The Adirondacks as an Insight to the American Story

            While the Adirondacks is considered wild and relatively isolated, the state of the region has remained surprisingly representative of American society.  Specifically, during the age of Manifest Destiny the Adirondacks served as a place of opportunity and potential for Americans inspired to seek out a new life.  Following the Civil War, the growth of industry and tourism along with the rise of the middle class and women  became quite apparent in the Adirondacks.  Overall, the region has serviced pioneers, artists, Civil War veterans, and United States Presidents; it has witnessed the country’s first railcars, the advent of the TV and even the Model T.  Evidently, the Adirondacks has consistently reflected the state of American society, making it an effective lens through which the history of America can be viewed.

            To start, the Adirondacks played an integral part in America’s pioneer age, when agriculture in the Northeast began to collapse and many families traveled west in search of more fertile, uninhabited farmland.  In fact, Adirondacks, like the West, provided homes for many poor, hardworking families who moved to the Adirondacks in hopes of achieving greater opportunity and success in farming and agriculture.  Thus, the stories of families tirelessly working to grow food on the land, building small cabins, and enduring spells of bad weather characterized not only the western frontier, but the Adirondacks (Terrie, 30).   The Adirondacks captured the essence of Manifest Destiny as it provided a frontier of its own, and “a place for American families to realize the American dream” (Terrie, 27).

            Yet, as the American Dream became less agriculturally based and increasingly industry related, economic trends in the Adirondacks reflected this changing mindset.  With cities and manufacturers using high quantities of metal and charcoal, the Adirondacks quickly became a valuable source of iron and lumber.  Mining operations erupted all over the Champlain valley and in towns like Ausable Forks, Mineville, Clintonville, Moriah, and Newcomb (Terrie, 34). High demands for lumber, first for wood charcoal and tanning leather and then for pulp and paper mills, sparked the logging industry in the Adirondacks (Terrie, 34).  Logging and mining companies supplied not only jobs for locals, but raw materials to cities and as a result, the Adirondacks became a critical piece in the National economy and an overt representation of the rise of industry in America.

            In the decades following the Civil War, the state of the Adirondack region began to reflect  ramifications of urbanization and industrialization in America.  The rise of industry improved the wealth of business owners and the upperclass, who now had money to spend.  Thus, the Adirondacks became a vacation destination for individuals like William Durant, J.P. Morgan, and William Rockefeller, and politicians such as Teddy Roosevelt, Benjamin Harrison, and Calvin Coolidge.  These American giants built Great Camps, purchased large chunks land, and sponsored the construction of railroads in the region.  Evidently, the Adirondacks, under the control of the wealthy and powerful, resembled the majority of America at the time, which also found itself at the mercy of Industrial Titans and business monopolies. 

            As monopolies dissolved early in the 20^th century and the middle class grew, the Adirondacks reflected the resulting social changes in the country and became a place accessible to all.   Specifically,  women taking part in wilderness recreation as early as 1870 helped promote new  perceptions of women as  independent, self-assured and, unassociated with the domestic sphere (Tatham, 66).  Additionally, in the 1920s, growing numbers of tourists in the Adirondacks from all social classes  along with the presence of Henry Ford’s Model T in the park spoke to the increased wealth of America's middle class.  This broad ranging wealth was further reflected in the Adirondacks with the construction of campgrounds, nicer hotels, and golf courses in the region (Terrie, 153).  Like the rest of America, the Adirondacks roared in the 1920s.

            Unfortunately, the Great Depression hit the Adirondacks as well.  Tourism dwindled during the this time period and local economies suffered as a result. Companies tied to the national economy like International Paper also shut down causing the surrounding village in Piercefield Falls to become a ghost town (Terrie, 155).  But, as onset of WWII and advent of new technologies helped America recover, the Adirondacks also bounced back  (Terrie, 158).  Businesses reopened, telephones connected homes, and televisions provided entertainment for families throughout the Adirondack region.  Evidently, the Adirondacks became modernized alongside the rest of America (Terrie, 58).

Today, the Adirondacks is no longer the frontier it was in the 18^th century, nor the industrial center it was in the 19^th century.  Community members have access to restaurants, churches, schools, and movie theaters, which again reflects the current state of American society.  Although the Adirondacks is revered for its natural beauty and tranquility, the most prized facet of the Adirondacks may lie in its consistent ability to capture specific time periods and particular moments in American history.  Through this ability to articulate and condense prominent moods, attitudes, and trends, the Adirondacks, in many ways has defined America and its storied past.

Thank you to Will Jones at the Writing Center for helping me edit and improve this blog post

Sources:

Terrie, Philip G. Contested Terrain: A New History of Nature and People in the

Adirondacks. (Ed. A.W. Gilborn, Ed.). Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press, 1997, Print.

Tatham, David. Winslow Homer in the Adirondacks. New York: Syracuse University

Press. 1996, Print.