Annals of the Deserted Village (Part 4)

Part Five:
‘Documentation Report:
Upper Works,
Adirondack Iron and
Steel Company,’
by Wesley Haynes
(1994)

Documentation Report:
Upper Works,
Adirondack Iron and Steel Company
Newcomb, Essex County, New York

Prepared for:
Town of Newcomb Historical Society
Newcomb, New York

Prepared by:
Wesley Haynes, Consultant
Technical Assistance Center
Preservation League of New York State
Albany, New York

March 1994

This report was made possible, in part, with public funds from the New York State Council
on the Arts.

Executive summary
The Upper Works of the Adirondack Iron and Steel Company, in the Town of
Newcomb, New York, has been recognized as significant in the development of the
American steel industry since the works ceased operation in the mid-19th century. With the
important exceptions of the McIntyre-McMartin House,1 the “New” Blast Furnace, and as
yet unknown archaeological potential, the built environment of the early 19th century
industrial village at the Upper Works was replaced with the existing late 19th and early
20th century cottages of a private sports fishing and game preserve.
Today, it is the modest and deteriorated architecture of the Tahawus Club that
establishes the sense of place at the Upper Works. Apart from Arthur Masten’s anecdotal
history, “Tahawus Club” (1935), the significance of this phase of use has been largely
overlooked and not well understood. The existing cottages, most of which were constructed
around the turn of the 20th century, post-date the establishment of the Tahawus Club’s
institutional progenitor and first private preserve in the Adirondacks, the Preston Ponds
Club. Unlike contemporary cottages built at other private recreational clubs in the
Adirondacks where hunting and fishing were the focal activities, the cottages of the
Tahawus Club are visually accessible to the public due to their location at the trailhead to
Mt. Marcy. Together, industrial and recreational interpretation of the site holds great
potential.
This report inventories known buildings and features at the site and offers a
preliminary assessment of the potential for preservation and/or restoration of the surviving
features. The report references primary source material, and integrates and updates
previous studies of the site, including Masten’s “The Story of Adirondac” (1923), the
Adirondack Iron & Steel Co. Recording Project prepared by the Historic American
Engineering Record (1978), and an assessment report prepared by the Bureau of Historic
Sites, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation in 1989.
Based upon observations of conditions at the site, structural and other problems are
present in each building, but most of the buildings are not beyond repair. While
preservation of the McIntyre-McMartin House and “New” Blast Furnace are desirable
regardless of use, the report suggests that cottages in repairable condition be stabilized to
allow for future rehabilitation contingent upon use.

1
Today known as the MacNaughton Cottage.

433

Introduction
At the request of the Town of Newcomb Historical Society, the “Documentation Report:
Upper Works, Adirondack Iron and Steel Company” was prepared as the final product of a
research and field study by the Technical Assistance Center of the Preservation League of New
York State. The goal of this study has been to collect information pertaining to the physical
characteristics of the site known as McIntyre, Adirondac[k], Upper Works, and the Preston
Ponds/Adirondack/Tahawus/Upper Works Club, from 1826 to the present. The specific objectives
have been to identify and document, where possible, the original dates of construction, uses, forms,
plans and finishes of vanished and surviving structures, and to inventory and assess the integrity of
surviving buildings and features and their potential for preservation and/or restoration.
The first task has been to compile, review and integrate the substantial body of work
previously written about this important site, in particular, the iron works phase. Of this, the major
sources distilled have been the two books about the Upper Works by Arthur Masten. “The Story of
Adirondac” (1923) and “The Tahawus Club” (1935), have served as useful guides and appear to be
generally accurate, but as they were written for other purposes, they contain several gaps central to
the objectives of this report and are not comprehensively referenced. The McIntyre papers in the
collection at the Adirondack Museum contain a substantial amount of information not available to
or unused by Masten. Additional primary and manuscript materials have been reviewed in the
collections of the New York Historical Society and the Jersey City Public Library.
This report starts with an overview of the site development, subdividing it into four major
historical phases, and additional sub-phases. This is followed by a chronology of events, outlining
the site development and occupancy with reference to vanished and surviving buildings and
features. It includes all institutional and construction events encountered in research, and select
personal and contextual events.
As little pictorial evidence has surfaced, an attempt has been made to broaden the network of
documented visitors to the site, especially prominent artists and writers, who may have sketched or
described the site in manuscript materials available in accessible collections. These individuals are
listed in the appendix. Catalogued maps in the collection of the Adirondack Museum have been
reviewed and referenced, but additional photographs in private collections of members of the
Tahawus Club have yet to be identified or reviewed.
Fieldwork, conducted during the first two weeks of December 1993, included a visual survey
of all exteriors and typical and accessible interiors, inspection of substrates/framing details where
visible, preparation of sketch roof plans, 35mm photography, and an assessment of general
conditions. Preliminary options for stabilization and recommendations for future research conclude
the report.
The report was prepared by Wesley Haynes, Consultant, working with the Preservation
League of New York State. In addition to writing, Mr. Haynes was responsible for fieldwork,
building examination, photography and most of the research. Additional research assistance was
provided by Brad Edmondson. The report was coordinated by Tania Werbizky, Director of
Technical Services for the Preservation League. Helena Wood prepared the final document. This
report was made possible, in part, with public funds provided by the Architecture, Planning and
Design Program of the New York State Council on the Arts to the Town of Newcomb Historical
Society.

434

1. Historic context
Overview
Few sites better embody the diverse history of the Adirondacks than the Upper Works
of the former Adirondack Iron and Steel Company. During the course of the 165 years
following the first documented human intervention, the sequential uses of the site
encompass and played a catalytic role in the thematic pattern of the Adirondacks in general.
From 1826 to 1857, the Upper Works developed into a small industrial village, established
at the source of the iron ore. Between 1848 and 1857, pig iron puddled with wood and
hammered into bars at the Upper and Lower Works was shipped to Jersey City and
converted to blister steel, considered to be the finest produced in the United States.
In the process of surveying the site to discover its industrial potential, the proprietors
of the works sponsored the New York Natural History Survey, which used the works in
1837 as the base camp for the first scientific exploration of the Adirondack interior. The
discoveries of the Survey, regarded today as significant within the development of
systematic natural science, inadvertently attracted the first wave of journalists and artists by
publishing the first images and reports of the High Peaks wilderness, an area virtually
unknown to the world outside at this time. By the 1860s, sportsmen and tourists were
attracted to the area by journalistic accounts, often spectacular in nature, of fishing, hunting
and scenic wonders. Although operations at the works had by then ceased, the “deserted”
or “ruined” village itself had become a picturesque curiosity.
By the late 1860s, conservation-minded sportsmen who enjoyed the Adirondacks grew
concerned about the impact of unbridled and overzealous hunting and fishing on game
resources. When it was founded in 1876, the Preston Ponds Club, while not the first
sporting organization established in the Adirondacks, appears to have been the first
association in the region to articulate an objective of game management by posting and
controlling a preserve. From 1876 until 1947, the former industrial village served as the
club headquarters of the Preston Ponds Club and its successors, the Adirondack Club and
Tahawus Club. Initially, the buildings of the village were selectively adapted or
demolished; by the turn of the [20th] century, most earlier dwellings had been replaced with
club cottages. Ruins of significant masonry features coexisted with the club buildings
throughout its occupation.
Renewed interest in mining at the site was rekindled in the early 20th century when
industrial uses for titanium were being developed, but actual mining did not recommence
until 1941. A new site for a village was selected on Sanford Lake between the Upper and
Lower Works. The Club’s lease at the Upper Works was not renewed in 1947. The
buildings were subsequently winterized and used year-round by National Lead [until they
were abandoned in 1963]. Mining operations continued until 1982; [all operations ceased in
1989].

Phases of Development and Use/Historic Themes and Events
Four major phases are evident upon review of the chronology of the site’s
development:
Phase I: 1826-1857 Adirondac[k] Iron and Steel Company Upper Works

435

Phase II: 1857-1876 “Deserted Village”
Phase III:1876-1947 Preston Ponds/Adirondack/Tahawus Club
Phase IV:1947-1992 National Lead/Kronos

Phase I. 1826-1857 Adirondac[k] Iron and Steel Company, aka Newcomb’s farm,
McIntyre[s], Adirondac[k]
The site is developed from virgin forest into a small industrial village surrounded by
open, clear-cut pastures and fields over a thirty-one year period.
Sub-phases:
I-A 1826-1832: Discovery and Exploration phase. No major construction apart from “iron”
dam. Proprietors camp in tents and/or impermanent shanties on early surveying visits.
I-B 1833-1837: Infrastructure phase. Preliminary construction including roadwork,
sawmill, first forge, clearing for agriculture, and other support structures. Log boarding
house and McMartin/McIntyre house built. Geological exploration begun.
I-C 1838-1847: Henderson/Tahawus phase. Geological exploration continues; equipment
developed to extract ore for remote testing. After 1848, pig iron puddled with wood at
Adirondack and formed into bars under a hammer was shipped to Jersey City and
converted to blister steel. Primary developments during this period were at the Lower
Works, but a new boarding house, school house and several dwellings were built at the
Upper Works.
I-D 1848-1857: Peak years at Upper Works. By end of period, approximately 25
dwellings, 3 furnaces, and numerous support structures at village.
Themes: industry, scientific exploration, agriculture
Events: New York Natural History Survey (1837)

Phase II. 1857-1876 “Deserted Village” aka “ruined village”
The Upper Works is virtually abandoned, save for the [Robert] Hunter [1857-1872]
and [John] Moore [1872-1877] families, hired as caretakers subsisting on farming, hunting
and fishing. Buildings and structures generally decay; ruined new furnace is highlighted in
several guidebooks as a picturesque attraction; vacant dwellings informally used for
lodging visiting sportsmen, writers and curiosity seekers.
Themes: recreation, subsistence agriculture

Phase III. 1876-1947 Preston Ponds/Adirondack/Tahawus Club
The Upper Works was used as the headquarters of a private fishing and hunting
preserve for 71 years. The Preston Ponds Club, founded in 1876 with the stated objectives
of “protection, increase and capture of fish and game,” appears to have established the
earliest documented preserve in the Adirondacks by leasing the former property of the
Adirondack Iron and Steel Company.
Sub-phases:
III-A 1876-1897: Preston Ponds/Adirondack Club. Minor repairs made to the major
buildings at the Upper Works, at least one building, the Clubhouse Annex,
“reconstructed,” and some vacant houses occupied, but by 1889, most earlier
construction allowed to deteriorate and/or demolished. First private cottages and
outlying camps constructed by end of period.

436 ANNALS OF THE DESERTED VILLAGE

III-B 1899-1920: Tahawus Club. First phase of private cottage construction, several
buildings replaced and/or incorporated earlier structures by 1905.
III-C 1921-1947: Tahawus Club. Characterized by attrition of holdings through sale to
lumbering interests, acquisition by the state, and sale to National Lead. Some
additional cottages added to village in the 1930s.
Themes: recreation, resource conservation.
Events: Theodore Roosevelt visit (III-B).

Phase IV. 1947 to present, National Lead/Kronos
The buildings at the Upper Works are used for a period [until 1963] to house workers
at the Lake Sanford titanium mines.
Theme: industry

UPPER WORKS DOCUMENTATION REPORT 437

Chronology of development
and use of the site
Phase I. Adirondac[k] Iron and Steel Company Upper Works (1826 - 1857)

Background and antecedents
ca. 1800 Town of North Elba first settled.
1801 First iron works in Essex County, designed to fabricate anchors, is erected on
shore of Lake Champlain in Willsboro Falls by Levi Highboy and George Throop
[Watson, p. 438].
1809 Archibald McIntyre and Malcolm McMartin erect a forge along the headwaters of
the Ausable River, commencing the “Elba Iron Works.”
1815 Elba Iron Works abandoned due to inferior quality of local ore and cost of
shipping better ore in from Clinton County.2
1816 Town of Newcomb first settled on or near the shores of Newcomb Lake and Lake
Harris [Smith, p.642 (see TDV 381-391)].

I-A. (1826 - 1832): Discovery and exploration
1826 A prospecting party looking for silver is shown an iron ore deposit by an Abenaki
named Lewis Elijah. Party comprised of Malcolm McMartin, Duncan McMartin
Jr. of Broadalbin, John McD. McIntyre, David Henderson of Jersey City, Dyer
Thompson, and Enoch, a servant. Archibald McIntyre and prospectors begin to
invest in property [Hochschild].
[Note: Dornburgh’s statement (p. 4 [TDV 337]) that A. McIntyre and D.
McMartin “commenced operations in 1826 at this new field by erecting a forge
and building suitable for separating ore, and also erected a log building to
accommodate their men” is not substantiated in subsequent histories and appears
to be inaccurate.]
1826-27 McIntyre and associates begin purchase of 105,000-acre holdings [Hochschild].
1828 Duncan McMartin, then a State Senator, promotes legislation to appoint
commission to survey and construct a road from Cedar Point (Port Henry)
through Moriah and Newcomb to the western edge of Essex County [Hochschild].
1830 Eight families permanently settled in what is the Town of Newcomb. Cedar Point
Road construction in progress and a few acres cleared near ore beds.
A. McIntyre, D. McMartin, Henderson and Randolph Taylor from Pennsylvania,
possibly a prospective contractor, visit site, guided by Iddo Osgood of North Elba,
one of the commissioners for laying out the new road. Party camps near site of
future boarding house [Masten, 1923].

2
According to Mary MacKenzie (ADV 26-37), the Elba Works continued operating until 1817.

438

1831 Six tons of ore drawn out along the Cedar Point Road [Masten, 1923].
1832 Active development commences. Site of works surveyed and located by D.
McMartin after June.
McIntyre describes mine as “Mammoth Ore Bed,” and reports “saw mill (in
operation), the erection of a two-story log house (well finished for the country), a
forge for a hammer & two fires (nearly finished) and a coal house, with a
blacksmith shop, and some little stabling,” present by October [Hochschild].
Cholera epidemic in upstate New York; labor hard to obtain.
A. McIntyre visits site in November [Masten, 1923].

I-B. (1833-1837): Infrastructure & experiments (McMartin period)
1833 A. McIntyre lists planned work in January 2 letter to D. McMartin, including:
l. dam Lake Henderson;
2. road from works to State Road;
3. clear and cultivate;
4. build good store with counting room and bed room or rooms;
5. enquire about Doolittle’s Patent Kiln for Charcoal;
6. survey route of road to Clear Pond and estimate cost;
7. keep 2 men blasting;
8. put boarding house in complete repair, adding a kitchen, cellar;
9. keep sawmill at work; …
12. get sufficient number of Bloomers;
13. make a good road up Main Street.
A. McIntyre refers to Upper Works as “McIntyre” in letter to D. McMartin on
February 16; name continues to be used to around 1848 [Masten 1923].
Henderson reports to A. McIntyre on September 8: “I found the place [iron
works] very much altered in appearance for the better — an excellent road from
the landing to the settlement, and a straight level street from the house to the saw
mill, good and dry, nearly completed.”
1834 D. McMartin’s health fails, sends son Daniel to works to continue his work, and
invalid son Archibald to works for his health.
A. McMartin reports to D. McMartin on June 23 that “they have got up the frame
for a plain dwelling house on the opposite side of the road from the lime kiln, and
have got up part of the store frame and will raise the whole building tomorrow or
next day. ... Daniel has not moved into his house yet, but still lives in the south
end of the Large boarding house. The house will not be ready before the first or
middle of next week. The second coat of paint was put on, on Saturday. ... The
boarding house is kept very well indeed under the superintendence of Mr. and
Mrs. Wilder.”


Proprietors discouraged by quantities (¾ ton to 1 ton per week) produced; A.
McIntyre proposes to D. McMartin on September 9 that the company’s assets be
liquidated. [1]
1836 William C. Redfield exploration of ironworks property under leadership of D.
McMartin; party included Henderson, David C. Colden of Jersey City, Abraham
van Santvoord, Ebenezer Emmons, a geologist, and James Hall, probably
Emmons’ assistant.
1837 Puddling furnace built [Hochschild].
A. McIntyre helps organize visit of members of New York Natural History
Survey. In June, Charles Cromwell Ingham, assigned as illustrator to the Survey,
writes to colleague Thomas Cole, “I hope to be able to join a party that is going to
McIntyre’s settlement. … A good deal of time we will camp out, as there is but
one house on the place.” Members of the Survey, led by Emmons and including
Hall, Redfield, Henderson, and Ebenezer Emmons Jr., make first recorded ascent
of Mt. Marcy on August 5.
D. McMartin dies October 3. McMartin interest in works, disposed of prior to
death, is transferred to A. McIntyre’s nephew, Archibald Robertson of
Philadelphia. Henderson also becomes proprietor and takes charge of mining
operation, with Andrew Porteous appointed superintendent. [1].

I-C. (1838-1851): Growth (Henderson/Porteous period)
1838 “Old” blast furnace built near the head of the village street, a short distance from
the iron dam [Hochschild].
1839 Adirondack Iron and Steel Company incorporated [Hochschild], with A.
McIntyre, Henderson, Robertson, Peter McMartin, and Luke Hemenway,
directors.
Adirondack Railroad incorporated. Railroad not built [Hochschild].
Emmons begins a detailed geological survey of property in May.
Blast furnace built during the previous year does not work properly. Stone
masonry proves costly to build and maintain, but weather does not permit
Porteous to commence brickmaking [A.McI. to A.P., August 1, September 27,
and December 19].
1840 A. McIntyre directs Porteous to sled in bricks to rebuild furnace in March.
Prospectus in Emmons geological report describes village of McIntyre: “Five
comfortable dwelling houses (one of them is used as a boarding house, and can
accommodate a family, and 30 boarders), a store-house, a blacksmith and
carpenter’s shops, two barns, &c., &c., a good saw-mill, a forge with two fires
and one trip hammer, and coal houses;” (100,000 bushels of charcoal capacity)
present [Hochschild].
1841 Brick-making commences at Adirondac.


“At this place there are three families, a forge, a sawmill, about one-hundred fifty
acres of clearing, and some fifteen men making brick and farming, etc.” at
Adirondac [N.J. Beach to Emily (Beach), June 14].
1843 East branch of Hudson is diverted into west branch to provide adequate water
supply for Adirondac [Porter].
1844 Second blast furnace built six miles south of McIntyre;3 McIntyre now sometimes
called “Upper Works,” while new area called Lower Works [Hochschild].
Colden visits works with English actor William Charles Macready.
1845 Tilting hammer and other equipment to work steel into small bars probably
installed [Hochschild].
Joseph Dixon becomes interested in McIntyre iron [Masten, 1923].
Henderson killed, September 3.
1846 Nails are inventoried in list of supplies brought to Adirondac.
1847 A. McIntyre writes, possibly referring to Adirondac, of “Shanties, which will be
required for the large number of men, who will be employed during the summer
may be covered with bark in May, but the two first mentioned must be covered
with boards. … I suggest pine for clapboards and spruce for timbers” [A.McI. to
A.P., February 12].
Pixley, or Pickslay, an English steel manufacturer from the Sheffield works, visits
site, tests ore, and suggests name “Tahawus” for Lower Works [A.McI. to A.P.,
May 12, referenced in Masten 1935].
McIntyre Bank is in operation [A.McI. to A.P., November 10].
New Boarding House (later Club House) constructed. Draft specifications call for
it to measure 50 x 37 feet, with a 22 x 18 foot kitchen. Staircase had been
specified to have been built of St. Domingo mahogany, which was crossed out
and written over “walnut” [Masten 1935].
Painting invoice September 16 identifies following buildings at “Adirondac”:
Boarding House
School House
Store
House opposite Old Blacks. Shop
Cheney house
Beedy house
Snyder house
Kellog house
Andrew Porteous house
Sargent house

3
The 1844 furnace was a replacement for an 1838 furnace; it was built at the Upper Works, not “six miles
south of McIntyre (i.e., the Upper Works).”


old Boarding house
2 Barns
Forge & Furnace” [10]
1848 Beginning of peak years at works. Sackets Harbor and Saratoga Railroad
Company chartered, with a branch line to mine planned. Although not built,
improvements stimulated at Upper Works [Hochschild].
Post Office established, and McIntyre formally renamed Adirondac. [Masten
1935]
Adirondack Steel Manufacturing Company erects steel manufacturing plant in
Jersey City, producing blister steel from charcoal pig iron from McIntyre
[Hochschild].
1850 Adirondack Iron and Steel Company reorganized, retaining name [Hochschild].
1851 Adirondack Iron and Steel Company awarded gold medal in London for first steel
of American manufacture [Masten 1923].
1851 “Advantages of the Works and Property of the Adirondac Iron & Steel Co.”
(Philadelphia: Howell Evans, 1851) [AML], a prospectus, is published. Describes
village (Adirondac, Adirondack and McIntyre used variously within report),
includes “a large, new and admirably located smelting furnace, built in the most
substantial and approved manner, with all the modern improvements — besides
the old furnace, a forge, cupola furnace, saw mill, and mill for pounding the ore
— three large charring ovens, five coal houses, storehouse, shops, a large
boarding house, about twenty-five dwelling houses, school house, barns, stables,
wharves, boats, &c., &c. There are about 500 acres of land cleared and under
cultivation.”
1854 “The Adirondack Iron & Steel Company, New-York” (New York: W.E. & J.
Sibell, 1854) [AML], a second prospectus, is published. Inventories assets at the
Upper Works as follows:
1 Cupola Furnace
1 Blast Furnace
1 Forge and Puddling Furnace
1 Stamping Mill
1 Mill for driving small machinery
1 Saw Mill
1 Grist Mill, or Mill for grinding food
1 hay Scales
2 Kilns for “roating” [roasting] ore
1 Brick House
1 Granary
1 Tool House
1 Blacksmith shop
1 Carpenter shop
3 Coal Kilns


6 Coal Houses
1 Long Wood house
1 Store for merchandize
1 Ice house
1 Powder house
1 Large Boarding house
16 Dwelling houses for workmen
1 School House
3 Large Barns
several Cow Stables and Cattle Sheds
1 Piggery
1 Building with Steaming apparatus
1 Blast Furnace, just completed 36 feet square, 48 feet high; a new wheel
house, carpenter shop, and two large coal houses are connected to it.
At “Tahawas” (located about 11 miles south, aka Lower Works), the 1854
prospectus inventories the following assets:
1 Warehouse for merchandize
Iron Warehouse
1 Blacksmith shop
1 Saw Mill
1 Large Boarding house, with large Barn and Sheds
3 Dwelling houses for workmen
1 School house
1 Lime Kiln

I-D. (1852- 1857): Decline and abandonment
1852 Alexander Ralph, a relative of Henderson, succeeds Porteous as Superintendent.
1853 Property purchased by syndicate led by Benjamin C. Butler, a lumberman from
Luzerne [Masten 1923].
1855 Butler syndicate defaults; property reverts to McIntyre et al. [Masten 1923].
1856 Dam at Adirondac and sawmill at Tahawus destroyed by Hudson River flooding
[Hochschild].4
1857 Panic of 1857. Works apparently shut down [Hochschild].
Sackets Harbor and Saratoga Railroad Company reorganized as the Lake Ontario
and Hudson River Railroad Company [Hochschild].

4
Seely provided documentary evidence that the 1856 date for the catastrophic flood was in error. The
documentary evidence gives a date of October 1857. See the note at the front of this volume.


Phase II. “Deserted Village” (1857 - 1876)
1858 A. McIntyre and Robertson die.
1859 Directors of the Adirondack Iron and Steel Company meet in April and appoint a
committee comprised of James R. Thompson, Oliver S. Strong and J. McD.
McIntyre to look after company affairs, with Thompson, a nephew of Henderson,
as agent in the sale of the company [9]
Robert Hunter, who had been a brickmaker at the works, is made guardian and
occupies “double house hereafter known as Cocktail Hall” [Masten 1935 (ADV
177)].5
T. Addison Richards, “The Adirondack Woods and Waters,” Harper’s New
Monthly Magazine Vol. XIX, published in September, contains an illustration of
the iron works.6 [TDV 159-171]
Benson J. Lossing visits Adirondac and describes it as “the little deserted village”
[TDV 186].
1860 Lake Ontario and Hudson River Railroad Company reorganized as the Adirondac
Estate and Railroad Company [Hochschild].
1863 Dr. Thomas Clark Durant purchases property of the Adirondack Iron and Steel
Company and reorganizes the Adirondac Estate and Railroad Company as the
Adirondack Company [Hochschild].
1863 Naturalist and writer John Burroughs visits and describes site. The Lower Works
contained only the remains of the dam and a long, low mound suggesting an earth
work. The Upper Works village was inhabited by [Robert] Hunter, his wife, and
five or six children, hired by the company to “see that things were not wantonly
destroyed but allowed to go to decay properly and decently. He had a substantial
roomy frame house and any amount of grass and woodland. He had good barns
and kept considerable stock” as a subsistence farmer. “There were about thirty
buildings in all, most of them small frame houses with a door and two windows
opening into a small yard in front and a garden in the rear, such as are usually
occupied by the laborers in a country manufacturing district. There was one large
two story boarding house, a school house with a cupola and bell in it, and
numerous sheds and forges, and a saw-mill. … Nearby a building filled with
charcoal was bursting open and the coal going to waste on the ground. The
smelting works were also much crumbled by time. The schoolhouse was still
used. … The district library contained nearly one-hundred readable books, which
were well thumbed.” [TDV 203, 204] [8]

5
Seely notes that, when the October 1857 freshet struck the McIntyre works, Robert Hunter was already “the
only inhabitant in the vicinity.” The house in which Hunter and his family lived is known today as the
MacNaughton Cottage.
6
The drawing that is captioned “The Adirondack Iron-Works” bears almost no resemblance to any other
image of either the New Furnace or the iron workers’ village made in the mid-19th century.


1865 Durant commences construction of the Adirondack Railroad at Saratoga
[Hochschild].
1869 “The cellars of their dwellings, in many instances, are excavated in the massive
ore beds” in the village of Adirondac, observes historian Winslow C. Watson.
[TDV 273]
1871 Durant runs out of money; railroad construction ceases three miles above North
Creek (26 miles away), and assets of the Adirondack Iron and Steel Company
revert to its heirs [Hochschild].
1873 Seneca Ray Stoddard visits site, and subsequently describes the “new forge” as a
“huge building in a dilapidated condition, but the great stone furnace, forty feet
square at its base, stands firm as and solid as when made; a few rods beyond this
is the ruined village, where a scence [sic] of utter desolation met our view. … On
either side [of the grass grown street] once stood neat cottages and pleasant
homes, now stained and blackened by time; broken windows, doors unhinged,
falling roof, rotting sills and crumbling foundations, pointed to the ruin that must
surely come. At the head of the street was the old furnace, a part of one chimney
still standing, and another shattered by the thunder bolt lay in ruins at its feet. The
water-wheel … lay motionless. … Huge blocks of iron, piles of rusty ore, coal
bursting from the crumbling kilns, great shafts broken and bent, rotting timbers,
stones and rubbish lay in one common grave, over which loving nature had
thrown a shroud of creeping vines. Near the center of the village was a large
house said at one time to have accommodated one hundred boarders, now grim
and silent; near by the left stood the pretty school house; the steps. … rotted and
fallen, the windows were almost paneless, the walls cracked and rent asunder
where the foundation had dropped away, and the doors yawned wide.” They
entered the door of the large house, passed through the sounding hall to the rear of
the building, and found it occupied by the Moores, “an old Scotchman7 and
family, who took care of the property and took in strangers that chanced to come
in that way, myself among that number.” Party spent night in “one of the deserted
houses.” [Note: Stoddard republishes this description through 1914.] [TDV 299,
300, 302] [5]

Phase III. Preston Ponds/Adirondack/Tahawus Clubs (1876-1947)

Background and antecedents
1837 Learning of the Emmons survey, Charles Fenno Hoffman (1806-1884), guided by
John Cheney, visits village of McIntyre in September in his attempt to be the first
journalist to report on the source of the Hudson.
1839 Hoffman’s “Wild Scenes in the Forest” published in London. [TDV 34-68]

7
The “old Scotchman” was probably Robert Hunter, not John Moore. Stoddard blended the account of his
first visit, in 1870, with his second visit, in 1873. Hunter was custodian when Stoddard first visited. Street
referred to Hunter as “an intelligent Scotchman.”


1841-2 Piseco Lake Trout or Trout Club organized.
A touring party visiting Adirondack catches twenty-seven trout in one evening
[N.J. Beach to Emily Beach, 14 June 1841].
1843 Hoffman’s “Wild Scenes in the Forest” published in New York.
1844 Colden visits iron works with English actor William Charles Macready and party
camps out.
1846 Joel T. Headley, a Protestant minister, visits Upper Works and climbs Mt. Marcy
with John Cheney.
1849 Richard H. Dana visits the Upper Works on hike through Indian Pass. [TDV 132-
145, 146-158]
Headley’s “The Adirondack: or Life in the Woods” is published, emphasizing the
region’s salubrious qualities. [TDV 87-114]
1852 Piseco Lake Trout or Trout Club disbands due to scarcity of trout, probably from
over-fishing.
1857 North Woods [Izaak] Walton Club established by group of upstate sportsmen
(formerly called the Brown’s Track Association) on Third Lake, Fulton Chain.
Club establishes temporary camps on several lakes in Fulton Chain. Samuel H.
Hammond’s “Wild Northern Scenes: or Sporting Adventures with the Rifle and
the Rod” published, promoting the Adirondacks’ abundant fish and game and
advocating legislation for its protection.
1858 A stone hut, “intended for the use and comfort of visitors to Tahawus” [i.e., Mt.
Marcy] is erected in a nook of the heel at the south end of the summit August 19
by “F.S.P., M.C., and F.M.N. of New York [Carson, p.64 (from Lossing, TDV
194)].
1859 Lossing, guided by Mitchell Sabattis and William Preston, spends night of August
31 in hut atop Marcy, noting previous visits that month by at least two other
parties [Carson, p.64 (again, from Lossing)].
New York State Governor Horatio Seymour shoots one of the last native
Adirondack moose near Jock’s Lake.
1869 William H.H. Murray’s “Adventures in the Wilderness: or, Camp-Life in the
Adirondacks” published.
1870s Fulton Chain swarmed by sports fishermen.
1871 Blooming Grove Park Association establishes first game preserve (12,000 acres)
in the United States in Pike County, Pennsylvania, “one of the wildest and most
picturesque portions of the State. [6]
1872 Yellowstone Park created without provisions for hunting or fishing.
1874 Seneca Ray Stoddard (1844-1917) publishes first edition of “The Adirondacks
Illustrated” (Albany: Weed, Parsons & Co.). Describes Upper Works as an “old


village … in the midst of wild and picturesque scenery” convenient to Lake
Henderson, Preston Ponds, Lake Harkness, Lake Andrews (“specially noted for
its quantities of trout”), Calamity Pond, Lake Colden, Avalanche Lake, and Mt.
Marcy. [TDV 39] Quotes occupant John Moore as saying, “We come here to hunt
and fish, wife and I, and the less people come the better it will please us, but if
people will come, we will try to take care of them in the proper season,” without
charge. [5]
1877-78 Several former members of the North Woods Walton Club, organized as the
Bisby Club, lease 320 acres in Brown’s Tract “to preserve the forest from
incursions of civilization” and “where they might fish and hunt without
molestation by the general public.” Bisby Club members include Richard U.
Sherman, one of New York State’s Commissioners of Fisheries, Verplanck
Colvin, former Governor Horatio Seymour, and Seth Green. [7]
1885 NYS creates the Adirondack Forest Preserve to control the watershed in eastern
and central New York, but fails to protect forests.
1887 Adirondack Mountain Reserve established, headquartered at St. Hubert’s. AMR
purchased Ausable Lakes and most of the Great Range to protect area from
uncontrolled logging.
1889 Uncontrolled logging in the Adirondacks and inadequacies of the forest preserve
law are the subject of a series of articles in the New York Times in the fall.
1890 Adirondack League Club establishes preserve in western Adirondacks, intending
to manage forestry and game.
1891 Congress passes the Forest Reserve Act, establishing a system of national forests.
1892 New York State creates the Adirondack Park to protect the forest.
1904 New York State Forest, Fish and Game Commission estimates that fifty-five
private preserves, owned by clubs and individuals, constitute nearly 750,000
acres, or a third, of all private land within the park.

III-A (1876-1898): Preston Ponds/Adirondack Clubs
1876 James R. Thompson and a few of his friends informally organize the Preston
Ponds Club on February 17, having as its object “the protection, increase and
capture of fish and game in and about the Preston Ponds in the County of Essex,
and the promotion of social intercourse among its members.” Club leases from
Thompson the three Preston ponds located three miles northwest of the Upper
Works for two years. John Moore employed as “guardian of the ponds.” [9]
Donaldson appears to be incorrect as identifying the Preston Ponds Club as the
first organization formed in the Adirondacks for sporting purposes; it does,
however, appear to control an early, possibly first, private club preserve for this
purpose.


Honorary Members (1877-1884) included Spencer Fullerton Baird, the first head
of the United States Fish Commission and an early “fish culturist;” Robert
Barnwell Roosevelt, uncle of Theodore Roosevelt, another early fish culturist;
Seth Green, another early fish culturist, and honorary member of the Bisby Club;
and Verplanck Colvin.
Founding Members (1877) included artist Lockwood DeForest of New York;
Frederic H. Betts of New York; Charles L. Atterbury; Abiel Abbot Low Jr., of
New York; and Rutherford Stuyvesant.
1877 Name “Preston Ponds Club” considered too limiting in scope; renamed
Adirondack Club, incorporated in March, and obtains a twenty-year lease from
MacIntyre Iron Co. over the entire 105,000-acre holding. [9] James R. Thompson,
President; William E. Pearson, Secretary; Thomas J. Hall of New York City,
Secretary; Francis H. Weeks, George W. Folsom, and William H. Powers
comprised Executive Committee. [Stoddard]
Number of active members limited to twenty, “composed of men of high social
position and noted philanthropy,” according to Stoddard. “The objects of the Club
are protection, stocking, increase and capture of fish and game in and about the
territory owned by the Adirondack Iron and Steel Co., in Essex County, which
has been leased for a term of years for that purpose — and the promotion of social
intercourse among its members. The headquarters will be at the Ruined Village.
The declared policy of the Club is to stop the indiscriminate slaughter of game
and fish in this region. … Visitors will ordinarily have no difficulty in finding
accommodations.” [Stoddard; description repeated through 1884 edition].
Moore dismissed. Myron Buttles made Superintendent of Upper Works, and
David Hunter, son of Robert Hunter, made Superintendent of Lower Works. [10]
$150 appropriated for repairs to the boarding house (later known as the Club
House). [10]
Club planned to lease farms at Lower Works to acceptable parties, but never
developed. [10]
Boarding house remodeled for use as a club house, including new chimney on
north side (club room), and old barns in front removed. Tank with troughs capable
of holding 100,000 fry installed in the kitchen or long room in the rear of the Club
House under Seth Green’s supervision. Soon abandoned for a hatchery built at the
river near the falls. [9]
13,000 California salmon and 40,000 lake trout placed in Lake Henderson in
April. Black bass introduced in Lake Sanford, and speckled trout stocked
elsewhere. [10]
Bull and cow moose from Nova Scotia placed in 50 acre breeding pen on ridge
behind the Club House. [10]


Club House “painted and renovated throughout, and piazza enlarged.” [Masten
(ADV 181)] “The building is now occupied, during the summer, by members of
the Adirondack Club, who have put it in good repair.” [Stoddard (TDV 301)]
1878 Francis H. Weeks obtains permission “to repair the house now called the Hunter
House8 for his own exclusive use;” first cottage occupied by a member. [ADV
147] [9]
1880 McIntyre, Henderson and Robertson heirs appoint Thompson as Trustee to hold
and administer property. [9]
Building adjoining Club House, known as the Annex in 1923, is to be
reconstructed for better accommodation. Construction of a six-boat boathouse on
river at head of Lake Sanford is authorized. [10]
1881 Annex referred to as “new Club House,” and equipped with lockers, [10] two
fireplaces, running water and bath; double porch entirely over front. (1926).
1884 Club Executive Committee purchases George W. Folsom camp on Preston Ponds
for $125. (Replaced by newer building ca. 1913.) [9]
>1884 Alexander Taylor Jr. builds log camp at Lake Colden, which was later purchased
by Club, and was standing in 1923. [9]
1885 Ruined village “is now the headquarters of the Adirondack Club, who have leased
and hold the surrounding territory as a preserve for the use of themselves and
friends, where, it is understood, uninvited guests are not welcome.” Entry is
constant through 1886. [Stoddard]
1887 Thompson succeeded as trustee by James MacNaughton of Albany, a grandson of
A. MacIntyre.
Stoddard revises 1885 entry: “To-day but little appears of the ruined village. All
but two or three of the buildings that stood there in 1873 have been removed or
destroyed. The ancient schoolhouse now does duty as a fish hatchery, and the old
kilns are overgrown with vines and shrubbery. … This is now the headquarters of
the Adirondack Club, who have leased and hold the surrounding territory as a
game and fish preserve for the use of themselves and friends, and while their rules
proclaim them a ‘close corporation,’ no one understanding the circumstances can
find reasonable objection. Stringent rules apply to all members of the club. No
member is permitted to hunt or fish outside the season as established by law, or
hunt at all except on regularly appointed occasions. The small house at Tahawus
and the large building at the Upper Works are under competent management, and
although primarily intended for accommodations of the club, provide excellent
fare for the chance visitor. Price for accommodations is fixed at $3.00 per day for
all persons except guides and servants, and no person not a member of the club or
their guests, will be entertained for more than a single night unless under pressing
conditions. Parties who go through to Avalanche Pass from the north and return

8
Today called the MacNaughton Cottage.


by Indian pass, or vice versa, usually find the way too long for a single day, but
breaking the trip at the Upper Works divides it evenly enough. Those who come
are made welcome and entertained at the Club House in excellent shape. Myron
Buttles is a walking encyclopedia of fact and figures, tireless in discharge of his
duty as manager, and unremitting in his attention as host.” Entry remains constant
through 1892. [Stoddard]
1890 Buttles dies, replaced by Hunter as superintendent with summer headquarters at
Upper Works. [9]
1891 Regulations state: “Members may erect private houses or camps on club premises,
or fit up any vacant houses thereon, provided, however, that no such house or
camp shall be erected or vacant house occupied without the previous consent in
writing, of the Executive Committee; and provided further, that at any time after
the expiration of two years, from the time of granting such permission, the club
may, on six month’s notice, purchase any house or camp, on payment to the
member erecting or refitting the same, the amount necessarily expended by him in
the construction or refitting thereof. Such private houses or camps shall be
deemed in all respects the private property of the member erecting or refitting the
same.”
1891-? Alexander Taylor Jr. (member 1891-?), of Mamaroneck, N.Y., builds Taylor-
Bonner-Terry cottage, first cottage for private occupation, at the head of the street
on the west side.
1893 Stoddard revises 1889 entry: “The Adirondack Club, whose headquarters are at
the Upper Adirondack Works. Once there were extensive buildings at this place.
… Meals can be had here or entertainment for a night, if the traveler wishes,
although uninvited visitors are not encouraged.” Entry remains unchanged
through 1900 edition.
1894 Trust arrangement fails. Judgment in suit brought by some heirs results in sale of
the property to McIntyre Iron Company and issuance of stocks, with James
MacNaughton as president. McIntyre Iron Company, a holding company, is
authorized to buy, sell and lease lands, open and work mines or quarries,
manufacture iron, steel and lumber, mill grain and tan hides. [9; Porter]
1897 Adirondack Club becomes moribund. [9] MacNaughton declines to renew
original ten-year lease. [10]

III-B (1898 - 1920): Tahawus Club
1898 Tahawus Club formed, largely through efforts of Alexander Taylor Jr., replacing
Adirondack Club. Large turnover in membership. New families from Boston;
earlier Philadelphia families defect to Ausable Club. [10]
1899 President George Wheelock informed the members of the Club at the annual
meeting that the first year had been a success, and that four new cottages were
ordered to be built over the winter. These probably were among the following:


• Abbott-Geer-Nichols-Lockwood cottage, adjacent to the Crocker
premises, built by Gordon Abbott of Boston, who was elected a director
that year.
• Coe-Edmonds-Williams-Ferris cottage built by E. Holloway Coe of New
York.
• Jennings-Geer-Rives cottage on the east side of the river, built by Walter
Jennings of New York, who was elected a director at the meeting.
• James-Terry-Savage cottage, located adjacent to the site of the old Store
House, built by Dr. Walter B. James of New York, but never occupied by
him.
Michael Breen assumes charge of Lower Works. [9]
1900 In November, Wheelock reports “four additional cottages have been built and
occupied during the past season, so that we now have eight cottages on the
premises in the immediate vicinity of the Club. … A new water supply system …
from the Calamity Pond stream, drawn from a point of sufficient altitude and at a
distance of two-thirds of a mile from the Club, has been installed at an expense of
$1,800. … The dock at Lake Henderson has been completely rebuilt. … Lake
Sandford boat house and landing stage were altered and enlarged to accommodate
more boats, the bridge across the river renewed, new target range prepared and
fixed in a safe position above the cottages, and a proper foot bridge to it thrown
across.”
George I. Nichols of New York builds Nichols-Ordway-Debevoise cottage east of
street and near river [Masten 1935].
1901 Theodore Roosevelt visits; stays at MacNaughton cottage. [9]
Stoddard belatedly revises entry used since 1893: “The Tahawus Club has leased
the hunting and fishing privileges from the MacIntyre Iron Co., consisting of
nearly 90,000 acres, extending to the Upper Ausable Lake on the east and from
the Lower Works to include Lake Tear-of-the-Clouds and Lake Colden to north,
with headquarters at the Upper Works. … Uninvited visitors are not encouraged.”
Entry remains constant through 1905 edition.
1901-? Dr. George E. Brewer builds Brewer-Williams cottage near site of old
schoolhouse, south of Club House and north of gate.
1905 Arthur Masten builds “Gabbro” on the ridge below the gate, west of the barn;
destroyed by fire in 1926; rebuilt in 1927.
1906 Witherbee, Sherman & Company, owners of mining property near Port Henry,
purchases property; new company called Tahawus Iron Company. [9]
Stoddard revises 1901 entry. “The Tahawus Club … will provide fare for the
chance visitor, primarily intended for accommodation of Club members.” Entry
remains constant through 1914 edition.
1906-09 Extensive explorations of ore conducted, and new road opened from Lake
Sanford to the East River Falls. [9]


1907 MacIntyre Iron Company builds Foote cottage on east side of Lake Sanford for
use of company officials.
1908 Champlain & Sanford Railroad Company organized, proposing route from Lake
Sanford to Addison Junction near Ticonderoga to avoid state-owned land. [9]
1910 Wallace T. Foote, principal proponent at Witherbee, Sherman & Company for re-
opening mining operations, dies. [9]
1914 Schoolhouse [fish hatchery] which stood on the west bank of the river just below
falls is broken up and carried downstream in freshet. [10]

III-C (1921-1947): Tahawus Club/
Tahawus Purchase/Upper Works Club
1921 New York State Conservation Commission acquires Lake Colden gore from Club.
Considerable tracts of land sold to Finch, Pruyn & Co. for logging, with Tahawus
Club reserving rights to hunt and fish thereon for a limited number of years.
10,874 acres remain in ownership of MacIntyre Iron Co. in vicinity of Lake
Sanford and the Club House. [9]
1923 New York State Conservation Commission acquires Indian Pass gore from Club.
1926 David Hunter dies; replaced by Breen as superintendent.
1932 W.R.K. Taylor builds cottage on east side of street, on site of studio to north of
“Lazy Lodge” (1935), which had been built by Alexander Taylor Jr. for his
daughter.
±1932 E. Farrar Bateson builds cottage across street from original site of schoolhouse on
main street.
1933 Annex to Taylor/Bonner/Terry cottage, “Lipstick Lodge,” built. [10] Seely and
Jessup cottages on Lake Sanford are completed. [10] Tahawus Club taken over by
Tahawus Purchase Inc.
1941 Club re-forms as Upper Works Club, sells 6,000 acres to National Lead Co., and
leases Adirondac site for six years. [4]
1947 National Lead does not renew lease with Club; Club relocates to Lower Works
vicinity, resumes Tahawus Club name. [4]

Phase IV. Titanium Pigment Co./National Lead (1941 to present)

Background
1892 Auguste J. Rossi, a French metallurgist employed to study and improve methods
of smelting titaniferous ores. Study results in patents on methods of smelting and
manufacture of various titanium alloys. [Stephenson]
1893 Rossi publishes “Titaniferous Ores in the Blast Furnace,” AIME Trans. 21:832-
67.


1906-09 Magnetic surveys of ore bodies conducted, followed by “considerable” diamond
drilling.
1908 Rossi discovers suitability of titanium oxide as a white paint pigment following
further investigation of McIntyre ore. [Stephenson]
1912-14 15,000 to 20,000 tons of ore shipped as a result of temporary mining operations.
Concentrating plant and/or magnetic separator built on east shore of Lake
Sanford, but hauling of ore proves too costly. [9; Porter]
1916 Owners of McIntyre mine form Titanium Pigment Co. [4]
1921 National Lead Company acquires control of Titanium Pigment Co. [4]
1941 Titanium Division of the National Lead Company of New York (or a subsidiary,
Titanium Pigment Corporation) purchases iron mines in September (Time
Magazine) or April (Wall Street Journal) from MacIntyre Iron Co. for mining of
ilmenite to be used in manufacturing of titanium paint pigments at plants in St.
Louis and Sayerville, New Jersey.
1942 MacIntyre Development (Titanium Division) of National Lead Company and E.I.
DuPont de Nemours and Company, with assistance from the Federal Office of
Production Management, begins mining operations for titanium and vanadium in
July after a year of construction. Forty buildings constructed; eight miles of
highway built. Magnetite separated from ilmenite by magnetic process. Engineers
live in “tents and ghost-city shanties” during start-up.
±1944 Railroad constructed from North Creek.
1945 Tahawus is a community of 300 persons, 84 modern insulated housing units, two
apartment buildings (one 12 units, the other 15 units), boarding house, 80-person
dormitory, restaurant, recreation hall, movie hall, pool room, post office, and
store. Children bussed to school in Newcomb.
>1947 Buildings at Upper Works are used by workers at mines.
1963 Requiring more space for mining, buildings at Tahawus — including churches,
houses and apartments — are moved to Winebrook subdivision on eastern edge of
Newcomb hamlet. [Pope] [NL employees are also removed from Upper Works
houses; site is abandoned.]
1982 Ilmenite mining ceases.
1986 Harold C. Simmons of Dallas gains control of NL Industries.
1989 NL Industries close the mine.
1990 NL Chemical Inc. becomes Kronos Inc. of Houston.

Sources: Chronology
[1] Harold K. Hochschild, “The MacIntyre Mine: From Failure to Fortune” (Blue
Mountain Lake, NY: 1962) [ADV 12-25].


[2] Henry Dornburgh, “Why the Wilderness is Called Adirondack” (Glens Falls: 1885)
[TDV 336-351].
[3] Village of Adirondac–Tahawus Club district (?)
[4] James P. Gold et al., “An Assessment Report, Tahawus/Adirondack Iron and Steel
Company: Upper Works, Town of Newcomb, Essex County, New York” (unpublished
typescript, Bureau of Historic Sites, Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation:
1989).
[5] Seneca Ray Stoddard “The Adirondacks Illustrated” (Albany: Weed, Parsons &
Co., 1874).
[6] “Fall Sport at Blooming Grove Park,” American Sportsman, December 27, 1873,
III, 201.
[7] H. J. Cookingham, “The Bisby Club and the Adirondacks,” American Field, March
10, 1883, XVIII, 172.
[8] John Burroughs, “Wake-Robin” (2nd ed.; Boston, 1891) [TDV 202-206], 102.
[9] Arthur H. Masten, “The Story of Adirondac” (privately published, 1923) [ADV 39-
153].
[10] Arthur H. Masten, “Tahawus Club, 1898-1933” (privately published, 1935) [ADV
155-222]


2. Site survey
Overview
The site surveyed for this study is located along a road beginning at the New Furnace
and terminating at the New York State trailhead to Mount Marcy. The site is bordered by a
steep ridge to the west and the East Branch of the Hudson River to the east. The site
includes structures on the east bank of the river, but these were not inspected at close range
due to difficulty in crossing the river.
The built environment of this site contains extant features constructed over a period of
approximately 100 years, beginning in the 1830s. The earliest features, the
McMartin/McIntyre house and the New Furnace, were constructed in Phase I. With the
exception of a concrete block pumphouse (Building #1-A), which was probably
constructed in Phase IV, the remaining fifteen buildings are related to the Club occupation
of the site.
The following inventory of structures is presented in three sections:
1. The documented vanished buildings and structures are listed first.
2. These are followed by survey notes of the extant structures at the site, including
photographs and comments on history and condition. This section also includes an
assessment of general conditions.
3. The third section lists other related extant structures excluded from the survey.

VANISHED BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES
The following list of vanished buildings and structures is arranged chronologically.
Principal sources referred to are:
1840 Inventory (“Reports and Documents Relative to the Iron Ore Veins, Water Power
and Wood Land, &c. &c. In and Around the Village of McIntyre, in the Town of
Newcomb, Essex County, State of New York,” New York: P. Miller, Jan. 1, 1840 [AML]).
1847 Inventory (Painting Invoice 9/16)
1851 Inventory (“Advantage of the Works and Property of the Adirondac Iron & Steel
Co.,” Philadelphia: Howell Evans, 1851 [AML]).
1854 Inventory (“The Adirondack Iron & Steel Company, New-York,” New York:
W.E. & J. Sibell, 1854 [AML]).

“Iron” dam (possibly by 1826)
Location: Across river at Upper Works.
Description: Not known.
Notes: In 1856, the dam at the Upper Works was destroyed by flooding of the Hudson
River.9

9
See the note at the front of this volume on the “1856 flood,” which actually occurred in 1857; per Masten,
only “the upper dam at Adirondac” (of the three dams shown on an 1854 map) was destroyed. Benson
Lossing, visiting the Upper Works in 1859, included drawing captioned “The Iron Dam” in his book, “The
Hudson.”

455

Saw mill (by 1832)
Location: Adjacent to river.
Description: This or a later replacement structure was a one-story, gable-roofed, open-
sided, braced-timber framed structure, approximately five bays long and one bay wide,
located parallel to the river. The roof appears to have been clad with vertical boards nailed
to purlins or breathers, capped with ridgeboards. [1]
Notes: In 1847, a Mr. Taylor builds a sawmill at the Upper or Lower Works.
Sources:
1. Updated photograph in Masten, “Tahawus Club,” opposite p. 12.
2. A. McIntyre to A. Porteous, February 12, 1847.

Log house, aka old boarding house (by 1832; extended 1833)
Location: Not known.
Description: Possibly a two-story, gable-roofed log house with a chimney at the north
end, “well finished for the country.”
Notes: In 1833, a one-story, gable-roofed log wing with a chimney at the south end
was added to the south, possibly over a cellar, and described as a “comfortable and
convenient dwelling attached to the South End of the log house.”
Probably the building referred to in 1840 as “large boarding house accommodating a
family and 30 boarders” [4], and in 1847 as “old Boarding house” [5].
Sources:
1. Log cabin and south wing as pictured in “View of Adirondack [Group] from the
Newcomb Farm,” in Emmons 1842, vol. II, based on sketch by Henderson.
2. A. McIntyre, diary entry, October 24, 1832, quoted in Hochschild, p. 4.
3. O. Henderson to A. McIntyre, September 8, 1833.
4. 1840 inventory.
5. 1847 inventory.

Forge for a hammer & two fires (1832)
Location: Probably near the head of the village street, a short distance from the “iron”
dam, adjacent to the “old” furnace.
Description: Blooming forge, probably built of stone.
Source: “Nearly finished,” A. McIntyre diary entry, October 24, 1832, quoted in
Hochschild, p. 4.

Coal house (by 1832)
Source: A. McIntyre, diary entry, October 24, 1832, quoted in Hochschild, p. 4.

Blacksmith shop (by 1832)
Source: A. McIntyre, diary entry, October 24, 1832, quoted in Hochschild, p. 4.


Stables/Barns (begun by 1832)
Location: Barn complex appears to have been located on east side of street, across
from the schoolhouse, near the south entrance to the village [4]. Later referred to as in front
of the new boarding house [5].
Description: Unknown.
Notes: By 1840, possibly enlarged/replaced with two barns [2].
By 1854, “3 Large Barns, several Cow Stables and Cattle Sheds, and 1 Piggery
present” [3]. In 1863, barns described as good, and apparently actively used [6]. In 1877,
“old barns” in front of the boarding house were removed. In 1879, a brick barn 100 feet
south of the club house was in good condition; it remained standing until 1901.
Sources:
1. “Some little stabling,” A. McIntyre diary entry, October 24, 1832, quoted in
Hochschild, p. 4.
2. 1840 inventory.
3. 1854 inventory.
4. Lossing.
5. Masten, “Tahawus Club.”
6. Burroughs.

Charring kilns? (1832 or 33?)
Location: Unknown.
Description: “Charring kilns to be built thickness of length of brick (if brick) or 8
inches and 10 feet high.” [1]. “Enquire about Doolittle’s Patent Kilne for Charcoal” [2].
Sources:
1. Lengthy description in A McIntyre to D. McMartin, March 20, 1832. “Charring
kilns” not identified in subsequent inventories; possibly a description of the forge, coal
house or lime kilns?
2. A. McIntyre to D. McMartin, January 2, 1832.

Street from the house to the saw mill (1833)
Road from the landing to the settlement (1833)
Description: Corduroy road?
Notes: Corduroy road by 1840 [2].
Sources:
1. D. Henderson to A. McIntyre, September 8,1833.
2. A. McIntyre to A. Porteous, January 22, 1840.

Lime kiln (by 1834) [1]
Notes: Pendleton limestone proved to be ill-suited for lime; proprieters considered
importing lime to works in 1840 [2].
Sources:
1. A. McMartin to D. McMartin, June 23,1834.
2. A. McIntyre to A. Porteous,January 22,1840.


Daniel McMartin house (1834)
Notes: This is probably the McMartin/McIntyre, aka, Proprietor’s and/or
MacNaughton House. See extant buildings.
Sources: A. McMartin to D. McMartin, 23 June 1834.

Dwelling house (1834)
Location: Across road from the lime kiln [1].
Description: Plain, frame construction[ 1].
Notes: Not the D. McMartin House [1].
Sources: A. McMartin to D. McMartin, 23 June 1834.

Storehouse (1834)
Location: Probably on west side of road, north of site of annex.
Description: Frame [2]. Possibly had “a counting room and bed or bed rooms” [3].
Notes: Remained standing in 1883 or later [1].
Sources:
1. Masten, 1935.
2. A. McMartin to D. McMartin, June 23, 1834.
3. A. McIntyre to D. McMartin, January 2, 1833.

Puddling furnace (1837) [1]
Notes: Possibly replaced in 1845: “Mr. Rufsel the refiner is now with the mason
erecting a puddling furnace fed by spruce.” [2].
Sources:
1. Dornburgh.
2. D. Henderson to A. McIntyre, June 14, 1845, from Adirondac.

Andrew Porteous house [1] (by 1838)[2]
Sources:
1. 1840 inventory.
2. “I shall be anxious to hear from you frequently in relation to our business, and
particularly … [your] removal into your house at the works.” A. McIntyre to A. Porteous,
November 10, 1838.

“Old” blast furnace, aka quarter furnace (1838)
Location: Near the head of the village street, a short distance from the “iron” dam.
Description: The first chimney of the furnace, constructed of fieldstone, appears not to
have survived the first year due to poor mortar [1] and/or quality of stonework. First rebuilt
in 1840, possibly by a mason from New Jersey [2], lined with brick [3] and using lime on
chimney parts exposed to the weather and clay elsewhere [4].


In 1845, the hearth was possibly modified, “and is altogether more substantial than
anything which had been in the furnace before — being of massive blocks of stone closely
fitted together in place of the patchwork of former hearths.” [5].
Notes: By 1863, “smelting works were also much crumbled by time” [6]. By 1873,
“At the head of the street was the old furnace, a part of one chimney still standing, and
another shattered by the thunder bolt lay in ruins at its feet” [7]. In 1989, the New York
State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation reported: “The stone furnace
stack is collapsed, wooden blowing cylinders, water wheels, etc. have rotted away, leaving
isolated pieces of iron hardware scattered around. It is not clear which of the visible
remains are associated with the blooming forge and which are part of the blast furnace.”
See building #1A for visible remains.
Sources:
1. “The chimney ought not be rebuilt until it can be rebuilt with our own clay. Clay
ought probably be got out and piled this season for uses next spring. … I shall not regret
the loss of the chimney.” A. McIntyre to A. Porteous, August 1, 1839.
2. “Probable that Henderson will send up mason from New Jersey to erect chimney
and properly fire it.” A. McIntyre to A. Porteous, January 22, 1840.
3. A. McIntyre to A. Porteous, March 3, 1840.
4. A. McIntyre to A. Porteous, February 6, 1840.
5. D. Henderson to A. McIntyre, September 1, 1844.
6. Burroughs [TDV 204].
7. Stoddard [TDV 300].
8. NYSOPRHP.
9. Joseph M. Thatcher, “Technology Evaluation, Tahawus,” in Gold et al.,
NYSOPRHP, pp. 37-38.

Cheney house [1] (by 1839) [2]
Location: Unknown.
Notes: Possibly one of dwellings previously mentioned.
Sources:
1. 1847 Inventory.
2. “It is worthy of consideration whether a [kitchen similar to one at A. Porteous
house] ought not be added to the house occupied by John Cheney. Let this be avoided
however unless you deem it important to be done.” A. McIntyre to A. Porteous, January 25,
1839.

Stamping and separating house? (1839?)
Location: Unknown.
Description: “An ample house and machinery for stamping and separating must be
built in the spring.” [1]
Sources: A. McIntyre to A. Porteous, January 3, 1839.

Unidentified dwelling house (by 1840)
Location: Unknown.


Notes: Possibly John Cheney house.
Sources: 1840 inventory.

Carpenter’s shop (by 1840)
Location: Unknown.
Sources: 1840 inventory.

Coal houses (by 1840)
Location: Probably adjacent to forge/old furnace.
Description: Capacity 100,000 bushels of charcoal in 1840 [1]. Six coal houses present
in 1854, some near new furnace.
Notes: By 1863, “a building filled with charcoal was bursting open and the coal going
to waste on the ground” [2].
Sources:
1. 1840 inventory.

Tahawus blast furnace (1844)
Location: Lower Works.
Description: Not available.

Tilting hammer (1845)
Location: Lower Works?
Notes: Included equipment to work steel into small bars.
Sources: “The forge with new hammer — healing[?] furnace, etc., will not be ready
until first week of June.” D. Henderson to A. McIntyre, April 18, 1845.

Several houses (by 1847)
Several houses listed in the 1847 inventory may have already been mentioned; nothing
else is known of these houses:
• House opposite “Old Blacks.” Shop (by 1847)
• Beedy house (by 1847)
• Snyder house (by 1847)
• Kellog house (by 1847)
• Sargent house (by 1847)

Schoolhouse (by 1847)
Location: West side of street, south of new boarding house.
Description: One-story, frame, gable-roofed schoolhouse with cupola, shingle- or
shake-clad walls, and chimney at west end.
Notes: Discussed as early as 1839 [1] but first mentioned in 1847 inventory [2]. In
1863, “schoolhouse with cupola and a bell in it … still used. … The district library


contained nearly one-hundred readable books which were well thumbed.” [3] By 1873,
“the steps … rotted and fallen, the windows were almost paneless, the walls cracked and
rent asunder where the foundation had dropped away, and the doors yawned wide.” [4] In
1878 or 1879, the schoolhouse was modified as a fish hatchery and relocated to the west
bank of the river just below the falls [5]. In 1914, the building was broken up and carried
downstream in freshet [5].
Sources:
1. “It appears to me that we ought not to convert the upper flat of the store into a
meeting or school house.” A. McIntyre to A. Porteous, March 16, 1839.
2. 1847 Inventory.
5. Masten, 1935 [ADV 189].
New Boarding House aka Club House (1847)
Location: West side of street, across from and south of McMartin/McIntyre house.
Description: Massive two story, frame, gable-roofed core with end chimneys, four
bays deep, with one-and-one-half story kitchen ell perpendicular to west. Main ridge
parallel with street. Core measured 50 x 37 feet; kitchen 22 x 18 feet. Contained a walnut
staircase [1].
Notes: In 1877, $150 appropriated for repairs to the boarding house, remodeled as the
club house, including a new chimney on north side (club room), painting and renovating
throughout, and enlargement of the piazza. Tank with troughs capable of holding 100,000
fry were installed in the kitchen or long room in the rear of the club house under Seth
Green’s supervision, but soon abandoned for a hatchery built at the river near the falls. In
1879, a chimney was proposed to be added to the south side of club house for an open
fireplace.
Sources:
1. Draft specifications.
2. Undated photograph “Upper Works Clubhouse, occupied by the Adirondack Club in
1877,” view from southeast, reproduced in Hochschild, p. 17 [Stoddard, 1888].
3. Undated photograph “Village Street about 1900,” view from southeast, reproduced
in Masten, 1935, opp. p. 32.
16 Dwelling houses for workmen (by 1854)
Location: Unknown.
Description: Described by Burroughs in 1863 as “small frame houses with a door and
two windows opening into a small yard in front and a garden in the rear, such as are usually
occupied by the laborers in a country manufacturing district” [2]. By 1873, “On either side
[of the grass grown street] once stood neat cottages and pleasant homes, now stained and
blackened by time; broken windows, doors unhinged, falling roof, rotting sills and
crumbling foundations, pointed to the ruin that must surely come” [3].
Sources:
1. 1854 Inventory.
2. Burroughs.
3. Stoddard.


Andrew Porteous’s sketch, notes, “Plan of houses for Adirondack”

Church of Tubal-Cain (by 1854)
Location: On north side of road connecting new furnace and Lake Hamish [1].
Description: [2]
Sources:
1. “Ground Plan of Beds and Veins of Magnetic Oxide of Iron: etc.” [1854] [Note that
this map shows the church as being on the south side of the road, not the north.]
2. Watercolor view [by Robert H. Robertson, 1910], Adirondack Museum.

Miscellaneous buildings (by 1854)
Nothing is known of the following buildings, except that they were listed in the 1854
inventory:
• Mill for driving small machinery
• Grist Mill
• Hay Scales
• 2 Kilns for roa[s]ting ore
• Brick House
• Granary


• Tool House
• 3 Coal Kilns
• Long Wood house
• Ice house
• Powder house
• Building with Steaming Apparatus

Blast Furnace — aka ‘New’ Furnace — dependencies (1854)
Location: On east side of road, 0.6 miles south of Upper Works.
Description: Connected to the furnace were a new wheel house, carpenter shop,
[casting house, covered charging bridge,] and two large coal houses. By 1873, the “new
forge” [casting house?] described as a “huge building in a dilapidated condition, but the
great stone furnace, forty feet square at its base, stands firm as and solid as when made” [2].
Notes: Furnace first fired August 20, 1854.
Sources:
1. 1854 Inventory.

Club House Annex (1880)
Location: On the west side of the road between the Abbott cottage and
McMartin/McIntyre house.
Notes: Reconstructed in 1880 from a house adjoining the Club House for better
accommodation. Referred to as “new Club House,” equipped with lockers in 1881. [1]
Called the “Annex” in 1906. [2] In 1926, described as having two fireplaces, running water
and bath, and double porch entirely over front. [3]
Sources:
1. Masten.
2. 1906 Survey.
3. 1926 Survey.

George W. Folsom camp (by 1884)
Location: Preston Ponds.
Notes: Club Executive Committee purchased it for $125 in 1884. In 1913, replaced by
a newer building.
Sources: Masten.

Alexander Taylor Jr. camp (after 1884)
Location: Lake Colden.
Description: Log camp.
Notes: Later purchased by Club. Reported standing in 1923.
Sources: Masten.


DESCRIPTION OF SURVIVING BUILDINGS AND FEATURES
The surviving buildings are listed numerically by the numbers assigned by the New
York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, which start on the north
end of the east side of the village street (along the river), go south, then cross to the west
side and go north. Roof plans, showing the general layout of each structure, and
photographs for each building appear after the individual narrative descriptions.
East side
1a. Pump house
1-1b. Coe-Edmonds-Williams-Ferris Cottage
2. Jennings-Geer-Rives Cottage
3. W.R.K. Taylor Jr. Cottage
4. Mrs. Taylor’s Cottage (“Lazy Lodge”)
5. Abbott-Geer-Nichols-Lockwood Cottage
6. McMartin/McIntyre House (MacNaughton Cottage)
7. Nichols-Ordway-Debevoise Cottage
8. Bateson Cottage
West side
9. Brewer-Williams Cottage
Former clubhouse, annex site
10, 10a. James(?)-Terry-Savage Cottage and shed
11. “New” cottage
12. Taylor-Bonner-Terry Cottage
12a. “Lipstick Lodge” (Terry Cottage annex)


BUILDING #1A — PUMP HOUSE

This small pump house appears to have been constructed during Phase IV. The
building contains inoperative mid-20th century electrical equipment. The building is not
visually related to other extant features at the site.

Historical: No information has been found.
[Note: In 2002, Tahawus Club member Anne Knox, whose family first brought her to
the Upper Works for the summer in 1926, recalled that the only telephone at the Upper
Works during the Tahawus Club occupation was located inside the pump house.]

Architectural: The one-story concrete block building is located on a steeply sloped
site above the west bank of the river to the north of Cottage #1. The building measures 12 x
14’ at the base. The foundation, which is partially cantilevered to the east, and the roof are
constructed of concrete slabs, which serve as the finish floor and ceiling respectively. A
two-panel door is in the doorway, which faces west, and windows contain two-over-two
double-hung sash. An iron cylinder, which appears to have been fabricated of plate iron
during Phase I for a blooming forge, is located to the west of the pump house.

Conditions: The concrete floor slab and adjacent blocks are spalled and eroded from
apparent periodic flooding and rebar corrosion at the southeast corner.

Photo 112. Building #1A, view from northwest (December 1993)


COTTAGE # 1/1B — COE-EDMONDS-WILLIAMS-FERRIS COTTAGE (CA. 1899)

The Coe-Edmonds-Williams-Ferris cottage, which appears to be located on the site of
an earlier Phase I or Phase III-A structure, is an example of a cottage begun in Phase III-B
and enlarged with subsequent additions. The cottage retains its general appearance as fully
evolved when it was illustrated in plan in the 1923 survey with the exception of the
removal of its rustic verandah. The core exhibits serious structural deterioration at the ridge
and west sill, and many of its additions are near collapse.

Historical: The cottage was built around 1899 by E. Holloway Coe (member 1899-
1916) of New York. Subsequent owners or occupants were Walter D. Edmonds (novelist,
born 1903, author of “Drums Along the Mohawk,” and member 1916 to ca. 1926), Thomas
Williams (member 1916-1933), and Morris Douw Ferris (member 1924- ) who occupied
the cottage in 1935. The cottage was identified as “Coes” in the 1906 survey. In 1926, the
36,780 cubic feet “Coe cottage” was described as having “two fireplaces, plumbing and 8’
porch two sides.”

Architectural: Sited on a steeply sloped bank, the first floor level of the original T-
shaped core is entered on grade with the road at the west end and elevated on vertical logs
the height of a full story at its east end. The area within the vertical logs was infilled
subsequent to the building’s original construction. A fully excavated basement, which is
atypical of Phase III construction and probably incorporates the foundation of an earlier
structure, is located below the southern section of the core. Above the basement, other
visible structural characteristics and finishes are typical. The 1½-story cottage core is
massed below a transverse gable roof with its main ridge running north-south (parallel to
the road) and containing dormers. Enclosed porches are appended to the north and east
walls of the core, and it is connected to a small, gable-roofed one-story annex located in the
southeast corner (NYSOPRHP #1B). A verandah, identified in the 1923 survey and
evidenced by ghosts and fragments on the core, formerly wrapped the west, south and west
end of the north facades. The roadway has encroached upon the west facade where the
verandah previously stood.

Site: The main, west entrance to the first floor is approximately on grade with the
road. The site slopes steeply downward to the east, providing a series of finished rooms in
the rear at the basement level.

Exterior Features
Foundation: The walls of the basement below the south section of the core are
constructed of quarry-faced random ashlar (probably Phase I) below common-bond brick
(Phase III). Openings are rectilinear. The exterior is partially reinforced with a concrete
retaining wall above grade. Elsewhere, the building is supported by log posts atop
fieldstone footings. Annex is built upon fieldstone curb wall.
Structure: Where exposed in the excavated basement, the first floor is heavily framed
with unpeeled log joists carried by sawn or hewn girders and sills (identical to Brewer-
Williams cottage). Annex floor is framed with log joists approximately 2’ above earth in
crawl space. Wall framing is not evident, but sheathing is attached with wire nails. Exposed


2”x rafter tails in lower eaves of core and annex. Raking eaves are faced with a running-
molded eaves board in core.
Chimneys: Two brick chimneys are present, one along the secondary ridge of the core,
and one against the south wall of the rear.
Roof: Geometrically complex form, surfaced with wood shingles.
Verandahs: Early or original verandah was rustic based upon fragment surviving on
north facade, but elsewhere removed. Enclosed shed-roofed porches in rear at the first floor
level are carried by peeled log stilts. These were added after original construction of the
rear.
Walls: Clad with shingles stained red-brown.
Windows: Two-over-two double-hung sash where visible in core; four-over-four
double-hung sash in annex.
Doors: Covered with plywood at west.

Interior Features
Floors: Matched hardwood strip flooring.
Walls and Ceilings: Matched beaded board, painted.
Other: Six-panel (three-over-three) doors with stamped iron knobs in fascia surrounds.
Stamped iron hardware.

Conditions
1. The main north-south ridge is deflected.
2. The sill and plate of the west wall are deflected, and the west wall is settled.
Sections of the first floor and joists are rotted along the west edge south of the door.
3. The floors of the enclosed porches in the northeast comer have collapsed, and the
exposed hewn east sill is rotted at its south connection. Most other structural elements of
the porches appear to be unsound.
4. The wood shingle roof is waterlogged and open to the weather above the rear
porches and annex.
5. The interior of the first and second floors was not accessible, but where visible
through windows, first floor wainscoting appears to be intact with limited water damage.
Wainscoting, flooring, and floor framing in basement and annex are more extensively
water damaged.


Coe-Edmonds-Williams-Ferris Cottage (#1/1B) roof plan

Photo 42. Coe-Edmonds-Williams-Ferris cottage (Cottage # 1),
west facade (December 1993).


Photo 43. Coe-Edmonds-Williams-Ferris cottage (Cottage # 1/1B),
view from south-southwest (December 1993).

view from southeast, with cottage 1B in foreground (May 1991).


view from southwest (May 1991).

view from east (December 1993).


view from northeast (December 1993).

view from north-northwest (December 1993).


Photo 49. Coe-Edmonds-Williams-Ferris cottage (Cottage # 1B),
detail of wall construction, southeast corner (December 1993).


COTTAGE #2 — JENNINGS-GEER-RIVES COTTAGE (CA. 1899)

The Jennings-Geer-Rives cottage, located on the east bank of the river, appears to be
representative of Phase III-B construction. The small annex, connected by a rustic covered
walkway, is an unusual surviving feature. The west and south features of the cottage do not
appear to have been altered or enlarged from their original condition. Although no major
structural deficiencies are visible from across the river, the building is in fragile condition.

Historical: The Jennings-Geer-Rives cottage was built around 1899 by Walter
Jennings (member 1900-1926) of New York, who was elected a director at the 1899
meeting. Subsequent owners or occupants were Marshall Geer (member 1913-1926) and
Bayard Rives (member 1926- ). The annex does not appear to have been present in 1906,
when the cottage was identified as “Jennings.” In 1926, the 22,446 cubic feet “Jennings
cottage” with its 3,640 cubic feet annex was described as having “two fireplaces, plumbing,
porch and bridge.” The cottage was occupied by Rives in 1935.

Architectural: The cottage was originally approached by a foot bridge which is no
longer extant. The two-story, gable-roofed cottage, located adjacent to the riverbank, is
connected to the one-story hip-roofed annex to its east by a partially extant covered
walkway. The annex is not clearly visible from the opposite shore.

Site: The main, south entrance to the first floor is several feet above adjacent grade.
The site slopes gradually downward to the west.

Exterior Features
Foundation: Not visible. [A 2004 archeological survey by the New York State
Museum concluded that this cottage had been built on the pre-existing foundation of a
Phase I iron forge.]
Structure: Framing is not visible. Exposed rafter tails in lower eaves of cottage.
Raking eaves are faced with a running-molded eaves board in core.
Chimneys: One concrete block chimney is present near center of west slope of cottage roof.
Roof: Relatively simple massings surfaced with wood shingles.
Verandahs: An early or original verandah, which previously wrapped around the west
and south facades and connected the cottage to the footbridge and rustic covered walkway
to annex, is no longer present but evident in ghosts.
Walls: Clad with shingles stained red-brown.
Windows: Two-over-two double-hung sash where visible in core.
Doors: Not visible.

Interior Features
Floors: Not visible.
Walls and Ceilings: Matched beaded board, painted.

Conditions: Rustic covered walkway is near collapse, and annex appears to be
ruinous.


Jennings-Geer-Rives Cottage (#2) roof plan

Photo 50. Jennings-Geer-Rives cottage (Cottage #2)
view across river from southwest (December 1993)


view across river of south facade (December 1993)

detail of west dormer and south eaves from southwest (December 1993)


view across river of annex from southwest (December 1993)


COTTAGE #3 — W.R.K. TAYLOR JR. COTTAGE (1932)

The W.R.K. Taylor Jr. cottage is the best-preserved of the three examples of Phase III-
C construction on the site.

Historical: The cottage was built in 1932 by W.R.K. Taylor Jr. (member 1929-1933)
replacing a small cabin constructed in Phase III-B and used as a studio by a daughter of
Alexander Taylor.

Architectural: The one-story cottage, constructed during the last years of Phase III,
contains two unconnected units, each with a living room approached from its own entrance.
Unlike the earlier cottages, this dwelling was planned to accommodate indoor plumbing.
The main ridge of the transverse gable roof runs north-south, with the entrance to the south
unit massed beneath the west end of the transverse gable. The entrance to the north unit is
made through a shed-roofed rustic porch which is present in fragments. A rustic verandah,
which is now completely collapsed, was attached to the east facade overlooking the river.

Site: The floor of the building is located on grade with the road at the west edge. The
site slopes steeply downward to the east between the road and the river.

Exterior Features
Foundation: The building stands on log-post stilts on fieldstone and concrete footings.
Structure: The floor, roof, walls and partitions are lightly framed with nominal
dimension lumber throughout. Shiplap sheathing is fastened with wire nails. Exposed
nominal dimension 2”x rafter tails are faced with plain fascia eaves board on raking eaves.
Chimneys: Three brick chimneys are present, located on the center of the south facade,
west of center on the north wall, and near the center of the base of the east roof slope.
Exterior fireplace chimneys are constructed in typical corbelled setback manner of Phase
III. Fireplace hearths are faced with fieldstone.
Roof: The roof massing is of relatively simple form, and surfaced with wood shingles.
Verandahs: Debris remains of a rustic verandah formerly constructed on log stilts are
located to the east of the cottage, and a small rustic porch is located on the north facade.
Walls: Wood shingles stained reddish brown.
Windows: Two-over-two double-hung sash.
Doors: Stock unit with two vertical panels surmounted by four glass panes.

Interior Features
Floors: Matched hardwood strip floor.
Walls and Ceilings: Painted matched beaded board wall finish in living south room,
and plasterboard walls and ceilings elsewhere.
Other: Two-panel stock millwork door units in fascia surrounds.

Conditions
1. The south end of the west wall has been pushed in by vandals and is open to the
elements.


2. Floor is rotted adjacent to open west wall and below roof leaks.
3. Roof is open to the weather in numerous areas on west slope. Leaks have damaged
isolated areas of interior finishes.
4. Masonry of south chimney is deteriorated.
5. East verandah is collapsed and north porch is unsound.
6. Interior partitions are extensively vandalized.

W.R.K. Taylor Jr. Cottage (#3) roof plan

Photo 91. W.R.K. Taylor Jr. cottage, (Cottage #3),
west (principal) facade (December 1993)


view from northwest (December 1993)

detail of chimney and rustic porch on north facade, view from northwest (December 1993)


view from southeast (May, 1991)

view toward southwest of south sitting room (December 1993).


detail of deteriorated wall in recessed entrance, view from southwest (December 1993)


COTTAGE #4 — TAYLOR COTTAGE
aka “Mrs. Taylor’s cottage,” “Lazy Lodge”
(begun 1890s, enlarged and renovated 1906-1910)

This cottage, which originated from a small, possibly Phase III-A core, retains its
general configuration and finish as enlarged and renovated in Phases III-B and III-C. The
cottage incorporates at least three distinct construction campaigns and possesses some early
interior finishes which are not typical of Phase III-B. The cottage has a major sill problem
along its east edge, and is missing its original verandah.

Historical: Masten reported that “Lazy Lodge” was built in 1906-1910 by Alexander
Taylor Jr. (member 1891-?) of Mamaroneck who had earlier built the Taylor-Bonner-Terry
cottage (#12). The building appears to have incorporated an earlier core of undocumented
origin which was occupied by [William F.?] King (a member 1898-1905) in the 1906
survey. Subsequent owners and occupants were W.R.K. Taylor (member 1910-1933) and
Mrs. W.R.K. Taylor (member 1922-1923). In 1926, the 17,560 cubic feet “Mrs. Taylor’s
cottage” was described as having two fireplaces, plumbing, and porches measuring 20x20’
and 10x16’. The cottage was referred to as “Lazy Lodge” in 1935. The interior appears to
have been subdivided into two units during Phase IV.

Architectural: The earliest phases appear to be the cottage’s south and center sections,
to which were added the north end and two small gable-roofed bathroom additions. The
walls of the center section were originally finished with wallpapered plaster on sawn lath,
which was subsequently covered with wainscoting. The floor in this area appears to have
been replaced at that time. With the exception of the bathroom addition at the south end,
the building attained its existing configuration by the time of the 1923 survey. The cottage
core is massed below a transverse gable roof, with a low pitched, chalet-form roof
perpendicular to the road at the south end, intersected by a secondary gable roof and
interrupted by shallow-pitched shed roofs at the south and parallel to the road. A rustic
verandah remains standing at the south end of the east facade, and a collapsed rustic
verandah was previously attached to the east wall overlooking the river.

Site: The main, west entrance to the first floor is approximately on grade with the
road. The site slopes steeply downward to the east.

Exterior Features
Foundation: The building is supported by log post stilts atop concrete or fieldstone
footings.
Structure: Three types of floor framing are present. The center section is heavily
framed with unpeeled log joists tenoned into hewn sills. The south section (below the
“chalet” roof) is framed with rough-sawn lumber mortised into hewn girders and sills. The
north end and bathroom additions are lightly framed with nominal dimension 2” lumber.
Interior partitions in the center and south sections are framed with rough-sawn full-
dimension 2x4” lumber; elsewhere, partitions are framed with nominal 2x4” lumber. Butt-
joint sheathing is attached with wire nails. Roofs in the center and south sections are


Annals of the Deserted Village (Part 4)

Annals of the Deserted Village (Part 4)

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