ADK Forever Wild: All Season Vacationland

In the midst of the trek from Hamilton to my home in Vermont is the town of Lake Pleasant. Entering the village the signs reading “Welcome to Speculator, All Season Vacationland” are an appreciated sight as I know a restroom stop and cell phone service await me at the Mountain Market in town. The quaint village by the lake always left me wondering what history was behind this seemingly paradise for Adirondackers. Its slogan “All Season Vacationland” rings true as I have never past through at a time or season when visitors and townies alike are not out enjoying the scenic beauty and recreation that it offers. On warm days in the late spring and summer the lake is scattered with boats, while in the fall leaf peepers walk about town and the lakeside viewing the wondrous beauty of fall foliage. In the winter the lake is a shanty metropolis for ice fishing, and snowmobiles are scattered about town as if it is their main means of transport. Upon learning about the early industrial and agricultural failures of the Adirondacks I began to wonder what failure lead to the modern economic center that is Speculator today.

Shortly after the Native Americans inhabited the shores of Lake Pleasant the earliest European settlers arrived in 1795. Many of the happenings in the early times of Lake Pleasant were similar to other Adirondack beginnings. Farmers were forced to adjust to the short and cool growing season although some success was found using sheep for the production of cloth and planting apple orchards. Most of the lumbar produced was used for shingles but lack of roads and snow in the winter prevented the towns lumbar industry from growing outside its borders (Hoffman).

The Lumbar industry took flight after the civil war when demand grew causing larger companies with lumbar and paper mills to move in to Glens Falls. This situation created economic opportunity for Lake Pleasant as its connection to the Sacandaga River created a highway to the big boom. Farmers in the area would spend their winters logging for the lumbar companies and often would provide the companies with their harvest. The economic development in Lake Pleasant continued as summer camps and inns were built to support sportsman looking to enjoy the area (Hoffman).

Pushing beyond its vacationland reputation, the Village of Speculator has gained national attention for housing professional athletes in the past. Bill Osborne of the Osborne Inn, served in the marine corps with World Heavy Weight champion, Gene Tunney. His invitation for Gene to stay and train in Speculator lead to a few other professional boxers seeking training refuge in the land, including Max Schmeling who defeated Joe Louis in 1936 (Weaver). The 1932 Summer Olympics in Lake Placid drew many Olympic athletes to train in Speculator leading up to the games. The Hershey Bears, owned by Hershey Chocolate and one of the oldest hockey teams in the country represented Speculator for sometime in the early 1930’s (Hoffman).

From its humble beginnings as a settlement to the glory days of housing major sport stars, Speculator is one of the few success stories founded early in the wilderness of the Adirondack Park. It scenic beauty and peaceful seclusion allowed a market economy to develop and made it in to one of the staples for vacation in the Adirondacks. Similar to Owen Brown's sentiments towards the fur trapper’s lives in Cloudsplitter, I too envy the bliss of the constant vacation that is life in Speculator.