In the earliest of times it was called Lindermere. A rough translation
from the Indian word In-ca-pah-co. It was called that because of the
prominence of basswood or American linden on its shores.
Perhaps you remember the elegant thirty-five-foot war canoe with In-ca-pah-co
neatly lettered along its hull and paddled by the talented women’s team
of, yes, Long Lakes, as Lindermere is known today.
The same vigor and dedication that characterized the women seated in
that canoe continues today among Long Lake residents. As is well-known,
the community has gained the admiration and, indeed, the envy of all
who are aware of its many successes in building a very pleasant and busy
village. It can boast an excellent school system (they pay their teachers
well) with an incredibly low student-to-teacher ratio and a high rate
of success among its graduates. It has a first-rate medical facility
(it attracts young, vigorous, outdoor-loving MDs) and an excellent fire
department and rescue squad all located in a vibrant community with honest,
sincere, wonderful people. There are approximately 800 year-round residents
in that enterprising community, but the town itself consists of an area
covering 448 square miles, making it the second-largest town area-wise
in New York State. For a time, the closing (temporarily it is hoped)
of the nearby National Lead Company’s titanium operation in Newcomb due
to cheaper extraction costs by competitors abroad, impacted local employment
opportunities. There was also a sense of personal loss to those who had
been employed there as loyal and productive employees for many years.
Fortunately, however, other employment opportunities were available.
The Adirondack Museum, a ten-minute commute, employs thirty to eighty
people (over half of those numbers are, of course, seasonal). Twenty
minutes away, Sunmount Rehabilitation Center in Tupper Lake employs over
700 people, and in the same town the O.W.D. has a payroll of over 250
people. Four correctional facilities withing a forty-five minute commute
also offers employment opportunities. That’s just a glimpse of what’s
available. The point is, it is possible to live in a small town and still
find stable (and improving) compensation that will allow you to stay.
Long Lake was one of the earliest settlements in this region. The first
settler being Joel Plumley around 1830.
In 1841, there were already eight or nine families (most of whom were
from New England) who had found their way to the shores of that beautiful
lake and established the beginnings of a settlement.
The names of those early settlers are of great interest, if only because
most are familiar today, 158 years later. Names that belong to prominent
residents who are direct descendants of those adventuresome pioneers.
Those eight or nine families below:
Joel Plumley
David Keller
James and Robert Sergeant
William Kellog
Zenos Parker
William Austin
Isaac Robinson
Lyman Mix
Burton Burlingame
For many years, hampered by its isolation from easy access, the prospects
of growth in Long Lake were grim. Until around 1918, the only way to
get there was by water. That ruled out even light industry. There was
precious little horizontal land, so farming was not a real option. What
it did have were beautiful mountains, restful, gorgeous lakes, and secluded
ponds.
Thus, if “progress” seemed to be passing them by, it turned out that
the very “lack of progress” became of enormous attraction as the “quality
of life” revolution started in the 1970s.
The community saw scores of newly retired people and parents not wishing
to raise their children in hostile surroundings of the ever-sprawling
cities. Increased leisure time on the part of people now only hours away
on the Northway from the population centers where they lived also created
an influx. And, yes, C.E.O.s from the corporate world who with their
Sony Vaio laptops could now conduct their business from modernized gazebos
or tea houses transformed into virtual offices equipped with video conferencing
and e-mail capabilities. No longer did Father have to reluctantly leave
the lake and family on Sunday so he could catch the next day’s 5:40 a.m.
out of Westchester.
Long Lake has become for many an “oasis from insanity,” as one recent
transplant termed it. The discovery that many people had known for years
(not all happy to share) was out!
Howard Frank Mosier, the fine regional novelist writing about Vermont’s
Northeast Kingdom in his most recent book, The Fall of the Year, has
one of his characters, Mr. Moriarity Mental, saying: “There’s one thing
we have to give those small towns. The wonderment ain’t all been leached
out of them.” And in Long Lake there is still all kinds of wonderment.
| Transitions No. 42 December 15, 1999 |
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