Preservation in the Adirondacks
An aerial photograph of the Whiteface Veterans’ Memorial Highway in Wilmington, NY. Whiteface Mountain is the fifth highest peak in New York and the historic highway allows cars to drive straight up to the summit. A castle built of native stone is situated at the top. This photo was included in Steven Engelhart’s presentation as an example of a successful National Register designation prepared by AARCH. The Whiteface Veterans Memorial Highway Complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. photo source
What lessons from the preservation movement in the Adirondacks can be applied to other areas of New York State and beyond? The Adirondack region is such a special place, both for the variety of important architecture (from Great Camps to cure cottages to fire watchtowers), but also for the sheer scale of its wilderness. The communities that are dotted around the region are surrounded by six million acres of protected forests. Navigating the complexities of the area’s “Forever Wild” provision while trying to protect historic buildings is one of the area’s unique challenges. The preservation movement and the conservation movement need to work hand in hand in the Adirondacks — which is something that can and should be standard practice no matter where preservationists are working.
There is also a concerted effort being made to address past blind spots, especially when it comes to diversity and inclusion — recognizing the rich history of the Indigenous people on whose land the Adirondack Park was formed (the ancestral homelands of the Oneida and Mohawk tribes encompass what is now the Adirondack Park ), seeking out stories of Black and Latinx people who have lived and worked in the region, and recognizing that there is more work to be done for the Adirondacks to be more welcoming for BIPOC residents and visitors. The Adirondack Diversity Initiative is currently working to address exactly these issues.
We wanted to shine a light on this unique part of the state, so we invited three panelists to share their own experience with preservation in the Adirondacks, highlighting their work from an individual, community-focused, and regional perspective. Howie Kirschenbaum, whose efforts to save Great Camp Sagamore in the 1970s helped put the Preservation League on the map back in its early days, detailed the process of getting a constitutional amendment passed to save that great camp. The current campaign to save Debar Pond Lodge echoes that earlier effort. Historic Saranac Lake Executive Director Amy Catania talked about her organization’s dual focus of being both an architectural heritage nonprofit and a museum, which comes with challenges while also creating a certain synergy to their work. Adirondack Architectural Heritage Executive Director Steven Engelhart spoke about the underlying principles of their work: be inclusive, accessible, nimble, persistent, be willing to do the work, have a bit kit of tools, and follow your curiosity. He highlighted several specific projects, including an anecdote about Isaac Johnson, an African American man who escaped slavery, settled in the Adirondacks, and became a stone mason. Anne Van Ingen, former League Board Chair and current Chairman of the Board for the Adirondack Experience, moderated a group discussion.
This event was part of the League’s Future of Preservation webinar series. Thank you to our program sponsors, the Peggy N. & Roger G. Gerry Charitable Trust.
Amy Catania has led Historic Saranac Lake as Executive Director since 2009. In that time, she has overseen the development of numerous permanent and temporary exhibits and a short film. She has led Historic Saranac Lake’s capital campaign for museum expansion, raising over $2.2 million. Catania has a Master’s degree in Liberal Studies from Plattsburgh State University and a Bachelor’s in Latin American Studies from Oberlin College. Since the spring of 2020, she has authored essays drawing parallels between the current pandemic and Saranac Lake's history as a destination for people suffering from tuberculosis. Her research on Latin American TB patients in Saranac Lake laid the groundwork for working at HIstoric Saranac Lake.
Steven Engelhart is the Executive Director of Adirondack Architectural Heritage (AARCH), the regional historic preservation organization of the Adirondack Park. AARCH's mission is to promote better public understanding, appreciation and stewardship of the region's built environment. Among AARCH's many activities are sponsoring tours of historic places, conducting workshops and lectures, books and publications; staffing Camp Santanoni, and providing technical assistance to individuals, organizations and local governments. Steven is a native of the region and has a B.A. from SUNY Plattsburgh and a M.S. in historic preservation from the University of Vermont. He is the author of Crossing the River: Historic Bridges of the AuSable River, a small book about bridges and local history of the AuSable Valley. He resides in Essex.
Howie Kirschenbaum has been a leader in historic preservation in the Adirondack Park for over 40 years. He was instrumental in preserving Great Camps Sagamore, Uncas, White Pine, Santanoni, and other historic places and has written books on Sagamore, Santanoni and White Pine. He founded Adirondack Architectural Heritage, the nonprofit historic preservation organization for the region, was its first president, and is a current board member. He is currently co-leading a coalition to save the endangered Debar Pond Lodge in the northern Adirondacks.
Anne Van Ingen is currently the Chairman of the Board of the Adirondack Experience, the Museum on Blue Mountain Lake and President of the St. Regis Foundation, a land trust in the Adirondacks. She is also on the boards of Pratt Institute and the James Marston Fitch Charitable Foundation. Anne was the Board Chair for the Preservation League from 2012-2018 before moving over to the Trustees Council. She served as an Advisor to the National Trust for Historic Preservation from 1999 to 2008. In 2019, she was awarded the Landmark Lion Award from Historic Districts Council.