Logging Drives
I know of no more scenically impressive stretch of Adirondack road than the three miles that traverse the east bank of the Hudson River between the Hudson River Recreation Area and the Route 28 intersection.
This is a continuation of the "Ice Meadows," so called for its unique, Arctic-like qualities.
When turbulent supercooled water freezes, it can create Frazil ice, which has the appearance of loose, needle-like crystals or grains. The interplay of light and these tiny crystals can create a glittering, ethereal effect that’s both beautiful and fascinating. Frazil ice can last into April, shortening the growing season and creating a cooler climate that supports rare plant species, such as Ohio Goldenrod and the Dwarf Sand-cherry.
When I drive this route, I always imagine time-traveling to the 1870s and seeing the General Hancock on the opposite bank, pulling three yellow coaches and six freight cars down the tracks of Thomas Durant's Adirondack Railroad. In the spring, I see the river filled with logs, all sliced in 13-foot lengths by lumberjacks working as far as 20 miles upstream. The logs are heading to the sawmills and paper mills of Glens Falls, where they'll be caught and sorted in the Big Boom.
Working mostly in winter, lumberjacks hauled the logs by sled and stacked them by the river, waiting for the spring melt that would raise the river and increase its force. The logs often jammed on turns or got hung up on rocks. Lumberjacks would then climb onto them and pick, pry and even dynamite them loose. Many lost their lives, leaving families to grieve and figure out some way to support themselves.
At first, the lumbermen took only large, marketable spruce trees --which were strong and light -- to be sawn into boards for construction. These planks were shipped all over the Eastern Seaboard via the Feeder Canal down the Hudson or west along the Erie Canal. The expansion of railroad lines in the late 1800s created a huge demand for railroad ties -- 39 million in 1870 alone.
Later, a new form of paper making from wood pulp rather than rags and vegetable matter created a demand for hardwoods as well as pine. Finch Pruyn completed its mill in Glens Falls in 1904.
"Mills on the Hudson River had been built as early as 1765 where the river cascades down a rocky ledge in Glens Falls, then called 'Wings Falls,'" writes Glenn Pearsall in Echoes in These Mountains. Initially they were sawmills, but later Glens Falls became known for its paper making.
According to Barbara McMartin, our foremost expert on the "Great Forest," paper production was revolutionized in 1858 when an English company patented a method for producing paper from wood pulp, replacing an expensive process that required rags and vegetable matter.
"That same year a patent was granted for a process for stone-grinding wood fiber into pulp. This new innovation was timely; rising literacy rates in the United States created a demand for more newspapers and magazines and there was a need for cheaper paper which was met with this new process. Finch Pruyn began construction of their mill in 1904. It was completed at a cost of $750,000. Paper-making operations commenced September 11, 1905."
Logs were sorted in the "Big Boom," a system of stone pilings and chains located on the Hudson at the point on the Northway where we cross from Saratoga County into Warren County. Logs were sorted here by the brands of logging companies stamped on their ends.
In 1950, Finch Pruyn ended its use of the river as transportation for logs and in 1952 the Big Boom in Glens Falls ceased operations. From that day forward, logs would arrive in Glens Falls principally by truck.
