This batch is about logging...starting way back in 1903! He was providing us with documentary evidence of problems caused by the logging industry, using photographs. I wonder what other conservationists were using this technique in the early part of the 20th century....

1. Adirondack Photography of
John S. Apperson, Jr. (1878 – 1963)
Chapter Two: Logging Operations (in the Forest Preserve)
by Ellen Apperson Brown, MA History, Virginia Tech
Community Archives of Southwest Virginia, LLC
Acknowledging special thanks to:
• The Adirondack Research Library Facebook page
• Bill Healy, former volunteer at the ARL, who loaded hundreds of
Apperson’s photos onto Facebook
• Union College, current owners and stewards of the Paul Schaefer
Library and the Apperson Collection
• “Apperson associates” who devoted so many long hours to the
preservation and care of the letters, photographs and films

2. A little background information… John Apperson’s interest in logging goes back to his
youthful experience working as foreman for the Marion and Rye Valley Railroad, in
Southwest Virginia, where he saw first hand the devastation associated with logging in his
home state. He came to New York in 1900 at age 21, found employment at the General
Electric Company, and soon discovered the Adirondack Forest Preserve. He spent the rest
of his life fighting to protect the wondrous scenery, especially at Lake George. These
photographs provide compelling evidence that he took an early interest in documenting the
“problems in Paradise,” and developed a strategy, early on, for using his photography as a
tool… for teaching the public about the misuse of the state lands and waters in the
Adirondack Park. To read further about his life and accomplishments, please have a look at
my new website…
www.appersonassociates.com
To find out more about The Adirondack Research Library :
call 518-280-5951 or send an email… ADK@union.edu

3. Hoffman Ferry, 1903 (R45)

4. After the fire in Keene Valley, 1905 (R39)

5. A hunting camp near Benson, 1906. Note the still on the right (R40)

6. Lumber Camp in the High Peaks, 1908 (R40)

7. Logs ready to move downriver (R26)

8. The Raquette Lake reservoir looking east with the dam showing in the
extreme distance(R37)

9. Log boat and float timber, Lake George, 1908. Printed
from a glass plate negative, (T6)

10. Cleared land and logs on the lake, ca. 1910 (T7)

11. Giant Mountain, 1910 (R41)

12. Cut logs near French Pt. (T9)

13. Pulp wood at Turtle Bay, Lake George, 1913. (T10)

14. Logs on the lake, ca. 1910 (T11)

15. Logs moving on the lake. (T12)

16. Logs between two islands. Note the flooded docks in the foreground (T13)

17. After logging (R36)

18. Rocky Peak Ridge, 1930s (R43)

19. Upper Hudson River near Newcomb, showing idle lands and
floating pulpwood in the river. May 1, 1931 (R34)

20. Cord Wood on the Boreas, 1930s, below the log drive (R42)

21. Waterfall on the Opalescent. Dr. C.G. Suits is sitting in the waterfall. June 21, 1931 (R32)

22. Opalescent River, April 7, 1935 (R46)

23. Skinning the bark off of a tree.
(R13)

24. Lumber camp, 1930s (R17)

25. Peeling a log for a ranger
camp, 1934 (R15)

26. Logs cut for the ranger camp at
Marcy Dam, 1936 (R18)

27. Peeling a log for the ranger camp
on Mt. Adams, 1930s (R16)

28. The Opalescent River where the north and south branches join, 1935 (R19

29. Looking across the pulpwood in Lake Henderson
toward Mt. Henderson, May 7, 1933 (R22)

30. Looking across Lake Henderson toward Mt. Henderson, May 7, 1933 (R23)

31. Looking up the last few yards of the Hudson River a short time before the dam
across the outlet of Lake Henderson was opened to let the pulpwood out. May 7,
1933 (R24)

32. Calamity Brook dam and sluiceway looking upstream toward the Flowed
Lands, 7-3-33, 4:00 pm (R25)

33. Logs ready to move downriver (R27)

34. Unidentified (R29)

35. Pulpwood in the Hudson near Luzerne, 1931 (R31)

36. Logs ready to move downriver (R28)

37. Pulpwood from drainage of Henderson Lake floating
down Sanford Lake to the Hudson River, 5-1-31 (R35)

38. Looking down the Opalescent River at the junction of the branches, April 7, 1935. (R21)

39. Marcy Dam ranger cabin, ca. 1939 (R44)