1897 Map of Paradox Lake

About this map

Hammondville and Ironville anchor the industrial and social landscape of the eastern Adirondacks in this late nineteenth-century survey. The terrain is defined by a dense network of water bodies and peaks, including Paradox Lake and the prominent Pharaoh Mt. to the south. The presence of the C. and H. R. R. railroad, noting segments as abandoned, indicates a shifting economic reality as mining and timber industries evolved during this era. Small settlements like Paradox and Severance cluster near the narrows, while the southern reaches towards Graphite suggest the specialized mineral extraction that once drove the local economy. From the winding Schroon River in the west to the heights of Blue Ridge in the north, the map documents a region of high-country settlements and isolated mountain camps connected by primitive roads and waterways.