It would be difficult to find a place as drop-dead-gorgeous as the Adirondacks right now. Last weekend was the official peak of leaf season, but this weekend looks just as promising. I've been going on evening drives to see new parts of the area, regardless of how BUSY the last two weeks have been!
Last Sunday, I found myself in South Corinth...a little hamlet. I instantly had a good feeling about the place...in the center of 'town', the main attraction was an old general store. I was half glad/half disappointed that the place was closed on Sunday-glad, because it is refreshing to find a business that actually takes a break, but disappointed that I couldn't go explore..
I went home and did a little research on the town. It was originally settled around 1775, and prior to that was part of Greenfield. A general store was opened by a guy named Hiram Chapman in 1826--possibly the same store I came across?
In spite of the glaring piles of work, I went back to try to find South Corinth on Monday. Making a wrong turn, I ended up in Corinth--equally fascinating. The whole place is pretty depressed, but obviously thrived at one time. A big Baptist church made of really nice old red stone (I don't know the type?) from the late 1800s is pretty suggestive of prosperity at some point, and a good deal of the architecture is pretty spectacular (although in need of some good lovin'). I drove around for a little while just checking it out...came across streets with names like "Mill Street" and followed them, to find no mills at the end. I did find a pretty awkward but cool one-car-at-a-time tunnel made of a round tube of corrugated metal. One of the most fascinating parts of the town was the giant brown chimney protruding out from the low roofline...I drove in its direction until I got there. Sure enough, it was in the middle of a residential neighborhood, blocked off by a pretty menacing gate system. The factory said 'Indeck' on the side. Hmm...
Sure enough, like so many of the other towns in the capital district, it IS an old mill town (how else would they have made money?). The first Baptist church was built in 1795, and main industries developed shortly thereafter--a lumber mill in 1800, and a clothing mill in 1805 on Kayderosseras Creek! RIGHT up my alley. Also, the 'Indeck' factory is actually a plant that generates alternative fuel, a 'combined cycle' powerplant. When heat engines operate, they only make use of 50% of the potential energy of their fuel source; a combined cycle plant combines multiple sources of thermodynamic energy, resulting in improved efficiency. Can't wait to go back and check this area out again when I have more time.
Oh, by the way, congratulations,
Obama!
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