In 1947 William Wessels,
owner of the Blue Mountain House, and Harold K. Hochschild (1892-1981) of Eagle's Nest
began discussing the possibility of creating a museum that could house memorabilia
and artifacts from the Adirondacks, a time in history that was fast
disappearing.
As a result of that meeting, the Adirondack Historical
Association was formed, and purchased the Blue Mountain House as the future
museum site. In 1954 one of their first acquisitions was the old Engine No. 2
from the Marion River Carry Railroad on Raquette Lake, donated by Herb Birrell.
Ten
years after that first meeting, the Adirondack
Museum opened on the site of the old Blue Mountain House, half way up
Blue Mountain. The 1881 Ehninger oil painting of the Mission of the
Good Shepherd is housed there, as well as the brass cannon that was fired
each Sunday morning on Bluff Point on Raquette Lake to let people know the
church boat was approaching to bring them to St. Hubert's.
Admission
is kept at an affordable price for families, there are many
child-friendly exhibits with hands-on activities - and the view is superb.
