Essex: Museums, History and Special Excursions
Accommodation in Essex
Essex combines impressive stories with unusual visitor experiences. Here, the spectrum ranges from Olympic memories and colonial military history to iron mining, agriculture, civil rights history and trails through the landscape.
Olympic History and High-Elevation Trails
The Lake Placid Olympic Museum displays Olympic torches, pins, uniforms and equipment. The focus is on the Olympic Winter Games hosted by Lake Placid in 1932 and 1980. This collection makes sports history accessible through tangible objects and provides a cultural focus for a trip that is not meant to consist solely of experiences in nature.
A completely different experience is the Whiteface Veterans' Memorial Highway. From the Toll House, it climbs more than 2,300 feet over a distance of five miles. The exact distance and elevation gain are important reference points for anyone who chooses excursions according to the character of a route. The Brewster Peninsula Trails, by contrast, are available year-round for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, mountain biking, trail running, hiking, picnicking and fishing.
Fortresses, Rivers and Museums
Crown Point State Historic Site preserves the ruins of two fortifications from the colonial wars between Great Britain and France and conveys their history. In Ticonderoga, the interpretive La-Chute River Trail begins directly outside the Ticonderoga Heritage Museum. The trail is a quarter of a mile long and runs along the river; interpretive information focuses on local hydropower, paper manufacturing, geology and ecology.
The Carillon Battlefield Hiking Trail also merits attention when planning around the seasons: access is possible from June through October and is included in general admission to Fort Ticonderoga. At the Adirondack History Museum, the “Worked/Wild” exhibition presents the people of Essex County through complex themes and competing perspectives on life in the Adirondacks. The museum also includes a 55-foot-high fire tower with an accompanying exhibition on the history of fire towers in the Adirondacks.
Everyday History to Discover
The Penfield Homestead Museum has a homestead dating from around 1825 as its central building. The ground-floor rooms illustrate life in the early 19th century and the history of Crown Point. The museum also offers a historic walking tour through the production complex of the Crown Point Iron Company as well as, together with Champlain Area Trails, a nature walk at Penfield Pond and along Putnam Creek.
The 1812 Homestead & Farm Museum is a 130-acre open-air museum dedicated to everyday history. It is located on the grounds of a 19th-century inn and pioneer homestead near Long Pond. Visitors can try practical historic activities such as baking over a fire, blacksmithing, candle dipping, shingle making, animal care and gardening. The General Burgoyne's Wagon Trail runs opposite it; information panels explain the passage of General Burgoyne and his troops through the Willsboro area in 1777.
History from Different Perspectives
Those wishing to explore social and political history in greater depth will find, in the permanent “Dreaming of Timbuctoo” exhibition at John Brown Farm State Historic Site, the story of an agricultural community in the Adirondacks created by Gerrit Smith for Black families. The North Star Underground Railroad Museum presents exhibitions and videos about little-known success stories of the Underground Railroad.
Industrial history also remains visible: Railroad and Mining Heritage Park encompasses historic structures from the waterfront complex of the Witherbee-Sherman Mining Company. The Iron Center Museum documents the local iron ore mining industry, which flourished from 1820 to 1971, as well as its effects on working life and the extraction, processing and transportation of iron ore.
The Right Base for Planning Your Trip
When searching for a holiday apartment in Essex, you can first decide which combination you prefer: museums and historic sites, trails and outdoor activities, or a trip that combines both. For families with different interests, this selection makes it possible to include cultural discoveries, hands-on history and experiences in the landscape in their own itinerary without committing to just one type of holiday. Additional regional information is also provided by Adirondack Harvest, a program of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Essex County and a marketing platform for farmers and producers in the North Country region, as well as an information resource for locals and visitors.
For further location options, you can also view Lake Placid, Schroon Lake, Ticonderoga, Willsboro and Jay.
For the higher-level travel overview: New York.
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