list of historical markers in hague, ny with...

2013 THE WARREN COUNTY BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

Memorial Markers in the Town of Hague on Lake George, NY

1

1. Memorial to the Deceased Firemen of Hague Volunteer Fire Department and

Veterans of American Legion Post 1538.

At the entrance to Hague Cemetery and the triangle with State Route 8, West Hague Road

and Cemetery Road, is a rock embedded with two memorial plaques dedicated to Hague’s

deceased firemen and veterans. Many names of Hague’s most prominent citizens are

engraved on the headstones dating back to the earliest years since Hague was founded.

C.M. Ianson Photo



2

2. Town of Hague

Centennial

Marker at Hague

Visitors Center.

Hague’s Visitors’

Center is Located at

the intersection of

Routes 8 and 9N.

A two-panel exhibit

describes major events

in Hague’s early

history.

C. M. Ianson Photos

Inscription on the Centennial Marker of the

Town of Hague:

“Warren County 1818-1913

The Town of Hague Known

as Rochester

Until April 9, 1808

Formed from the Town of

Bolton

February 28, 1807

Marker erected 1913

by Warren County

Centennial Committee”



3

3. Robert E. Henry Memorial Marker with dedication to John T. Henry and Warren

County Centennial plaque 1776 - 1976 to the Cause of Liberty

This memorial rock is also located at Hague Visitors Center at the triangle with Routes 8 and 9N

at the entrance to Hague Town Beach and Park.

Debbie Manning Photo - 2010

Below, an excerpt from the Town of Hague Homepage www.townofhague.org

“Mrs. Robert E. Henry dreamed of giving a small beach to the Hague children in memory of her

deceased husband. A piece of property at Cape Cod Village was originally proposed for

donation, but the Town Fathers felt that the property was too far out of town….The Town Board

pursued the matter. The Burgey family had a lovely piece of property on the shores of Lake

George that would be beneficial to all residents of the Town. A public referendum was held to

purchase this 1½ acre piece of property with over 300 feet of lakeshore for the sum of $25,000 to

have a public park and beach. On July 7, 1955 the Town Board unanimously voted to name this

park the Robert E. Henry Memorial Park. In a thank you letter to the Town Board, Mrs. Henry

spoke of her family carrying out his ideals. The plaque in the park for John T. Henry explains

this vision.”



4

4. Henry Knox Marker at Sabbath Day Point, Hague, NY Route 9N. This marker faces

south on the lawn of a private Sabbath Day Point residence. In the photo below, the view of

Lake George is to the north, towards Ticonderoga, the point from

which the cannons and artillery began their journey aboard flat-

bottomed barges. After six arduous hours, the flotilla made its first

stop. It was the ninth of December, 1775 when Henry Knox wrote

in his diary:

Employ'd in loading the scow, Pettyaugre and a battoe. At 3

O'Clock in the afternoon set sail to go down the lake in the

Pettyaugre, the Scow coming after us run aground we being

about a mile ahead with a fair wind to go down but unfair to help

the Scow. the wind dying away we with the utmost difficulty

reach'd Sabbath day Point about 9 O'Clock in the evening --

went ashore & warm'd ourselves by an exceeding good fire in an

hut made by some civil indians who were with their Ladies abed

- they gave us some Vension, roasted after their manner which was very relishing.

[-Source: [http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/services/KnoxTrail/kthistory.html]

Inscribed on Henry Knox Trail Marker:

“THROUGH THIS PLACE PASSED GEN. HENRY KNOX IN THE WINTER OF 1775-1776

TO DELIVER TO GEN. GEORGE WASHINGTON AT CAMBRIDGE THE TRAIN OF

ARTILLERY FROM FORT TICONDEROGA USED TO FORCE THE BRITISH ARMY TO

EVACUATE BOSTON”

View North to Ticonderoga from Henry Knox Monument at Sabbath Day Point – C. M. Ianson Photo

http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/services/KnoxTrail/kthistory.html



5

5. Margaret Boyd Rowan Nature Preserve Silver Bay YMCA of the Adirondacks.

(Formerly named Silver Bay Association)

C. Ianson Photo 2011

Henry and Betty Rowan, and over 600 other donors contributed to keep 168 acres of forest and

Lake George shoreline across the lake from Silver Bay “Forever Wild.” The marker is at the

outermost point of the pavilion at Slim Point. In 1910, the first American Boy Scout leadership

training camp was held at Silver Bay. The dedication of the American Boy Scout Council Ring

took place here at Slim Point on August 9, 1947.

6. Historic New York Lake George Marker at Sabbath Day Point is inscribed with the

following paragraphs:

“The natural route by water and portage between the

St. Lawrence River and the Hudson River traversed

Lake George. Christened in 1646 by the Jesuit

missionary Isaac Jogues, it was renamed in 1755 by

Sir William Johnson to honor King George II.”

“Above the outlet of Lake George, overlooking Lake

Champlain, the French built Fort Carillon

(Ticonderoga), which became a military objective

during the colonial conflicts between the English and

the French. Fort William Henry, built at the southern end of Lake George to check the French,

was destroyed by French and Indians in 1757. In 1758, General James Abercrombie led a large

force northward to attack the French at Ticonderoga and was repulsed, but General Jeffrey

Amherst was successful in the following year. With the outbreak of the American Revolution

Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold took Fort Ticonderoga. Abandoned in 1777 to General John

Burgoyne’s invading army, it remained in British hands until 1782.”



6

“From earliest times the singular beauty of this forest-bound lake has charmed visitors.

Sportsmen, artists and nature-lovers have been drawn to its shores. Boating and fishing have

made it a popular recreation area. State owned campsites and beaches today have preserved

some of its pristine charm. ”–Education Dept. New York State 1961 Dept. of Public Works

View across Lake George to the South from Hague Town Dock. – C.M. Ianson Photo 2011

7. Graphite Mine Marker located on the North shoulder of Route 8 viewed driving east

towards Hague Town Beach.

Graphite Sign Photo by Pat McDonough 2010 Graphite Mine Photo circa 1900 Courtesy Max Headroom

In 1887 Sam Ackerman discovered the mineral graphite in West Hague in the wooded hills

around Elephant Rock on both sides of Route 8. At first, the graphite ore dug out of Round

Mountain came from an open pit mine. .“The mine, an open pit,” wrote Hague historian Clifton

West, “was active only in the summer, with the graphite hauled to a processing plant in the

winter because it was easier for a horse-drawn sleigh to move it over ice and snow.” But tunnels

were dug at the main mine across the road and a mill was built on the slope up the northern side

of Route 8. After it was abandoned, this mine became the “bat hotel” for bats from all over the

northeastern US. Graphite was discovered on the hill of Lake Shore Terrace Road off Route 9N,

too. But both mines that once produced the graphite for the famed Ticonderoga pencils, machine

lubricant and that had many other applications, shut down altogether in 1921. Wilford Ross

wrote in his book, History of Graphite, New York (p. 24), that the cause was not for lack of ore.

There is still plenty of it left today. He learned from John Sullivan, the last Superintendent of the

American Graphite Company, that though the supply was plentiful, there were labor problems.

But the less obvious cause for the shut-down was that Hague’s underground ore was too



7

expensive to dig out of the mountainsides for processing when a cheap source of the mineral was

discovered in other parts of the world, like in Madagascar. There the graphite ore lay on the

surface of the ground where the natives could pick it up into baskets and carry it to be dumped

into the holds of sea-going freighters as ballast. Wilford Ross wrote, that according to Mine

Superintendent Sullivan, “…when these ships arrived back in the United States the ore was

delivered free to the American Graphite Company headquarters in New Jersey for processing.”

History of Graphite, New York (p. 24)

8. Clifton F. West Hague Town Historian

Memorial Garden Marker August 2002

Historian West began to document the history of

Hague before the computer age by longhand or by

manual typewriter. The town of Hague honors him for his diligence in beginning the work of

collecting and cataloging historic documents and artifacts of the Town of Hague. After high

school graduation, Mr. West continued his education at the Mildred Elley Business School of

Albany. Mr. West became Town of Hague Historian taking that position after his

predecessor, Vila Fitzgerald. Clifton West and his wife Marguerite lived their whole lives in

Hague. Both were active in the Hague Baptist Church. Their home stood on the banks of

Hague Brook across from Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church.

8. American Legion Post 1538

Memorial Veterans Park

At the former site of American

Legion Post 1538, this park was

dedicated to those who served in

every war since the American

Revolution. Four tablets are

inscribed with the names of

Hague’s Veterans. It was a dream

of the late Adjunct Vincent Jones

and Commander Frank Koenig to

see the park established before

during their lifetimes. And so it

was in 2011. And so it is.

Submitted by Christine M. Ianson

Hague Historical Society - Oct. 22, 2011

Clifton F. West b. August 26, 1908 – d. July 06, 2001

Veterans Memorial Park 2011 – C.M. Ianson Photo 2011

list of historical markers in hague, ny with...

Documents