The following guide is designed to aid teachers in touring the Adirondack History Center Museum with a group or class of students. This information will provide you and your chaperones with an idea of what your students will encounter at the museum. The answers (given below) may be found by examining the artifacts on display and reading the exhibit labels.

Use the questions to provide a framework for your visit, adapting them to your particular needs. The information may be used to generate class discussion at the museum or as part of a post-visit review. Keep in mind that each student will receive an activity sheet to work on during the visit.

LOWER LEVEL

A. Transportation Exhibit

1. What movable artifacts were used on roads? On snow or ice? On water?

child's cart

hand-pumped fire engine

buckboard

peddler’s wagon

high bicycle

Concord stagecoach

safety bicycle

piano box buggy

cutter

bobsled Ironshoes

canoes

2. Which artifacts were powered primarily by horses? By people? By gravity?

buckboard

peddler’s wagon

Concord stagecoach

piano box buggy

cutter

child's cart

hand-pumped fire engine

high bicycle

safety bicycle

canoe

bobsled

3. Which artifacts used the following to cushion passengers from bumpy rides?

Leather straps (called thorough braces) - peddler’s wagon and Concord stagecoach.

Wooden slats - buckboard.

Elliptical (steel) springs - piano box buggy.

Inflatable tires - safety bicycle.

No type of shock absorber on the child's cart, hand-pumped fire engine, high bicycle, canoes, and bobsled.

DISCUSSION - If you had to use one of these forms of transportation which one would you use? Why?

B. Crown Point Exhibit

1. Why did the French and English build forts at Crown Point?

It was a strategic point for controlling all of Lake Champlain.

2. What was the name of the French fort at Crown Point?

Fort St. Frederic

3. What year did the French begin constructing their fort?

1734.

4. What kinds of things might you eat and drink if you were a French soldier stationed at the fort?

clear soup

wheat bread

beef, mutton

squab, fowl

dried fish

green peas

pancakes

water

red wine

spruce beer

5. When did the English start constructing their fort at Crown Point?

1759

6. What kinds of artifacts did archaeologists find at the site of the British fort?

Artifacts used for building:

draw knife

rope pulley hook

axes (various kinds)

sledge hammers

nails

hinges

Artifacts used in battle:

musket ball

gun flint

bayonet

belt axe

grape shot cannon ball

mortar shell

Artifacts people wore:

hobnail shoe

buckle

button

Artifacts used as eating utensils:

knife

fork

spoon

goblet

china

DISCUSSION - What do you think living conditions were like at the fort? What would you do if there were an invasion?

FIRST FLOOR

A. Orientation Room - Essex County Sites and Features Map

1. What camp is on the shore of Lake Champlain? What forts?

Camp Dudley

Fort Ticonderoga

Crown Point

2. How many fire towers are shown on the map?

seven

3. Where is Santa's Workshop in comparison to Lake Placid?

North East

4. On what mountain do you find Lake Tear of Clouds?

Mount Marcy

5. What is the most North Western point on this map?

The Trudeau Sanitarium

B. Rosenberg Gallery

Inquire at the museum for current exhibit (518)873-6466 or echs@adkhistorycenter.org

C. Adirondack Room

1. When was the first comprehensive survey of the Adirondacks begun by New York State? Who directed the survey?

1872

Verplank Colvin

2. What are some tools used by surveyors? What were they used for?

brass surveyor's transit

leveling rod - used to help find vertical distances

surveyor’s half chain - used to help find horizontal distances

3. What season did most logging activity begin in the Adirondacks?

Autumn

4. What are some of the tools used by lumbermen? What were they used for?

marking tool - to mark logs for owner identification on river drives

peavey - used to roll and pry logs

cant hook - rolling logs

barking spud - used to peel bark from logs

log sled - for carrying logs over terrain

double bladed axe - sharp edge aided in chopping trees

wide edge - aided in looping branches

5. How much of the Adirondack's forests were still virgin by the 1920s?

less than 5%

6. When were the first Adirondack lean-tos constructed? How many are there in the Adirondacks today?

1919

225

7. Name some animals that have been hunted or trapped in the Adirondacks? Which of these animals no longer live in the Adirondacks?

moose

elk

deer

panthers

panthers

elk

wolves

8. What were some of the duties of an Adirondack guide? Who were some of the well-known guides?

scouting out the best hunting areas

evening entertainment

finding shelter

carrying equipment

John Cheney

Mitchelle Sabattis

Bill Nye

Old Mountain Phelps

DISCUSSION - In what ways can we protect more animals and plant species from becoming extinct in the Adirondacks?

D. Pioneer Room

1. What food staples were introduced to European settlers by the American Indian?

squash

pumpkin

corn

maple sugar

2. What was the first crop sold by settlers after clearing land? What products were made from it?

potash

fertilizers

soap

3. What kinds of tools might a pioneer use to construct a hewbeam?

bucksaw

chalk line

jingles

double-bit axe

adze

4. Name some devices invented to save time with farm chores.

treadmill

winnowing machine

left-handed sickle

cradle scythe

bull rake

corn sheller

5. What would a joiner create with the use of planes?

the molding around doors

6. What did a cooper make? What kinds of tools did he use?

barrels for flour, meat and cider

plane

drawknife

scoop

cooper's hammer

coopers adze

7. Name some things a blacksmith might fabricate.

horseshoes

kitchen utensils

ornamental gates

all iron articles

DISCUSSION - Which job would you prefer to take part in if you were a European Settler? Why?

FIRETOWER

1. When did New York State begin constructing fire towers on mountains?

1911

2. What months did forest rangers look for fires?

May through November

3. What is used to detect forest fires today?

a combination of fire towers and aerial detection flights.

DISCUSSION - Fire towers such as the one on Hurricane Mt. have been recently dismantled. What do you think the historic impact of this might be?

UPPER LEVEL

A. The Ties that Bind

1. Who was the teacher of the schoolhouse?

Ethel M. Cornwright

2. What were some everyday problems in the schoolhouse?

ventilation of the schoolroom

discipline

instruction

keeping the school warm

3. What are some of the advertisements painted on the stage curtain?

Lake Champlain National Bank

Egglefield Bros.

Pleasant Valley Drug Store

B. H. Morris & Company etc.

4. Where was the post box unit used for over a hundred years?

Olmstead

5. What newspaper was the Washington Hand Press last used to print?

The Essex County Republican

DISCUSSION - Do you recognize any ads for local business that are still around today?

B. Doll Room

1. Who did the doll collection belong to?

Frances Virginia Stevens Ladd

2. Where did the Ladds travel to find dolls for the collection?

Korea, Japan, India and China

3. Where were Polly’s Paper Playmates found?

in local newspapers

DISCUSSION - Do you have a collection that has been gathered from around the world? How do you keep it safe?

C. The County’s Attic

1. What were some of the things used to provide entertainment in the past?

piano

dominos

tennis racquet

sled

roller skates

golf clubs etc.

2. What was used to help with work around the home?

vacuum cleaner

butter churn

mortar and pestle

plant settler

wooden shovel etc.

3. What was the name of the surgeon dentist who owned the dentist chair?

Dr. May Jokel Gerson

4. Who bottled and sold spring water from a Westport spring in 1891?

Thomas Lee

5. Who is the man that came from New York City to start a summer art school in Elizabethtown?

Wayman Adams

DISCUSSION - What would be your favorite thing from the county's attic to try out? Why?

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