Before Henry Hudson sailed up his river or Champlain
came down his lake in 1608, the first lords of the
Adirondacks were Algonquins. They were finally driven
out by the Iroquois. This part of the state, from its discovery
by the white men, was disputed ground. The
Algonquin, aided by their French allies, and the fierce
Iroquois nations of the Mohawk valley and central New
York, kept up continuous warfare for nearly two hundred
years. Both tribes hunted and fished throughout the area.
Soil was fertile and easily cultivated, corn was harvested
and pounded into meal. Forests were full of game. Lakes
and rivers abounded with fish.

Samuel Broughton, attorney general of all the
provinces, obtained a license from the British government
to purchase from the Indians a tract of land known
as the Kayderossera, signed by the sachems in 1703.
The sale wasn’t finalized until 1768 when the tribe
confirmed the deed through the powerful influence of Sir
William Johnson. A few years later, white settlers staked
their claims. Until 1775, there were few permanent settlers
who dared to brave the arduous existence in the
Adirondack wilderness. In the 1780’s larger numbers of
people settled in the area for lumbering and early industry.

The Jessup family came from Connecticut to New York
in 1744 and Edward and Ebenezer moved to Albany
where they engaged in extensive real estate deals. At
the close of the French and Indian War in 1759, the area
around Lake George and upper Hudson was again
considered safe for settlers. So the brothers began
operations on the Hudson River and became the first
lumberman in the region. They were wealthy land
owners, logging the lower Adirondacks in the 1770’s,
building sawmills and grist mills.

In time quite a settlement grew in the area taking the
names of the Jessups Landing, Ferry, Falls, Little Falls.
The brothers were loyalists, so when the Revolution broke
out, they fled to Canada and fought with the British troops.
Many family names still seen in the phone book
today were known to the area in the 1700’s. Ambrose
Clothier settled near Mt. McGregor in 1775. Colonel
Adam Comstock was a neighbor on the westside of
Palmertown Mountain. Neither family became real
friends since the Clothiers were Tories and Comstock
has been an officer in Washington’s army and was a
leader in the newly established government. Benjamin
Cowles was elected supervisor of the Town of Hadley in
1801 and was later elected to the Assembly. Samuel
Eggleston settled near the Clothiers as did Benjamin Ide.

Jeremiah Eddy had the first blacksmith shop. Jeptha
Clark, Jonathan Duell, Zebedee Mosher, James
Cooper, Barry Fenton and Timothy Brown were other
early settlers near South Corinth.

Ransford Densmore, a Civil War veteran, established
a funeral business in South Corinth which has continued
through five generations. He was shot at Gettysburg and
until he died in 1915 had an open wound in the side of
his head that required cotton packing.

Daniel Boardman settled in the area a little before 1790
and was one of the earliest businessmen, building a
gristmill and store by 1793 and soon becoming the
wealthiest man in the area. John Taylor came to the area
about 1808 and began a lumbering operation. He was
elected a representative to Congress in 1813 & became
Speaker of the House in 1821, following the famous
Henry Clay. The Town of Corinth was formed in 1818
from the Town of Hadley. On April 18th the first clothing
mill was built about 1805 on Kayderossera creek by
Washington Chapman. Mrs. Chapman was given the
honor of naming the township at the first town board meeting.
She opened her Bible and said “Let it be called Corinth!”

Corinth has seen many changes in methods of transportation
and communication. The first settlers made their
way over mountains and across valleys by following the
old Indian trails that ran along the banks of streams and
through forests. As more people arrived in the latter 18th
century, they built their own roads from place to place.
As towns were established, a major part of business
was assigning pathmasters who were responsible for
maintaining the roads on which they lived, keeping them
clear and filling in holes from washouts or ruts from wagon wheels.

The first major improvement to the road system came
with the construction of the plank road from Saratoga
through Corinth to Hadley (now known as NYS Route
9N). State laws regulated the building and operating of
these roads constructed from heavy planks and hewn
timber. Four horse stagecoaches carried passengers
and freight for the four-hour trip, with a stop in South
Corinth to change the team. The companies that built
the roads received revenue by charging tolls. The state
authorized rates in 1853 - one cent a mile for one animal,
passenger vehicle with two animals, three cents a
mile, horse (ridden or led) ¾ cent per mile. There were
toll houses at South Corinth and about one mile north of the
Village of Corinth, which was officially founded in 1886.

The coming of the Adirondack Branch of the Delaware
and Hudson railroad in 1865, from Saratoga to North
Creek was one of the big events in the history of Corinth.
The community was brought closer to the big cities. This
innovative form of transportation breathed new life into
the small logging town. With it came the telegraph and
Corinth was accessible to the outside world. The advent
of the Adirondack Railroad signaled industrial development,
growth, and prosperity for the area. In early operations th
passengers and freight were unloaded
haphazardly wherever the train happened to stop.
Later individual stations were built. By 1870 the Hudson
River Pulp and Paper Company a tool factory, a woolen
mill, and a chair factory all took advantage of the
inexpensive and “modern” form of transportation.
Logs were rafted down the river from the north and
landed near the site of the present Corinth Library, where
they were hauled over land to the Hudson River below
Palmer Falls. Then they were sent down river to the
mills in Glens Falls. Because of the great power of the
river, several mills were built in Corinth. The largest was
the Hudson River Pulp and Paper Company, whic
began operations in 1869. In 1898 this mill was one of
twenty mills brought together to form International Paper
Company. When paper manufacturing increased, more
stores, hotels, livery stables, and other businesses were
established. More homes were constructed on Main
Street, Palmer Avenue, Pine and Oak Streets. With
industry the population grew, encouraging many immigrants
after 1860. A number of Irish families arrived first,
followed by Germans. By 1886 there were over 150
homes in the village area. Other industries in Corinth
included a saw mill, grist mill, woolen mill, and an edge
tool factory. South Corinth had a tannery, woolen mill,
carriage bolt factory, and several saw mills. In 1887 Captain
Smith changed his steamboat from Blue Mountain
Lake to the Hudson River to run between the villages of
Corinth and Luzerne to take advantage of the growing
population and activity.

Between 1889 and 1906 the first banks, telephone
company, and newspaper were established in Corinth.
CH Wyman’s “Corinthian” was published weekly for 25
years beginning in 1889. Three hotels were operating.
The Shirt Factory was started in 1899 by John and Walter
Pitkin and taken over by Cluett-Peabody Company of
Troy. In the 1950’s 350 women were employed there.
The famous Arrow shirt was one of their well-known
products. The Village and Town continued to grow slowly
with International Paper becoming the major employer.
Following the national trend of labor union formation, the
paper mill workers organized in 1903. Within a few years
labor strife began and continued for several years
before the strike was finally over. Though peace eventually
came, many Corinthians bore bitter feelings for years.
The Core Factory was started by Theodore Elixman when
he was manager of the Hudson River Pulp Co. with his
brother-in-law Judd Dayton in 1913. His idea was a
papercone with special chips to fit the paper presses. A
glove factory, chair factory and excelsior mill were also
successful local industries.

The early 1900’s brought great change with the
introduction of the “horseless carriage.” While railroad
crossings had been a problem with horses, the automobile
posed major challenges and tragedies as motorists
didn’t heed STOP-LOOK-LISTEN signs. The claim is
made that William Traver was the first Corinthian to own
a gasoline powered vehicle, a two-cylinder 1900 Buick.
With the automobile came the necessity of purchasing
gasoline and oil. A 55 gallon drum was kept inside the
general store or blacksmith shop and gas was hand
pumped into containers which were emptied into the gas
tanks. In 1968 three curbside pumps still remained on
Main Street in Corinth. In 1915 there were seventy
automobile owners and an auto club was established. In
1918 Isaac Densmore replaced his beautiful four horse
drawn wagon hearse and a sleigh hearse with a
splendid 6-cylinder, wood paneled Meteor Hearse, but
held onto the old equipment for a while as insurance.
Mt. McGregor, once known as Palmertown Peak, lies
in the towns of Corinth, Wilton, and Moreau. Duncan
McGregor purchased the 1300 foot summit for back taxes
and in 1874 built a restaurant and small hotel on the
mountain top. Joseph Drexel, a Philadelphia financier
purchased one thousand acres of the mountain from
McGregor and built a railroad from Saratoga Springs to
the Hotel Balmoral he erected for 300 guests. The first
cottage he built was occupied by General Ulysses S.
Grant during his last illness. He spent time on the porch
writing his memoirs, when strength allowed, until his death
on July 23, 1885. His body was transported with much
pomp and ceremony through Corinth. The resort hotel
was completely destroyed by fire. The property was acquired
by Metropolitan Life Insurance and a TB Hospital
was built for their employees. During WWII the state purchased
the property for a Veterans’ rest cure. It closed in
the late 50s and reopened as a branch of the Rome
State School for Retarded Children. Now it is a minimal
security prison.

A portion of the Underground Railway went through
Corinth before the Civil War. Mr. Fitch, an African American,
lived near Black Pond and conducted runaway
slaves past Hunt and Efner Lakes down into the
Sacandaga Valley, where they proceeded up through the
Adirondacks into Canada. 129 men from Corinth enlisted
for service during the Civil War. Twenty were casualties
of the conflict and died of wounds or disease. Currently
many young men and women from Corinth are serving
in the military in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In the years 1900 to 1903 a great stone dam was built
across the Hudson River at Spier Falls. It was the largest
hydro electric power dam in the world and the largest
structure of its kind ever constructed by private interests
and the fourth largest dam in the world built for any
purpose. After 2 years spent acquiring land rights for the
1100 acres of mountain land bordering the river, the
project started in 1900. Much of the work was done by
an Italian labor force. A March flood in 1903 caused a
disaster claiming 25 lives. The completed dam was 157
feet deep, 115 feet broad at the base and was 1570 feet
wide shore to shore.

In 1922 the Water Commission of the State of New
York received a petition from the City of Glens Falls to
create the Hudson River Regulating District. Dams were
built across the Sacandaga River at Northville and
Conklinville and when the gates were closed on March
27, 1930, the culmination of a series of projects would
change forever the peaceful Sacandaga Valley. Over 283
billion gallons of water would replace the farms, meadows,
and wood-lots. Twenty-two cemeteries and a railway line
had to be moved. People were relocated, but when the
water level gets very low, the foundations of their homes
can still be seen. The purpose of the Sacandaga Reservoir
is to regulate the flow of the Hudson and Sacandaga
Rivers for public welfare and safety. Thirty billion cubic
feet of floodwaters from the spring thaw are stored for
possible release in the summer and winter period of low
flow. The Great Sacandaga Lake is a place of spectacular
boating and beaches, beautiful vistas, and numerous
winter sports and ice fishing.

The Adirondack branch of the Delaware and Hudson
Railroad had been built in 1863 from Saratoga to North
Creek. In 1888 a branch line was laid from the Corinth
station off Hamilton Avenue to the upper mill yard and
two years later it was extended to the lower mill yard. The
Adirondack Railway was intended to open up the great
forest of northern New York. Following the arrival of the
railroad in Corinth, the stage coach fell into disrepair.
One coach continued operation and for many years
carried passengers to and from the Corinth Depot. The
coming of the rail sounded the end of the plank road to
Saratoga. Freight and passengers were transported
more swiftly and economically over the train route. With
the loss of revenue, regular maintenance was
discontinued and became the responsibility of the towns
again. The road was kept in some sort of repair by
farmers working off their tax bill, but soon was sandy
and rocky as before. The state finally recognized the
importance of a land route and assumed maintenance
of the road from Saratoga to Lake George.

The Adirondack Railway was an important part of the
social and industrial history of the Adirondacks connecting
upstate New York to the cities south. In 1865 they
started building north of Saratoga and reached North
Creek in 1871. The tracks were built by Dr. Thomas
Durant, General Manager of the Union Pacific Railroad.
He invested in real estate and development and brought
tourism to the north country.

In 1889 the railroad became the Adirondack Branch
of the Delaware & Hudson Railroad with tracks ending in
North Creek. The line was extended thirty miles north at
the beginning of WW II to support the war effort. The train
was an important link to the open pit mines in Tahawus,
where magnetite, illemenite, and titanium were mined.
The D & H Railroad continued to operate the train over
this branch until 1989 when the mines closed and all
railroad operation stopped.

In 1998 Warren County purchased the track in the
interest of tourism and economic development. The
Upper Hudson River Railroad in North Creek runs a
scenic train from Riverside Station in Riparius to a
passenger platform in Hadley. The train was the best
way from Corinth to reach Saratoga and points beyond
for many years.In 1911 a new structure was built to
replace the antiquated and inadequate depot. This
depot was a stopping off place for travelers both far and
near until the late 1950’s when passenger travel stopped.
The Town of Corinth, after much negotiation, purchased
the train track to Saratoga with plans to expand the run
from Hadley south. Currently citizens in Corinth are
working to restore the old depot to its original & historical
place in the community. Tourist train rides will be leaving
from our depot site heading to North Creek in the
Summer of 2008.

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