History and Culture

History and Culture. . The town of Newcomb, in the geographical center of the Adirondack Park, was originally a part of the hunting grounds of the Iroquois and Algonquins. The first permanent European settlers arrived in 1816. Prominent among the earliest citizens were Joseph Chandler, William Butler, and Butler's daughter Polly, who started Aunt Polly's Inn after her marriage to Daniel Bissell. For the most part Newcomb's initial inhabitants logged and farmed the areas near Rich Lake and later Lake Harris. The town was incorporated in 1828 and eventually became the largest township in Essex County. The logging industry, with the proximity to the forests and the Hudson River, continued to thrive and attract expert loggers from Canada as well as large New York companies like Finch and Pruyn. , As early as 1826, iron deposits were discovered by Archibald McIntyre and David Henderson at what came to be called the Upper Works. Mining continued there until the Adirondack Iron Works stopped production in 1856 on account of the combined difficulties of transportation, managing impurities (titanium dioxide), and securing financing. The Upper Works, or Village of Adirondac, gradually turned into what has been called the "Deserted Village." During the early years of World War II, a domestic source of titanium dioxide was necessary, and by 1940 National Lead Industries had started mining titanium on the east side of Lake Sanford. Between 1941 and 1947, the community of Tahawus was built and settled for NL employees and their families. Twenty years later, however, in 1963, after a vein of ore was discovered under the village, many of the Tahawus buildings were moved twelve miles to the former Finch and Pruyn horse farm east of Newcomb. Interspersed with other buildings, many of the relocated Tahawus homes can be seen in the section of Newcomb now known as Winebrook Hills. , By the end of the nineteenth century, Newcomb township also provided attractive destinations and experienced guides for vacationers and sportsmen and women who enjoyed hiking the high and low peaks, hunting the surrounding forests, and fishing the local lakes and rivers. Several inns and cottages in Newcomb accommodated hundreds of travelers, but the two largest hotels were the Lake Harris House and the Wayside Inn, both of which burned but were later replaced with much smaller structures. Wealthy family vacationers visited and established more lasting ties to the area. Robert and Anna Pruyn developed Camp Santanoni, the largest "self sufficient" farm in the Adirondacks, now a restored Adirondack Great Camp and national landmark located on Newcomb Lake and open year-round to the public. In 1932, Anna and Archer Huntington donated their 15,000 acre Adirondack estate to the State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Renamed the "Anna and Archer Huntington Wildlife Forest," it has supported a wide range of on-going scientific research and education ever since. , In order to do justice to the rich historical and cultural influences that have contributed to the character of Newcomb, exciting plans are underway for the eventual construction of a newly designed building that will include a Newcomb welcome center and an expanded history center. The new structure will be located on the west side of Newcomb's Overlook Park.