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StuckinVermont/YouTube[/caption]Nestled deep in the Adirondack Park is the town of Tahawus. Discovered by explorers Archibald McIntyre and David Henderson in 1826, from 1827 to 1857, it was the location of a mining operation ran by the Adirondack Iron Works Company.

This company heavily invested in Tahawus, gradually forming the village of Adirondac. This village consisted of at least 15 small homes, farms, and a general store/one room school house/church. Adirondac was also home to the first state bank in the Adirondacks.

In 1854, the prosperity of the Mining Company started to wane. A railroad was planned to run to the town, and the Adirondack Iron Works Company started increasing their production, assuming that the iron they were forging could be used to create the railroad, while the railroad would increase the ease with which they could ship iron. Unfortunately, the railroad didn’t end up running that far, due to complications caused by their location. Impurities in the iron lead to a decrease in sales.

After the collapse of the Iron Works, many of the large industrial buildings fell into disrepair, and succumbed to the forests of the Adirondacks. This coincided with increased traffic to the Adirondacks from New York City. Rich city residents began to summer in the remote forests of upstate New York, and Adirondac began to cater to these visitors, opening what came to be known as the Tahawus Club, which catered to rich hunters and fisherman. The most famous guest at this club was Theodore Roosevelt. It was while he was staying at the Tahawus Club that he learned that President William McKinley was deathly ill, and he was most likely going to become the next President of the United States.

In 1940, another mine was opened in Tahawus. The titanium dioxide that had caused the Adirondack Iron Works Company to close, was now in high demand. This mine, located a mile south of the original mine, lead to a revitalization of the area, and the creation of 89 new buildings in the town. Operations ceased in 1989.

Currently, the town of Tahawus is owned by the Open Space Institute, and is open to visitation. Although the town is still abandoned, the remaining mining structures are being stabilized, and some of the more significant buildings are being restored.

Watch the Complete Haunts and Legends Season 1 via this Youtube Playlist

Watch the complete first season of the Haunts and Legends of New York including our explorations of the Happy Valley ghost town near Syracuse, the Lost Village of Delta near Rome, Utica's Secret Underground Waterways and the Hidden Vault at Bagg Commemorative Park in Utica.

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