Pathway promoting Warrensburg's heritage advances

WARRENSBURG | A trail along the northeast side of Schroon River in the Hamlet of Warrensburg has been envisioned for more than a decade — and now the town government and community activists are working together to make it a reality. The Warrensburg Historical Society and Warrensburgh Beautification Inc. have jointly drafted plans and prepared cost estimates for the construction work, and Teresa Whalen of the latter entity gave a presentation to the town board on the progress at their March meeting. Whalen said April 10 that the trail development could be accomplished this summer. "People walking through Tannery Park along the Heritage Trail will enjoy views of not only Hickory Hill, but our town's historic industrial district which included a grist mill, tanneries, a sawmill, and the shirt factory," Whalen said. The historic shirt factory's main three-story building and a nearby structure where the shirts were packaged are still standing, but there are only remnants of the tannery, grist mill, and sawmill. The main shirt factory building was restored years ago, transformed into the River Street Marketplace, which hosts a restaurant, a variety of small enterprises, and offices. The trail starts adjacent to where a historic, nationally renowned electric power plant once stood. Beginning in 1893 and continuing into the early 1900s, the plant's water-driven dynamo at the nearby dam on the Schroon River powered electric lights in the homes within the Warrensburg hamlet during evenings only, except on Tuesdays, when the electricity was supplied to customers so they could iron their clothes, Warrensburg Historian Sandi Parisi said this week. Also, the electric enterprise leased "electric lamps" to customers for $5 per lamp per year, she said. Historical documents cite that the power plant was "one of the most thoroughly equipped electric power plants in New York State," she said. Other sources have said the plant was one of the very first in the U.S. to supply electricity to homes. The Heritage Trail is to extend 650 feet from the end of Electric Avenue — named for the power plant — to the end of Burhans Avenue, behind the Warrensburg Elementary School. The trail, to be 5 feet wide and constructed with crushed gravel, is to be located in an improved sloped riverside parcel which is to include lookouts, benches, and signs explaining the town's history. The Warren County Soil & Water Conservation District agency assisted the historical society and Warrensburgh Beautification with preparing project plans and cost estimates, which were presented to the town board in February. At the March meeting of the Warrensburg Town Board, Whalen asked the board to schedule a meeting between these organizations and the town's infrastructure supervisors. The meeting is to determine tasks to be accomplished, and set work schedules. Already, Soil Water agency personnel have made initial attempts to cut brush along the trail's route — with a machete and other implements. Agency director Jim Lieberum has worked with Queensbury Planner George Hilton to prepare maps of the Tannery Park and Trail. In 2017, a group of local high school students helped plot the trail's route by tying ribbons to trees along its proposed path, as well as clearing brush. In 2012, the historical society received the acreage along the river as a gift from the developer and longtime Adirondack Scenic executive Dick Emerson after his plans to build condominiums on the plot were stymied by the Adirondack Park Agency. A few years ago, the society gave the plot to the town — although they intended to develop a park and trail on the land — due to concerns over potential liability. Originally, the land was owned by Niagara Mohawk Power Co., but in 1978 the firm gave it to the historical society which let it be acquired by Warren County when the society went dormant. In 1998, the county sold the land to Emerson for $31,500 — meanwhile, the historical society was resurrected. April 10, Sandi Parisi said she was pleased that the land would finally be developed and preserved as public land for posterity with the purpose of providing an opportunity for people to experience Warrensburg's rich history. "I'm absolutely thrilled with the Tannery Park and Heritage Trail moving forward," Parisi said, noting that she and her late husband Steve Parisi — longtime director of the town's Museum of Local History — supported the park and trail concept since it was first conceived.

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Pathway promoting Warrensburg's heritage advances

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