooled timp plate, lying on the slag pile near the wharf, should be cleaned, painted, and set inside the casting arch.

Downcomer, bustlepipe and standpipes are all cast iron and scaling badly. Standpipes are constantly damp and need to be painted. The bustle pipe is too inaccessible for any kind of treatment and might as well be backfilled with clean sand to provide some rudimentary protection. The remains of the downcomer could be blocked up and painted, but this is a low-priority item.

The centrifugal water pump, lying in the wheel pit, and the blast pipe elbow in the north tuyere arch both deserve special attention. They should not be sand blasted under any circumstances. Abrasive sprays will erode away any details, fine machinework, and lettering on the castings. One treatment is to brush or soak the pieces with penetrating oil to loosen the rust followed by light scrubbing with a non-ferrous wire brush. A second alternative for the pump is to send the entire unit to a lab that has facilities for caustic soda treatment. Both pieces should be primed and painted after all traces of oil have been removed.

The pumping frame for a hand-powered fire engine has a certain souvenir value to those visitors and scavengers who can figure out what it is. Since its present position, on a slag pile south of the stack, has little or no relation to the operation of the furnace, it would best be put under cover in a secure area.

The largest collection of iron artifacts lies in the wheel pit. It includes rims and segment gears from two 16-foot waterwheels, an iron axle with spider spoke mounts for one waterwheel, and gudgeons that fit into the wooden axle of the other waterwheel. There are also all manner of shafts, gear segments, bearings and unidentified iron lying in the muck. Unless full-scale restoration is planned, the best treatment for this stuff is to leave it right where it is. Although the pit looks like a huge pile of unrelated scrap iron, some sense can be made out of the pattern of collapsed pieces. Pulling parts out for treatment will destroy that pattern and make further study almost impossible. Barring extensive excavation and/or restoration, it is best to leave the wheelpit full of water and mud. Constant immersion and a high tannic acid content in the water, caused by decomposing leaves and needles, has preserved wooden portions of the waterwheel perfectly. As soon as that wood is exposed to air it will begin to rot. The acidic water has formed a protective coating of iron tannate on submerged iron that effectively prevents rust.

SITE VISITS, 1968-1989 593

Interpretation Stabilizing the McIntyre site against deterioration is a commendable activity, but

difficult to justify unless some form of historical interpretation is provided for the visiting public.

It would be nice to have trained guides on duty, but the site’s isolation and the irregular hours of visitation make that totally impractical.

In lieu of human interpreters, signs and exhibit panels at strategic locations throughout the site could be combined with printed material to form an effective interpretive program.

Photo-etched aluminum exhibit panels with text, historic photos and drawings, and facsimiles of the HAER drawings could be mounted at the roadside, in front of the casting arch, and on the wall above the wheel pit. They would explain both the history of the site and the basics of the iron-making process. Their text should be brief, simple, and not given to lengthy descriptions of smelting.

A guidebook, or monograph, would cater to those visitors who want greater detail. A simple yet informative one or two sheet item could be mimeographed at a very low cost. An illustrated version, using historic images and selected HAER drawings to expand on the text, could be compiled with little difficulty.

It is stressed that some of the stabilization measures, especially fencing and securing loose masonry, must be completed before the site is publicized any further. Interpretive material, designed to guide people through the site, should not be distributed until the place is safe. We cannot afford to have visitors injured, either through their own negligence or ours.

There are two sites about one mile north of the new furnace that were not formally documented by the HAER team this summer but are integral to the story of the Adirondac iron works and deserve some maintenance. The first is a blast furnace built in 1844, with a number of machinery parts from that furnace lying nearby. The second is a frame house, commonly called the McNaughton cottage, that was built in the early years of operation at the iron works and once housed the company bank. Since neither site was examined in detail, the following descriptions and recommendations are less specific than those for the new furnace.

1844 furnace and surroundings

On the east side of the upper works trailhead parking lot is a mound of stone rubble that once formed the 1844 blast furnace. Weather, aided by a wayward lightning bolt, have reduced the stack to a heap of broken stones.

There are a number of large iron and wood artifacts lying nearby. South of the stack, less than ten feet from the road, are hammer heads, anvils, and a cam from a trip hammer forge. Another anvil is on its side fifty feet downhill from that group. The remains of the waterwheel and blowing tubs that supplied blast air to the furnace lie in the wheel pit, about 50 feet north of the stack. The iron cranks, bearings, pistons, and piston rods survive, along with scraps of the leather piston seals and laminated wood blowing tubs. Most of the other wood has rotted beyond recognition. Foundation walls mark the site of what may have been the ore crushers and magnetic separator.

The advanced deterioration at the Upper Works makes it much more difficult to interpret than the new furnace site. Despite the difficulty, the Upper Works should not be


written off as a research loss. Subterranean features and artifacts revealed in the course of an archeological dig could clear up many questions about operations at Adirondac.

The original location of the forge shop has caused considerable debate between historians. A map that appears in the 1854 “Adirondack Iron and Steel Works” (Benjamin Butler, et al.), shows a forge on the east side of the Hudson River, yet the cam, hammers, and anvils of a bloomary forge now rest on the west bank. Were there two forges? Were the parts moved across the river? Was the map wrong? We cannot say now, but through excavation on the west side and test trenches on the east bank, some answers should be provided. Once the locations of various operations have been determined, the flow of materials through the ironmaking process can be charted.

There have been several suggestions that pieces be removed from the Adirondac sites and placed in storage to prolong their lives and prevent loss to vandals and scrappers. There is some merit to these suggestions, since the sites are no longer totally isolated, and smaller pieces could easily be carted off. In an archeological sense, moving objects from a site to storage or a museum without proper documentation is every bit as damaging as the work of the scrapper. The artifacts at the Upper Works have some limited value as museum pieces but, for the time being, they have a far greater value in situ. The relationships of these artifacts to the site, each other, and objects hidden below grade are critical to the understanding of the site and its workings. Removing the pieces will destroy those relationships. The best treatment for these goods is to leave them where they lay until a proper archeological dig is undertaken. If they need to be moved for reasons of security, conservation, or display, their locations should be accurately mapped through a grid established over the entire site.

Removal for security or display is acceptable if it is well-documented. Archeology itself destroys sites. There is no way to reconstruct the stratography and spatial arrangement of a site following a dig. If exposed objects are documented by photographs and mapped following archeological practice before removal, that process can be considered the first step in a dig (even if the following steps are separated by a number of years).

The remains of laminated wood blowing tubs lying near the river are exceptions to the “do not move” policy. Rot is well advanced in these fragments. They should be removed and treated to prevent further deterioration.13 Once again, their present positions should be documented before they are taken.

McNaughton cottage

One hundred yards south of the 1844 furnace, on the east side of the road, stands a green, two-story, frame structure variously called the McNaughton cottage, Crocker cottage, Hunter house, and McIntyre Bank building. Built sometime before 1844, the house is the only original structure to survive from the village of Adirondac. Until recently, the company boarding house, built in 1847 and converted into the main Tahawus Club clubhouse in 1877, stood directly across the road.

13 Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is a chemical preservative that displaces water in wood pores and replaces it with a waxy substance preventing further rot and providing added structural stability. Carbo-Wax 1000, available from Union Carbide Co., works at room temperature and does not require elaborate heated tanks. A shallow plank trough lined with plastic sheeting will suffice.

SITE VISITS, 1968-1989 595

The house is not only one of the last vestiges of the Adirondac iron works, but is also one of the oldest houses in the High Peaks region. Its Greek revival styling, seen clearly in the gable ends, door surrounds and window detailing, is typical of contemporary architecture throughout New York state.

Original uses for this structure are somewhat vague. Shortly after initial construction, a one-room, single-story wing was added to the south end. That addition served as the company bank and housed the elaborate iron strongbox now on display at the Adirondack Museum. The high-quality finish in first-floor rooms, including finely detailed chair rails and wainscoting, makes it easy to believe that the building was never intended to house common workmen. It would be fair to assume that the south end served as quarters for the clerk/paymaster of the works. The north end and upper floor probably housed other officers of the company.14

The house experienced a number of remodelings, yet remains largely intact in both appearance and structure. In early years of club occupation, a porch or veranda was added to the west, north and east sides. Historic photographs show a variety of rustic railings and post details. Two rooms were added at unknown dates as lean-to additions at the rear. Further careful examinations of old photographs, and conversation with Marjorie Hunter Murphy, who was born in the house in 1892 and lived there as a child, should yield more specific information.15

There has been some modification to the two main first-floor rooms. Both have new fireplace surrounds and mantels, built in this century with firebrick salvaged from the new furnace. There is a sealed-off doorway in the north room that once led to the stairway.16 Chair rails and wainscoting survive in both rooms. Presumably they are original, but that should be verified.

The entrance to the second-floor stairway was securely locked, so it is not possible to report on details or conditions there.

Stabilization

Securing the house against theft and vandalism is the first priority. Planks and plywood that covered door and window openings have been pulled off, and the padlock on the rear door has been smashed so that the first floor is open to all wandering souls. The basement door is pushed in, so that area is also open to the curious. These openings must be secured immediately lest vandals, arsonists or even well-intentioned hikers cause irreparable damage.

Another high priority is the production of a set of measured drawings that show first and second floor plans and exterior elevations of all four sides. These, accompanied by photographs of interior and exterior details, will provide valuable documentation if the building is ever modified or destroyed.

14 LM: The “south end” attachment housed the McIntyre Bank. The “north end,” or main house, was the home of the works superintendent, and also housed the owners when they visited the site. 15 Mrs. Murphy lives with her daughter in Glens Falls, New York. 16 LM: The house would have been altered during the National Lead occupation so that two families could have occupied the house, completely independent of one another.


Like most old buildings, this one has a leaky roof. Its shingles are severely weathered and cupped and need to be replaced in the near future. The place needs to be painted, but that can wait a couple of years.

Further and more extensive restoration, like jacking or removing the lean-to additions, should not be done until a thorough architectural survey is done to determine proper treatments. Hasty actions, other than documentation and securing the site against vandals, could cause future problems.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Guldbeck, Per E. “The Care of Historical Collections.” American Association for State and Local History, Nashville, 1972. (Chapt. 11, “Ferrous Objects,” is elementary but good.)

Henson, William. “Restoration of Modern Machinery.” Museum News, Vol. 49, No. 10, June 197_, pp. __. (Deals with the restoration and cosmetic preparation of machine tools for museum display. The finishes are not usable outdoors, but the section on cleaning and surface preparation is good.)

Howard, Robert A. “The Status of Iron Artifacts in American Museums, and Some Means of Preserving Them.” Journal of the Council for Northeast Archeology, Vol. 3, No. 2, 1974. (A brief but thorough survey of the techniques for cleaning and coating iron objects.)

Mulholland, James A. “Preservation and Restoration of Iron Artifacts in the Hagley Yards.” Unpublished manuscript, 1971, available from Robert A. Howard, Engineering Curator, Hagley Museum, Box 3630, Wilmington, DE 19807. (The most thorough analysis to date of the various forms of iron corrosion, followed by procedures to cure each malady.)

Thomas, James Cheston. “Restoring Brick and Stone: Some Do’s and Don’ts.” History News, Vol. 30, No. 1, January 1975. Available as Technical Leaflet #81, American Association for State and Local History, 1315 Eighth Ave., South, Nashville, TN 37203. (Pretty sketchy, but better than nothing at all.)

597

AN ASSESSMENT REPORT

Tahawus–Adirondack Iron and Steel Company: Upper Works

TOWN OF NEWCOMB, ESSEX COUNTY, NEW YORK

Prepared by: James P. Gold, Director, Bureau of Historic Sites

Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation August 30, 1989

SUMMARY

Site name: Tahawus.17 This name commonly encompasses both the McIntyre Iron Works (aka Adirondack Iron & Steel Company or Upper Works) and the sportsmen’s clubs (Preston Ponds Club; Adirondack Club; Tahawus Club).

Location: On the upper Hudson River, on the access road to the trailhead for Mount Marcy; approximately 18 miles west from the Northway (I-87), Exit 29, and 10.5 miles north on the access road; between Sanford and Henderson Lakes; in the Town of Newcomb, Essex County.

Present owner: NL Industries Inc., Newcomb, New York 12852

Primary themes

Tahawus, the Iron Mine, ca. 1826-1858, operated by pioneers of the Adirondack iron industry; source of the pig iron which produced the first cast steel in America.

Tahawus, the Camp, ca. 1876-1947, an early private camp or club for wealthy sportsmen and the precursor of conservation efforts in the Adirondacks.

Condition

The Iron Mine or Upper Works features include the blast furnace and extensive machinery which are generally in stable condition. Regarded by many knowledgeable sources as one of the best-preserved, most extant 19th century blast furnace sites in the country. The site is overgrown with scrub vegetation and trees.

The Camp or Tahawus Club features include fifteen structures in fair to poor condition. With the exception of the MacNaughton House, which dates from the 1840s, all structures appear to be late 19th or early 20th century and are residential in character. Some of the club structures may rest on the foundations of earlier mine village buildings. All structures are of wood frame construction, with wood shingle or clapboard siding. Many

17 LM: OPRHP made an interesting choice of terms here. The name “Tahawus” had been applied first to the Lower Works during the McIntyre company’s active years, and had been appropriated by National Lead for application to the new workers’ village at the Lake Sanford mill site — but it had never before been officially applied to the Upper Works.


structures have experienced settlement or structural problems, and a few have roof systems which have begun to fail.

Recommendations: Tahawus (Uppers Works and Club sites) should be acquired as a single parcel and designated as a New York State Historic Site. The multiple themes represented by this property provide OPRHP with a unique opportunity to interpret significant chapters in the state’s industrial, social and conservation history.

Staff: The following Bureau of Historic Sites staff visited the Tahawus site in 1989: • Paul Battaglino, Assistant Director • Thomas Ciampa, Senior Restoration Coordinator • Kristin Gibbons, Historic Preservation Program Analyst • Cheryl M. Gold, Regional Historic Preservation Supervisor • James P. Gold, Director • Paul Huey, Senior Scientist, Archeology • Kathleen Maloney, Restoration Coordinator • Joseph Thatcher, Supervising Curator

General comments

The Tahawus “Upper Works” site represents a unique opportunity to interpret two stories: the State’s pioneering efforts in the iron industry in the Adirondacks, and recreation and land conservation. The site’s close proximity (less than fifteen miles) to both the Adirondack Visitor Center in Newcomb (scheduled to open Spring 1990, administered by the Adirondack Park Agency) and the Adirondack great camp Santanoni (owned by the Department of Environmental Conservation), in addition to its immediate relationship with a Mount Marcy trailhead (administered by DEC) suggest many opportunities for collaboration in areas such as promotion, interpretation and economic development. Additional cooperative programs could also be established with NL Industries, the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake, and Historic Penfield.

Remains of the blast furnace site are contiguous to the entrance road for the Mount Marcy trailhead and readily accessible at the present time, although partially obscured by underbrush and trees. The access road is well maintained by the town of Newcomb. The Department of Environmental Conservation appears to have a regular (daily?) presence at the trailhead. With the aid of sensitively designed trails, decks and ramps, signage, brochures and maps, the public could enjoy some of the beauty of the Adirondacks in conjunction with a three-dimensional history lesson.

The Adirondack Iron and Steel Company is an extremely significant site both for its extant features and its enterprising efforts. Although its operation was short-lived, the site is noteworthy for several reasons. Beginning in 1826 with the discovery of iron ore, 106,000 acres of land was purchased by Archibald McIntyre and his associates to further exploration and initiate mining efforts in the Adirondacks. By 1840, a small company town called “McIntyre” or “Adirondac” was established to support the recently incorporated Adirondack Iron and Steel Company. The enterprise grew and prospered from 1848 to 1853, and in 1851 the company was awarded a gold medal at the London World’s Fair for

SITE VISITS, 1968-1989 599

the first steel of American manufacture. A change of ownership in 1853, a flood in 185618 and a national financial crisis in 1857 conspired, along with other factors, to close the mining operation in 1858. The Upper Works blast furnace, constructed in 1854, was only in operation for two short years.

Tahawus is an important historic and cultural resource. The condition and rarity of the industrial archeological site argue in favor of an aggressive preservation and management initiative. Although found to be in generally stable condition, continued exposure to the elements and occasional theft and vandalism will soon put this site at risk and compromise its unique qualities irreversibly.

The group of Club structures represents a more complex set of issues and options. At a minimum, the 1840s MacNaughton House and one or two turn-of-the-century structures should be preserved for administrative, interpretive and operational functions. At the other end of the scale, numerous preservation and adaptive re-use scenarios might be explored to determine the approach that meets both short- and long-term objectives as well as economic realities. The Club site derives its significance from several historic events. Preston Ponds Club, formed in 1876 just three miles northwest of the Upper Works, was the first “preserve” in the Adirondacks. Later known as the Tahawus Club, from 1876 to 1940 this private organization controlled 105,000 acres in the Adirondacks and used this property solely for game preserve and timber purposes. A popular retreat for many prominent Americans, in 1901 Theodore Roosevelt and his family were in residence at the Tahawus Club when word came of McKinley’s assassination.

Collectively, the Upper Works, the Club, Mount Marcy, Santanoni and the Adirondack Visitor Center at Newcomb represent a unique assemblage of resources capable of interpreting the Adirondacks as no other institution or group can. In the event Tahawus (Upper Works and Club) comes into state ownership, it is extremely desirable that the relevant state agencies cooperate fully on its development and presentation to the public.

Proposed management and budget

The Tahawus site should be assigned to the Saratoga-Capital Region of OPRHP for management and development. The presence of a Regional Historic Preservation supervisor in the region and the proximity of Crown Point State Historic Site (approximately 45 to 50 miles east on Lake Champlain) assure necessary oversight and coordination with DEC, APA and others, as appropriate.

It is recommended that a staff person from that site be assigned to Tahawus, at least on a seasonal basis, to direct research, planning and development efforts. If ownership of the Toll House at the Crown Point bridge is assumed by OPRHP, as proposed by the Saratoga-Capital Region, this facility could serve as the administrative offices for both Crown Point (year-around) and Tahawus (off-season or year-around).

It must be noted that to conduct normal operations and public programs at Crown Point, any vacancy must be back-filled in a timely fashion. It is also advisable that the region’s Junior Restoration Coordinator (vacant since 1982) be filled to assist with site research and development at Tahawus.

18 LM: See the note at the front on the 1856 flood. The catastrophic flood actually struck in October 1857.


Initially, the Tahawus site should be assigned force account and/or seasonal staff to undertake site clearing and selective structural stabilization projects; some work could be accomplished by a well-supervised Conservation Corps group or inmates from the Moriah Shock Incarceration Center. Depending on the nature and degree of development and preservation that is ultimately agreed upon, capital appropriations will be necessary before much public access and programming can be provided. Rough estimates of the site’s capital needs range from a few $100 thousand to in excess of $1 million, again depending on the extent of development and re-use, particularly with regard to the club facilities. Utilities, parking, comfort facilities, signage and interpretive trails, and administrative offices would seem to be the bare minimum required; more elaborate development might include formal exhibit spaces, seasonal or year-around staff and/or patron housing, food concessionaires and other services.

Of course, any type of development of the site as a state historic site will also require an OTPS allocation and basic equipment (vehicle, ground maintenance, radio communication, fire [?], office). It has also been suggested that a generous supply of blackfly repellent, emergency rations and cabin-fever cures be included in any budget proposal.

Adaptive use alternatives: Tahawus Club

Although the condition of many of the club structures might dictate documentation and demolition, a large percentage can be preserved and adaptively used if conditions warrant (i.e. funding, APA consent, market demand). Possible uses include: • hostel (youth or adult) • group camp • Conservation Corps camp • concession-operated food/lodging services • bed-and-breakfast facility • ghost town

Concerns

There are many subjects that require in-depth study and consultation. Research topics of a historical nature are identified in Kristin Gibbons’ report. Subjects relating to the feasibility of developing all or part of Tahawus as a state historic site include: • site boundaries • capital costs for various preservation/development options • cost of site documentation prior to development as a State Historic Site • APA and DEC support for the preservation of Tahawus • community and regional support for the preservation of Tahawus • legislative support for the preservation of Tahawus • APA requirement for a Unit Management Plan • preservation interests’ desire to preserve “all of Tahawus” • conservation interests’ desire to limit preservation and, consequently, development

SITE VISITS, 1968-1989 601

• nature of NL Industries’ future presence in the region (NL Industries purchased the spur railroad track from the federal General Services Administration at public auction on August 24, 1989)

• opportunity to collaborate with APA, DEC, Adirondack Museum, town of Newcomb, the present-day Tahawus Club and other parties interested in program development and site interpretation

• engineering studies of the Upper Works as well as the club structures • pre-demolition, adaptive use or preservation documentation


SITE VISITS, 1968-1989 603

#1) built into bank — one floor at road, raised 2nd floor at back, shingled frame, wood shingle roof, small Adirondack porch, small 2nd floor dormer, floor fallen in, (#113).

#1A) ca. 12’ X 14’ concrete block pump house with modern machinery.

#1B) small frame building southeast of #1. Remains of bridge abutments are south of this building, before building #2.

#2) River separates this building from others. 3 storey at river side, shingled frame, wood shingle roof, severely deteriorated, cement block chimney, roofed passage on land side leads to another building not visible.

#3) wood shingle roof, porch and chimney on north end.

#4) shingled frame, wavy asphalt (?) shingle roof, back porch collapsed, 1/2 building still solid ?, dormer over entry on west (road) side.

#5) asphalt shingle roof, large chimney on east side.

#6) Federal/Greek Revival frame with clapboard, wood shingle roof, stone foundation, split lathe plaster, wrap-around porch on west (road) side with asphalt shingles, small addition to south has asphalt shingle roof.

#7) shingled frame, asphalt shingle roof, stone foundation, entrance on northwest corner, porch on northeast corner overlooking river, chimney on north east corner. Flat area in front (west) of building ideal for parking area. Stand of pines along road delineate this building. Standpipe at roadside in front of northwest corner of building.

#8) frame clapboard on piers, asphalt shingle roof, porch on northeast corner (#102)

#9) shingled frame, 2 storey on raised basement, hipped roof, porch along north elevation (#122). Firehose closet sits on road side in front of building. Overgrown stone drive intersects road north of building.

#10) shingled frame, 2 storey on raised basement, interior wainscot walls & ceilings, entry on west elevation (away from road), chimney on east elevation — 2 corner fireplaces, porch on north east corner. Overgrown gravel drive intersects road south of building. Standpipe at roadside in front of building.

#10A) small building west of #10.

#11) shingled frame (dark green), 1 storey, wood shingle roof, chimney on north side, entrance in middle of east elevation. Standpipe at roadside in front of building.

#12) sits at angle to road, wood shingle hipped roof, porch on south side, chimney on east elevation.

#12A) shingled frame, sits parallel to and west of #12, porch on south facade.


SITE VISITS, 1968-1989 605

TAHAWUS: THE UPPER WORKS — A RESEARCH PERSPECTIVE Kristin L. Gibbons, Program Analyst

New York State Bureau of Historic Sites August 15, 1989

Tahawus, the Upper Works of the Adirondack Iron and Steel Company, offers New

York State a site unique in its overlapping of dual historic themes, neither of which is represented in the current historic site system. Tahawus, the iron mine/furnace, while duplicating some aspects of other iron furnaces in New York state, is unique, not only in the state but perhaps in the nation, for its extant equipment. Tahawus, the Adirondack private camp for wealthy sportsmen, is also unique in being in the forefront of its kind in the Adirondacks, and in the number of extant ruins.

The initial attempts to exploit the industrial resources of the area, and the subsequent attempts to exploit its recreational resources, form a microcosm of Adirondack development representative of all areas of the state preserve. The two stories that are so nicely juxtaposed at Tahawus give it particularly fine potential for development as a state historic site. (See the later chronology for historical highlights.)

Tahawus, the iron mine

The iron mine/furnace story has been well documented (see later “Sources”). It is dramatic, complicated, melodramatic and filled with sub-plots — an interpreter’s dream. While the failure of full financial development ultimately resulted from the inability to construct a railroad to the site to carry out its products profitably, there were enough successes along the way to encourage the continuity of the investors’ efforts.

One of the successes was the result of the interest in the mine on the part of the inventor Joseph “Graphite” Dixon who, about 1845, became interested in the Adirondack Iron and Steel Corporation. By 1849, his Adirondac Steel Manufacturing Company at Jersey City ran entirely on McIntyre ore, and in 1850-51, at the World’s Fair in London, the company was awarded a gold medal for the first steel of American manufacture. Dixon became the first man in America to achieve regular production of high quality steel by American processes from American iron. That the ore used was from the McIntyre mine at Tahawus gives a certain cachet to the site which, together with the extant equipment, supplies the kinds of “firsts” and “onlys” one expects to be associated with a state historic site.

The development of roads to the iron mine from the Crown Point area makes a nice link to our state historic site there, and offers a theme that should be expanded. Additionally, all of this mine activity was going on while, just over the mountains to the north, John Brown’s family was striving to scrape together a living on their farm while he was out and about in his fight for the abolition of slavery. There was all sorts of activity in the Adirondacks in the early and mid-19th century, and so far we tend to interpret only fragments of it.

The fact that the National Lead Company is still in business near the Upper Works offers additional interpretive potential. Since there is an overlook for the public at the company’s present site, perhaps it would be amenable to some interpretive signage there that extends the storyline from the Upper Works to the present.


Tahawus, the camp Tahawus, the camp, which evolved from the earlier mine village, centers around the

MacNaughton house, which is the only structure extant from the mine village. Perhaps some of the other structures will prove to be on the foundations of earlier ones. Here also are a multiplicity of sub-themes for the interpreter. This camp of the wealthy, with its tight system of membership and its decades of exclusivity, was outraged over the state’s confiscation of its lands in the 1920s for public use. Here is the story of the wealthy who considered the Adirondacks their personal playground but who, consciously or not, were responsible for the preservation of much of its natural resources. That Teddy Roosevelt and his family were encamped there in 1901 when he received news that McKinley was dying, and that he would be the next president of the United States, gives added lustre to and substantiates this theme of the wealthy and privileged. Sources imply a considerable interrelationship between the families who owned the iron mine and the families who were members of the club.

The village — Who lived there? What was it like to live there? Who went to school in the school/church structure? Who is buried in the cemetery? The camp — Who were its members? Did they come year-round? What did they do there? The fact that the camp began and continued at the same time that the mine went into a series of declines and revivals, permits the two stories to be told concurrently.

Future research

In addition to research on the technological aspects of the mine and its machinery (which Joe Thatcher and Paul Huey should address), the following topics are among those that should be researched and/or developed:

1) Double check all claims to “firsts,” etc., to see that they are so. 2) Where was the source of the original ore? Was it in a “mine” mine, or was it a strip

mine right from the beginning? Is this area within the area designated for a state historic site?

3) What is the Masten house and how does it relate to the village/camp? 4) Are there any charcoal kiln remains within the interpretive area? 5) Locate the Church of Tubal-Cain/schoolhouse.19 6) Determine who lived at the village, where they lived, and what took place where.

Probably this should concentrate on the period 1848-1854, when activity was at it peak. 7) What is the history of the extant structures and how, if at all, do they relate to the

mine village? How do the members of the club relate to the individual structures? 8) Where are the church records associated with the Church of Tubal-Cain? Who is

buried in the cemetery? 9) Establish relationship of people of importance to mine/club, e.g. Charles (Cyrus?)

Alger (blast furnace); Ebenezer Emmons (geology); Seth Green (pisiculture); others? 10) Establish a photo archive.

19 LM: This author assumes they are one in the same. See the note at the front of this volume, “The Adirondac Schoolhouse and the Church of Tubal Cain.”

SITE VISITS, 1968-1989 607

TAHAWUS CHRONOLOGY 1826 Discovery of iron ore by Archibald McIntyre.20 Forge and log building erected for workmen.21 1826+ McIntyre and associates buy 105,000 acres of land. 1828 Act appointing commission to survey and construct road from Port Henry to

western boundary of Essex County. 1829 David Henderson (McIntyre’s son-in-law) introduced to America the making of

earthenware from molds. (The men who developed the iron mine were of diverse backgrounds and interests.)

1832 McIntyre described the mine he called “Mammoth Ore Bed”: good saw mill, two-story log house, forge for hammer and two fires, coal house, blacksmith shop, some stabling.

Region swept by cholera epidemic. 1837 Puddling furnace built. McIntyre helped organize party that made first ascent by white men of Mount

Marcy on August 5, which included Professor Ebenezer Emmons, who was making a geological survey for New York State.

1838 [First] blast furnace built. 1839 Adirondack Iron and Steel Company incorporated. 1840 Prospectus issued based on Emmons’ report. Called village “McIntyre:” five

comfortable dwelling houses (one a boarding house that could accommodate a family and 30 boarders), store house, blacksmith shop, carpenter shop, two barns, etc. etc., saw mill, forge with two fires and one trip hammer, coal houses to contain 100,000 bushels charcoal.

1844 Second blast furnace. Began building steel plant six miles south of McIntyre (Upper Works) called

Tahawus (Lower Works). 1845 Joseph “Graphite” Dixon became interested in McIntyre iron. David Henderson killed, September 3. 1849 Adirondac Steel Manufacturing Company established at Jersey City — ran entirely

on McIntyre ore. 1851 ASMCo. awarded gold medal at World’s Fair in London for first steel of American

manufacture. 1850 Adirondack Iron and Steel Company converted to new company with same name. 1854 Prospectus says mine village sometimes called McIntyre and sometimes

Adirondac(k): cupola furnace, old blast furnace and puddling furnace, new blast furnace (first fired August 20, 1854) 36 feet square, 48 feet high and capacity of 14 tons iron/day, many auxiliary buildings, workmen’s houses, schoolhouse (also served as Church of Tubal-Cain).22

20 LM: That is, by a party employed by Archibald McIntyre. McIntyre was not a member of the party that discovered the famous “iron dam” at Adirondac. 21 LM: That did not occur until several years later. 22 LM: Not correct. The 1854 prospectus listed a schoolhouse on the inventory of assets at the Upper Works village; it also showed the Church of Tubal Cain on a road from the New Furnace dam to Lake Jimmy. In


1856 August flood destroyed dam at Adirondac and dam and sawmill at Tahawus.23 1857 Financial crisis in U.S. 1858 McIntyre died; work at mines “dropped where it lay.”24 1859 Benson Lossing visits Adirondac, calling it a “little deserted village.” 1876 Preston Ponds Club formed — sportsmen leased three ponds three miles NW of

Upper Works. Preston Ponds Club “the first of its kind to acquire a preserve in the Adirondacks.”

1877 PPC incorporates as Adirondack Club — obtained 20-year lease to entire 105,000 acres, mining and lumbering rights excepted. Auxiliary quarters in Lower Works; main club in Upper Works.

James R. Thompson, one of a three-man committee in charge of Adirondac Iron and Steel Company affairs and agent for the company in executing the club’s lease, was also a club member and was elected president of the club from 1876 until his death in 1887.

1876- 1940 The 105,000 acres25 served only as a game preserve and as a source of timber. First

members of the club immediately set about experimenting with trout culture. An early member, Seth Green, was the father of modern pisiculture.

1887 James McNaughton, McIntyre’s grandson, became trustee of heirs of original owners of mine. Tried to acquaint iron trade with company’s ore, but presence of titanium in ore believed to disqualify ore from making iron pure enough to meet the more exacting new specifications for steel.

1898 Adirondac Club became Tahawus Club; 85,000 acres leased for 10 years. 1901 Teddy Roosevelt and family at Tahawus Club when word of McKinley’s

impending death arrived. 1916 Importance of titanium realized. McIntyre mine owners form Titanium Pigment Company. 1920s State Conservation Commission appropriates for public recreation lands leased by

the Tahawus Club. Club moved to Lower Works.26 1921 National Lead Company acquired control of Titanium Pigment Company. 1929 Club, reorganized as Tahawus Purchase Inc., bought 6,000 acres near Lower Works.27 1941 McIntyre mine reopened, expedited by WW II. Club sold its 6,000 acres to NL Company owners. Club leased, for six years, the

Upper Works, and reformed as “Upper Works Club Inc.” 1943 Railroad put through to Tahawus. NYS overruled Adirondack Preserve to permit

construction of railroad. 1947 NL Company didn’t renew club lease. Club reestablished itself at Lower Works and

resumed Tahawus Club name.

1854, at least, the schoolhouse and the church were entirely distinct buildings at sites several miles from one another. 23 LM: See the note at the front of this volume on the 1856 flood, which actually occurred in October 1857. 24 LM: Work at the mines had probably ceased in 1855, three years before McIntyre’s death. 25 LM: The acreage was steadily whittled away during this period by eminent domain and timberland sales. 26 LM: The Club did not move to the Lower Works until 1947, when National Lead declined to renew its lease. 27 LM: Purchase was at Upper Works, not Lower Works.

SITE VISITS, 1968-1989 609

Sources National Register of Historic Places nomination form, dated March 1976, certified

June 2, 1976, and entered in the National Register October 5, 1977, included: a) Report by Richard Sanders Allen, “McIntyre Iron Works,” (1968). [ADV 571-574] b) “Ghost Towns of Northern New York,” by Connie Pope (1969) from unidentified

published source. and cites: c) Floy S. Hyde, “Adirondack Forests. Fields and Mines” (1974). d) Arthur H. Masten, “The Story of Adirondac” (1923). [ADV 39-153] e) Seneca Ray Stoddard, “Old Times in the Adirondacks” (1971). [Same as

Stoddard’s “The Adirondacks Illustrated.” See TDV 296-309.] f) Tahawas Cloudsplitter, vol. XX, no. 6 - vol. XXI, no. 6 (a newsletter of the

National Lead Company).

Lincoln Barnett, “The Ancient Adirondacks” (1974).

Harold K. Hochschild, “The MacIntyre Mine: From Failure to Fortune” (1962) [ADV 12-25], cites Arthur H. Masten, “Tahawus Club 1898-1933” [ADV 155-222].

U.S. Department of the Interior, Historic American Engineering Record (NY-123), “Adirondack Iron & Steel Co. Recording Project,” 1978. [ADV 223-430]

TECHNOLOGY EVALUATION, TAHAWUS “Old Furnace” site: The first, or “old” furnace, is an extremely difficult site to read

when the underbrush and growth is full. The stone furnace stack is collapsed and wooden blowing cylinders, water wheels, etc. have rotted away, leaving isolated pieces of iron hardware scattered around. It is not clear which of the visible remains are associated with the early blooming forge and which are part of the blast furnace. This site has, I believe, great potential for technological history since fewer bloomery sites remain for study. It is likely that the original operators may have partially destroyed the “old” furnace when the new, larger furnace was built.

This site should be surveyed and at least partially excavated by trained industrial archeologists before any development is begun. This would insure that the maximum of interpretive data is gathered. Presently, the site would be very difficult to sign and trail, since we know so little about it.

“New Furnace” site: The “new” furnace site is an amazing survival of equipment in

situ, and it is this factor which, I feel, gives the site significance. The technology involved in this furnace was state-of-the-art for 1854, when it went into blast. In this regard, the site is not different from literally hundreds of similar blast furnace sites in an area from New York to Ohio. Those other sites, however, rarely have any pieces of equipment in place. Items of particular interest are the hot blast stove on top of the stack, the blowing cylinders, and the tuyere, bustle pipes and water cooling pipes still in place in the stack.

These items require particularly detailed documentation and protection. For example, the hot blast stove had a brick outer shell, covering cast-iron V-shaped manifolds. This


outer shell is partially collapsed, leaving the interior and the brick work itself open to the weather. The important part of all of these pieces of technology is the little details, small parts and accessories. These should be documented, secured and protected. Even the building foundations will continue to deteriorate if not protected in some way.

This site also needs study by industrial archeologists before being opened to the public. In addition, areas such as the top of the stack, blowing cylinders, and wheel pit should be covered. A structural study of the stack is necessary to determine the best method of securing the remaining rubble fill between stack and liner to prevent further collapse and potential failure of the liner. This has been a consistent problem with other furnace stacks.

The technology of the Tahawus sites is not unique, but the survival of hardware is. It is important that these parts and pieces are protected, studied, and the information disseminated as widely as possible. This historic resource must be shared.

Joseph M. Thatcher, supervising curator August 15, 1989

LAND ACQUISITION OPTIONS The National Register boundary for the Tahawus site includes most of the land

between Lake Henderson and the Hudson River (west to east), and the Mount Marcy trailhead and the MacIntyre Furnace (north to south), a parcel well in excess of 175 acres. Thus, it could be argued that boundaries for the state historic site should conform to those adopted by the National Register. Presumably the NR boundary was established to assure that all relevant historic features were included.

While a careful field reconnaissance should be undertaken before a final state historic site boundary determination is made, for reasons of practicality it is recommended that the site’s acreage be in the 60- to 110-acre range. As the three sample maps suggest, the essential elements for any state historic site are the known historic features (the cemetery, the camp village, the Upper Works) and certain natural features (the Hudson River). In view of the short distance (approximately 3/4 mile) between the southernmost (MacIntyre Furnace) and northernmost elements (Building #1, Village Camp) and the importance of maintaining continuity and management control within the state historic site, it is felt that a single parcel is preferable to two parcels that are separated by less than a quarter of a mile.

SITE VISITS, 1968-1989 611


SITE VISITS, 1968-1989 613

Education

Annals of the Deserted Village (Part 4)