Tahawus, New York facts for kids
Tahawus (say "tuh-HAWZ") was once a small village in Essex County, New York. It is now a ghost town, which means it's a place where people used to live and work, but now very few or no one lives there. Tahawus is located inside the beautiful Adirondack Park.
In the 1800s, Tahawus was a busy place because of its large iron mining and smelting operations. Smelting is when you melt metal to get rid of impurities. Most of the old mining buildings were taken down by 2005, but some small garages, blast furnaces, and other buildings still remain.
A famous event happened in Tahawus in 1901. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt was visiting when he learned that President William McKinley was dying.
The old Adirondack Iron and Steel Company site is important for history. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
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History of Tahawus
In the 1800s, people mined for iron ore in the Tahawus area. A village called Adirondac, New York, grew up around the mining operations. It was a "company town," meaning the mining company owned most of the homes and stores.
Early Iron Mining
Iron was first found here in 1826 by Archibald McIntyre and David Henderson. They started mining at a place called the Upper Works. This mine worked fairly well from 1827 to 1857.
However, the mining company faced many challenges. The area was very remote, far from other towns. Also, the iron ore had a special metal called titanium dioxide mixed in. The machines back then couldn't easily separate the titanium from the iron. This made it hard to process the ore. A big flood and a money problem across the country also caused the Upper Works to close.
By 1857, the Adirondack Iron Works closed down. The village of Adirondac became known as the "deserted village" because most people left.
The New York State Adirondack Park Agency shared some details about the old mining village:
- The Adirondack Iron Works had two farms.
- They used a blast furnace and a forge to work with the iron.
- They also had kilns for making charcoal and bricks.
- There were trip hammers and mills for grinding grain and sawing wood.
- The village had 16 homes.
- One building with a special dome was used as a school, church, and meeting hall.
The first bank in the Adirondack Mountains opened in Adirondac. The mine and its related businesses ran from 1827 to 1857.
Tahawus Club and the Land
After the mine closed, the land was mostly used for cutting down trees and for hunting and fishing. In 1876, a group of people formed a club called the Preston Ponds Club. They leased land around three ponds for fun activities like hunting and fishing.
Later, in 1877, the club became the "Adirondack Club." They leased the entire Tahawus area from the families who owned the old mining company. In 1898, the club changed its name again to the Tahawus Club. This club continued to lease the land for many years.
Theodore Roosevelt's Famous Visit
In 1901, Vice President Theodore Roosevelt was visiting Tahawus. He was on vacation in the area with his family. President William McKinley had just been shot by a man named Leon Czolgosz. Roosevelt quickly left his vacation to go to Buffalo, New York, where the President was.
When he heard that the President seemed to be getting better, Roosevelt decided to go on a hiking trip up Mount Marcy. Mount Marcy is the highest mountain in New York. While he was three hours into his hike, a park ranger on horseback found him. The ranger told him that President McKinley was now in very serious condition.
Roosevelt immediately started his journey from Tahawus to Buffalo. He learned that President McKinley had died when he reached the North Creek Railroad Station.
New Mine Opens for Titanium
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In 1940, a new mine opened in Tahawus. This time, it wasn't for iron. It was to get the titanium dioxide that had caused problems for the first mine! Now, people knew how to use titanium, and it was very valuable.
In 1940, a company called National Lead Industries reopened the mines near Sanford Lake. This new mining area was called the Lower Works, about a mile south of the old mine. A new community was built in 1943 for the mine workers, and it was also called Tahawus. By 1945, this new Tahawus had 84 buildings. Some buildings from the old Adirondac village were also used.
Forty million tons of titanium were taken from the National Lead Industries' mines. The mining operations finally stopped in 1989.
Protecting the Land
The Open Space Institute became interested in the Tahawus land because it wanted to protect the Hudson River watershed. A watershed is an area of land where all the water drains into a specific river or lake.
Joe Martens, who used to be the president of the institute, said the Tahawus area was "absolutely breathtaking." He explained that it has "rugged mountains, crystal clear, glacially carved lakes, and the headwaters of the Hudson River." "Headwaters" means where a river begins.
Four years after the mine closed in 1989, the Open Space Institute started talking about buying the land. In 2003, they worked with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation. They bought the 10,000-acre (40 km2) Tahawus land in August 2003 for $8.5 million. The Open Space Institute now helps manage the land.
Tahawus Today
Today, you can still see the remains of at least 10 buildings at the old village site. Most of these were built between 1890 and 1930 by the Tahawus Club. Only one building still standing is from the time when the old mining village of Adirondac was active.
You can also see the remains of the McIntyre Blast Furnace, which was built in 1854. This furnace site has been cleaned up, and the furnace itself has been made stronger and cleaned. This work was part of the Tahawus Tract project by the Open Space Institute.
Another old building, the MacNaughton Cottage (built in 1845), was also restored. This is the house where Vice President Theodore Roosevelt stayed during his hike to Mount Marcy. It's where he got the news that President William McKinley was dying after being shot in Buffalo, New York in 1901.
There are no known buildings left at the newer community of Tahawus, near Sanford Lake, where the titanium mines were.
Geography of Tahawus
Sometimes, people use the name Tahawus to refer to Mount Marcy. Mount Marcy is the tallest mountain in New York. However, it's believed that the native people of the area never actually used this name for the mountain. The meaning, "Cloud-Splitter," might not come from any of their languages.
Inside the Tahawus area is Henderson Lake. This lake is about 450-acre (1.8 km2) big. Maps show that Henderson Lake is the true source, or beginning, of the famous Hudson River.
Tahawus also includes Mount Adams and several other smaller mountains in the Adirondacks. The Adirondack Park Agency says that you can find many animals in this area. These include "bears, deer, loons, coyotes, foxes...and the elusive Pine Marten."
Getting Around Tahawus
Only one county road goes through Tahawus. It's called Essex County Route 25, or Tahawus Road. This road goes north to Henderson Lake. It connects with New York State Route 28N south of the area.
