Jump to content
Main menu
Main menu
move to sidebar
hide
Navigation
Main page
Recent changes
Random page
Help about MediaWiki
Special pages
Niidae Wiki
Search
Search
Appearance
Create account
Log in
Personal tools
Create account
Log in
Pages for logged out editors
learn more
Contributions
Talk
Editing
Lake Pleasant, New York
(section)
Page
Discussion
English
Read
Edit
View history
Tools
Tools
move to sidebar
hide
Actions
Read
Edit
View history
General
What links here
Related changes
Page information
Appearance
move to sidebar
hide
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
=== First settlers === The first settlers arrived around 1795; this area was then a part of the town of Mayfield in Montgomery County.<ref name="Weaver, Anne A. 2010"/><ref name=townwebsite>{{cite web|accessdate=December 8, 2007|url=http://www.lakepleasantny.org/ |title=Town of Lake Pleasant}}</ref> The early town was once described as "A wild waste...so poor that nobody inclines to settle in it."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://hamilton.nygenweb.net/history/lakepleasant.html|title=History of Lake Pleasant, Hamilton County, NY}}</ref> The inexpensive land was offered by New York City landowners to induce settlement. Heavily forested majestic mountains, abundant game for food and furs, and numerous lakes and streams full of fish awaited the first settlers. A few hardy pioneers came to the wilderness, cleared the land and built self-sufficient farms. They built [[gristmill]]s and [[sawmill]]s for local use. All seemed good except for the heavy snows and lack of good roads, which meant they were isolated in the winter and muddy spring. A short cool summer growing season meant adopting their farming to crops that would survive to feed themselves and livestock. Sheep were the main livestock and did well on the rocky hillsides, and cloth was manufactured in many homes. Wild animals such as wolves, coyotes, bobcats and mountain lions had to be dealt with. Apple orchards were planted with some success. A few mills to craft woodenware and tools were built. Some of the first settlers found income from [[roof shingle|shingle]] making, and nearly every building was roofed with these wooden shingles. Small dairies supplied butter, cheese, and milk to neighbors and later to logging camps and large hotels. Development was slow and deprivation was numerous. Many settlers left to be closer to their families where farm land was richer and jobs that offered a steady income could be found. Several small settlements separated by distance and a lack of passable roads soon became small towns. The large area was impractical to govern, and the [[Montgomery County, New York|Montgomery County]] courthouse was {{convert|60|mi}} away. In 1805, the town of [[Wells, New York|Wells]] was established, which included the area of Lake Pleasant. Lake Pleasant was formed in 1812 from part of the town of Wells, before the formation of Hamilton County, with about 300 residents. It was a large area with scattered settlements and large reaching boundaries. It extended north indefinitely and to the west to the Herkimer County line. [[Hamilton County, New York|Hamilton County]] became a provisional county in 1816 but since it lacked enough residents it was counted along with Montgomery County.
Summary:
Please note that all contributions to Niidae Wiki may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here.
You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see
Encyclopedia:Copyrights
for details).
Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)
Search
Search
Editing
Lake Pleasant, New York
(section)
Add topic