Prior to the mid-1800's, boats were the principal means of transportation through the wilderness. Following the path of least resistance, the myriad rivers and lakes of the Adirondacks became the highways of the wilderness.
1847 — The English become the first to popularize canoeing as a sport. John MacGregor builds the Rob Roy canoe, modeling it after the Eskimo kayak.
1850 — The popularity of vacationing, recreational sports and wilderness camping trips to the Adirondack lakes grows.
1869 — William H.H. Murray publishes "Adventures in the Wilderness," which romanticizes the Adirondacks.
1869-1889 — The Adirondacks are the principal scene of activity for the popular sport of canoeing.
1873 — Henry Rushton opens a boat shop on the Grass River in Canton, NY, and soon becomes the world's most sought-after builder of lightweight cedar canoes.
1847 — 1873: Forest and Stream magazine appears on the stands.
1880 — George Washington Sears, better known as "Nessmuk," writes for the popular magazine, Forest and Stream, about his trips through the Adirondack waterways in the "Sairy Gamp," a lightweight Rushton canoe.
1880 — The American Canoe Association is founded. The group meets at Lake George, on what is now called the Canoe Islands. Canoe clubs and competitions proliferated.
Since then, the Adirondack waters have remained one of the world's great destinations for wilderness canoeing and kayaking.
Paddling the waters of the Adirondacks will give you the opportunity to view up close some of the world's most unique architectural marvels—Adirondack Great Camps.
The classic Great Camp is an extensive collection of rustic buildings assembled from indigenous stone and timber. Although they seem primitive, the nature in which they were used during their prime was anything but simple. Built by wealthy industrialists and financiers like Alfred Vanderbilt and William Rockefeller, these "camps" were the scene of lavish summer parties that were written up in the society columns of New York City's renowned periodicals.
Many of the Great Camps, which were built around the turn of the century at the height of the Adirondacks' vogue, have been well-maintained and still hold much of their architectural glory. You can view some of them from your canoe or kayak on Lake Placid, Upper St. Regis, Raquette, and the Upper and Lower Saranac lakes.
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