Fulton Chain of Lakes: A History

In 1798, a Rhode Island importer named John Brown came into ownership of 210,00 acres of property in the northern new york state. This was part of the 1792 Macomb's purchase, the first series of land patents granted in New York State following the American Revolution. Brown hired surveyors and laid out a Tract which included 8 townships which he named Frugality, Unanimity, Perseverance, Sobriety, Regularity, Enterprise, Economy and Industry. He had a 25-mile wagon road cut through the wilderness and subsidized 20-30 farmers to move into the Tract. He then built a dam on the middle branch of the Moose River, a sawmill and a gristmill in the township of Economy, in what is now Old Forge, a hamlet of the town of Webb. He soon realized that farming was not a profitable industry in this area and soon after his death in 1803, the settlement was abandoned.

In 1811, Brown's son in law Charles Frederick Herreshoff came and built a home near the Thendara railroad station. He brought 300 Merino sheep, built an iron mine behind his home and a forge near the refurbished gristmill . All his endeavors failed which led him to shoot himself in 1819. John Brown Francis, John Brown's favorite grandson who had inherited Township No. 7 initially tried to save the project without success. The forge and the gristmill closed in 1825.

In 1837, a struggling Boonville farmer named Otis Arnold hiked in and discovered Herreshoff Manor. He moved in with his family and soon after, they (which by then included 12 children) were running some sort of hotel, charging guests $1.50 a day or $11.00 a week. In 1867, Otis got into an argument with a guide, eventually killing him. Fearing arrest, he hiked up to Nick's Lake and drowned himself. Mrs. Arnold and her children eventually abandoned the building by 1880. By then, the region has become known for its beautiful rivers, lakes and mountains and continued to draw visitors until the present times.

The Fulton Chain of Lakes consists of 8 lakes starting from the dam at Old Forge. Starting from the Old Forge Pond, it travels the 1 mile channel or "Narrows" to First Lake then to Second and Third, through a channel to Fourth Lake to the Towns of Eagle Bay and Inlet - a 7 mile trip and then continues to the smallest, Fifth lake. From there one must portage their boat to Sixth and Seventh Lakes, which are navigable from one to the other and then portage again to Eight Lake.

Only the first 4 lakes which are the largest, were part of John Brown's Tract. The 5th to 8th lakes were actually part of the Totten and Crossfield Purchase of 1171. Water flowing through the Fulton Chain enters the Middle branch of the Moose River at the Old Forge Dam which is then joined by its north branch below the dam. The river then flows past the town of Lyons falls to the Black River and goes northwest into the Black River Bay on Lake Ontario.

In 1811, a commission was formed to investigate the feasibility of making a continuous waterway across the Adirondacks. Robert Fulton, the inventor of the steamboat and a member of the commission visited the chain of lakes that crosses Brown's tract and was quite enthusiastic about their possibilities. Even though the scheme never materialized, the lakes became known as the Fulton Chain of Lakes.

Sources:

A History of the Adirondacks. By Alfred Led Donaldson

Old Forge Historical Association

Fulton Chain of Lake Association

Early Maps of Town of Webb

Just Perfect Canoe Carrier

I've always wanted to canoe down the part of the Black River from the Kayuta Dam to Forestport. A problem however, was how to portage our heavy aluminum canoe from the boat launch to the other side of the dam.




After an extensive search,we found this canoe carrier which seemed promising. Made of lightweight aluminum and weighing only 12 pounds, it was easy to carry it inside the canoe until we needed it.





Although at first we were skeptical as to whether it was big enough to hold our canoe, it did. The straps were easy enough to attach although barely long enough for our wide-bodied canoe. Other people have used bunjee cords instead.





The heavy-duty wheels made it easy to wheel the canoe on any surface. Pulling it uphill wasn't a problem, even for a single person.




This carrier by Pacific Outdoors work great for kayaks too. Click here to order.

Trilobites of Trenton Falls

The rocks in the Trenton gorge which are estimated to be approximately 450 million years old are rich in fossilized remains including an ancient armored jellyfish, echinoderms (ex. starfish), shelled mollusks with squid-like tentacles, snails and tiny moss animals. The one defining fossil of the region however, is the trilobite.

Trilobites are early arthropods that existed over 300 million years ago in the ancient seas. They were one of the signature creatures of the Paleozoic era which became extinct even before dinosaurs came to be. They are readily fossilized because of the high mineral content of their exoskeleton. No wonder they are the single most diverse group of extinct animals on record, comprised of over 10 orders, over 150 families, 5000+ genera and 20000+ species, the smallest measure under 3 mm long with the largest over 70 cm long. New species are being discovered every year.



John Sherman, the unitarian pastor and owner of the first residence and hotel on Trenton Falls, discovered one complete specimen of a rather large trilobite. He then brought the specimen to James Ellsworth Dekay, then a practicing taxonomist. DeKay thought this differed from the 5 previously described genera. In 1824, he described and named the new genus Isotelus, from the Greek isos (equal) and telos (end or extremity). Based on the large size of the specimen, he named the species Isotelus gigas. The photo is from the Yale Peabody Museum.

Red Eft

The red-spotted newt is a subspecies of the eastern newt, a salamander species formally named Notophthalmus viridescens. The red eft is the juvenile terrestial stage with distinctive black-bordered red spots along each side. It commonly inhabits lakeshore and wooded habitat and can be seen in the forest floor on rainy nights. Its brilliant color is a warning to predator of its poisonous skin. It has been known to survive inside a snake's or toad's stomach for up to half an hour, happily scurrying along after being regurgitated like an unwanted meal. After about 2-3 years, the land-loving returns to the water as it turns into an adult.

Adults are not as colorful, have an olive green back with scattered red spots, yellow belly with small black dots. Adults are about 4 inches long and the tail is keeled (more pronounced in males). They are mostly aquatic and usually found in permanent pools of water but can survive on land when their habitat runs dry.

Eggs are attached singly to submerged vegetation in the spring and hatch in about 3 weeks into larvae that transform into red efts in late summer.


References:
Animal Diversity Web
The Center for Reptile and Amphibian Conservation and Management

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Black River Canal

The Black River Canal was proposed as a way to connect the Mohawk River to Lake Ontario, thereby opening the North Country to commerce. It was also a way to provide a source of water for the expansion of the Erie Canal. Work on the canal begun in 1838 and it became fully operational in 1855. It was considered an engineering marvel. From it's southern end on the Mohawk River in Rome to the summit in Boonville, it rose 693 and required 70 locks. The northern section which ended in Lyons Falls, NY required 39 locks on its descent of 386 feet. Compared to the Erie Canal which had 38 locks along its 350 mile course, the Black River Canal's 109 locks
over 35 miles is still a record holder.

The Black River Canal brought prosperity to the region. Jobs were plentiful from the sawmills, warehouses, boat building, and from canal maintenance itself. Boonville was indeed a boom town.

A 10-mile feeder canal built on the Black River from Forestport to Boonville in turn led to the development of Forestport.

The Black River Impoundment System was created in order to ensure adequate water level in the canals during drought seasons. In 1881, the dam was built that formed Kayuta Lake. By 1885, nearly every river and lake in the region has been dammed.

Although the canal was a boon to the region, it was never really profitable for the state. The tolls were unable to cover the cost of maintenance. The canal was in constant disrepair from lack of funding. Eventually, the use of the canal declined, partly from the arrival of the railroad, but mainly from the exhaustion of the lumber supply. By 1900, canal traffic has declined drastically. Despite a short reprieve between 1903 and 1918 brought about the construction of the Barge Canal, the state abandoned the canal in 1922.

Today, thanks to volunteer groups, parts of the canal have been developed for recreation. Click here for more information on what the canal looks like today.

For more history and artifacts from the canal, including a replica of a canal boat, visit the Black River Canal Museum in Boonville.

Check out these selected books about the canal:

Snubbing posts: An informal history of the Black River Canal. By Thomas C O'Donnell

Black River Canal (NY) (Images of America)

Egypt Road Trails

From BREIA website

Area Churches*

BOONVILLE:

Baptist Church: 325 Post St.; Pastor Joe Feller
Worship: Sunday 10am; Sunday School: 9am
Phone: 942-2113

Boonville Abundant Life Fellowship: 12644 State Route 12; Pastor Don Tabolt
Sunday Service: 9am; Youth Service: Friday, 6:30 pm
Phone: 942-3093
website: http://www.alfboonville.com

Boonville Methodist: 106 Ann Street; Pastor Bill Mudge
Sunday worship: 8:30am, 11am, 7pm
Phone: 942-2626
Website: http://www.gbgm-umc.org/bvilleumc

Christian and Missionary Alliance Church: 12593 Potato Hill Road; Rev. David Hedeen
Sunday school: 9:30 am; Sunday worship: 10:30am; Thursday Fellowship: 7pm
Phone: 942-2239
Website: http://www.boonvillecma.org

Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses: cor. Woodgate Drive and Valley View Drive
phone: 924-4144?

Living Waters Assembly of God: Route 12; Rev. William McLoughlin
Services: Sunday, 10:30am; Wednesday 7pm
Phone: 942-2641

Presbyterian Church: James Street; Rev. Bob Goodin
Sunday Service: 9:30 am
Phone: 942-5012

St. Joseph’s Catholic Church: 110 Charles St.; Rev. Donald H. Karlen
Saturday Vigil Mass: 4:00 pm; Sunday Mass: 9:30 am; Mon, Wed - 8am
Confessions: Sat. 3:00-3:34 pm
Phone: 942-4618

Trinity Episcopal Church: 124 Schuyler Street; Rev. Linda M. Logan
Holy Eucharist: Sunday, 9:00 am
Phone: 942-4726

FORESTPORT

St. Patrick’s Catholic Church: River Road; Rev. Donald H. Karlen
Saturday Vigil Mass: 5:30; Sunday Mass: 8:00 am
Confessions: 20 minutes before mass
Phone: 942-4618

Forestport Presbyterian : Woodhull Street; Pastor Anne Reynolds
Sunday Worship: 9:15 am
Phone: 865-5096

OLD FORGE:

St. Bartholomew’s Catholic Church: 103 Crosby Blvd; Rev. Joseph Giroux
Saturday Vigil Mass: 5pm; Sunday Mass: 10 am
Confessions: Sat. 3:30-4:30 pm
Phone: 369-3554

OTTER LAKE:

St. Mary of the Snows Catholic Church: State Route 28; Rev. Donald H. Karlen
Sunday Mass: 11 am
Confessions: 20 minutes before mass
Phone: 942-4618

REMSEN:

United Methodist Church of Remsen: Main Street; Rev. Dr. H. M. Duke
Phone: 831-8011

THENDARA:

Outdoor Latin Mass: Green Bridge Road
Sundays: 10 am
St. Pio’s Old Roman Catholic Summer Mission: Rev. Richard J. Euler D.D.

*The above times might change so it would be wise to verify the schedule before attending any service.