LOCALadk Magazine

LOCALadk 37 Place Names of the ADK By Erik Schlimmer Baldface Mountain, St. Lawrence County During the 1880s state surveyor Verplanck Colvin visited the top of this 1,870 -foot mountain and report- ed it "had been swept clear of forest by a hurricane, which had cut down the forest trees like a swath of grain in a long, narrow band for a distance of over sev- en miles. Sweeping across this mountain crest it had left the rock of the summit bare…. The singular freak of the tempest, which has swept the summit of this mountain clear of timber, is difficult to understand." The tempest was The Great Windfall of September 20, 1845, that left a swath of blowdown a half-mile wide and 25 miles long. The toponym Baldface Mountain was featured on the first United States Geological Sur- vey topographic map of this area published in 1905. Line Pond, Franklin County The boundary line that separates Lot No. 222 from Lot No. 223, Township 10, Old Military Tract, passes across this petite body of water. In 1784, New York's governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the assem- bly, secretary of state, treasurer, and auditor worked together to divide the 665,000 -acre Old Military Tract, a massive chunk of state-owned land that spread across western Clinton County, eastern Franklin County, and northwestern Essex County. This land was surveyed in 1786. Old Military Track was named so because it was set aside for officers and enlisted men who served within three regiments stationed in northern New York. But for these men to gain title to, and keep, their land, they had to settle upon it with- in three years or that land would be commandeered and sold by the state. No veterans claimed their land. None of them wanted a piece of wind-swept and ever- green-choked property that was nearly impossible to get to, let alone farm. The toponym Line Pond reached United States Geological Survey topographic maps in 1968. Pharaoh Mountain, Essex County It's one hell of a hill. 2,556-foot Pharoah Mountain is named so because it rises like a king above the surrounding terrain. It is the only peak in 46,000 -acre Pharaoh Lake Wilderness Area that surpasses 2,500 feet. The closest mountain taller than Pharaoh Moun- tain to the north is 2,690 -foot Hail Mountain twelve miles away. To the south it's 2,650 -foot Black Moun- tain sixteen miles away. To the west it's the 2,628-foot north peak of Green Mountain fifteen miles away. No mountains to the east are taller. Pharaoh Mountain is thus impressively the highest point in a 500 -square- mile chunk of the Adirondack Mountains. During the late 1800s it was also known as Black Mountain and Bluebeard Mountain. What's most strange is that when this mountain was identified by name on a map in 1867, it was labeled Mount Parasol. The modern toponym reached maps nine years later. The United States Coast and Geodetic Survey placed a benchmark stamped "Pharaoh" on top in 1943. Wolf Pond, Franklin County Forty-acre Wolf Pond is four miles south of Ragged Lake. During the early 1900s it was reported that within the mid-1800s "a considerable number of the wolves [were]… killed a little south of Ragged Lake." In 1931 it was reported that a wolf pack, "scourge of the Canadian wilds," had been spotted in the "Ragged Lake section, according to reports received by the State Conservation Department. It is believed that the pack are now roaming through the woods and slashes in the remote district in the vicinity of Ragged Lake in the Town of Bellmont, a region where nearly primitive woods conditions prevail." But this could not be. The last native Adirondack Wolf was shot and killed by Ruben Cary in St. Lawrence County in 1899, 32 years earlier. The first wolf bounty in the Adirondack Moun- tains was established in Saratoga County in 1793. That year the Town of Greenfield began offering chipmunk and blackbird bounties of one cent alongside wolf bounties of fifty dollars. Fifty dollars in 1793 is equal to $1,400 in 2024 monies. t Erik, the "Place Name Dude," continues his series surrounding the history of names given to various locations throughout the Adirondacks. Visit erikschlimmer.com to purchase Erik's books or find a list of local retailers who carry his writings.

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