Adirondack history: part 2

In addition to the scenery and the everyday history showcased in the Adirondack Museum, the region has seen a lot of really important history-book history, and scientific history, as well. We were able to sample bits of both during our brief visit.

First up, on our way back to Albany, we wandered around Last of the Mohicans territory a bit and toured the ruins at Crown Point on Lake Champlain. The forts whose remains are found on this strategic knob of land have very interesting stories and were occupied by both French and British forces during what we call the French and Indian War.

You can see the British flag above their section of the historic site in the photo above. These ruins look more like a real fort than the French ones, and are even undergoing some refurbishment works (see the photo on the right).

remains of "His Majesty's Fort of Crown Point"

tourists at Crown Point

earthworks at Fort Crown Point

close-up of Crown Point stonework; they had plenty of stone at hand to work with!

There's a reason the French fort is just piles of rubble: they blew it up when they retreated, to deprive their enemies of a structure at this important point on the Lake.

ruins of the French Fort St. Fredric

The handsome bridge in the background of this and some of my other photos leads out of New York to Vermont, across Lake Champlain at almost its narrowest point (it's probably a little narrower further south at the more famous Ft. Ticonderoga).

We also took a few minutes to visit and climb the handsome lighthouse (still in New York) just across an inlet from the forts. The views are great from up there, and the narrowness of the lake shows why a light was necessary. Long-time readers might remember that we are quite fans of lighthouses, so this structure, the only one we saw on our trip, was a must-stop.

from the viewing platform almost at the top

Crown Point lighthouse

We saw some scientific history, too. Lovely Saranac Lake (which I'll show you more of next time) used to be quite famous as a place whose pure air and restful ambiance was inspiration for research into a cure for tuberculosis and other lung ailments. The museum where we learned about this is the Saranac Laboratory Museum, right in the middle of downtown.

A lot of famous, and not so famous, people came there for relief from the TB-encouraging environments of the cities. Including one of my favorite historical baseball players, Christy Mathewson, to keep up the baseball-related reason for our visit here. His lungs were damaged by mustard gas when he was serving in World War I.

In addition to the actual laboratory where a great deal of TB research was done in the early 20th century (see the picture above), the museum has information, letters, and moving reproduced recordings that tell the often very sad stories of the patients who came to Saranac Lake. On a lighter note, but still quite interesting, there's a room with exhibits of all kinds of medical curiosities, including this mysterious device..."What is it?"

My final historical note is also from Saranac Lake. When we took our surprisingly strenuous hike, the trail led us right by this lovely cemetery:

And cemeteries, especially in long-settled parts of the country, always offer a fascinating historical perspective. We were particularly puzzled by a little cluster of what looked like Norwegian flags in a section of the cemetery. Reading the memorial that they surrounded solved some of the puzzle, but still left me wondering. As many World War II memorials as I have seen, this one is still unique.

Someone in Saranac Lake is perhaps related to some of these seamen? Whatever the impetus, it is a lovely memorial. And notice the pebbles on top of the headstone; I learned about this custom in the final moving scene of Schindler's List, but I doubt there are many Jewish Norwegian seamen. But the presence of the pebbles makes this memorial extra special.