My three areas of Adirondack history research & publishing

Since early 2007, LM 090429LEE MANCHESTER has been Wagner College’s media relations director and college historian. On this page, Manchester presents the research and publishing he did in the Adirondack region of northern New York before coming to Wagner. During the time I worked as a staff writer for the Lake Placid News (2000 to 2006), I became deeply involved in researching and writing about regional historic preservation and, quite naturally, the preservation of the region’s history. My research and publishing about Adirondack history has fallen into three broad categories:


Mary MacKenzieTHE MARY MacKENZIE PROJECT
Because of my interest in writing about regional history, I became familiar with Mary MacKenzie, the official historian of the village of Lake Placid and its surrounding township of North Elba. After Mrs. MacKenzie’s death in 2003, her family named me as her literary executor. From her papers and research files, I compiled five volumes, including MacKenzie’s award-winning magnum opus, “The Plains of Abraham: A History of North Elba and Lake Placid.” This page has links to all the books published by the Mary MacKenzie project.


Arto's castleADIRONDACK HERITAGE
Over the course of 6 years, I researched a body of work for the Lake Placid News that, when compiled, served as a pretty decent popular history of Essex County, New York, home of the Adirondack Great Range and cultural heart of the region. I edited two books out of that collection, which you will find described on this page. Also presented on this page is a book I edited about the Lake Placid Club, one of the central institutions in the historic life of the village of Lake Placid. Follow this link to the Adirondack Heritage page.


Adirondac window No. 2 (050901)DESERTED VILLAGE ANTHOLOGIES
Finally, there is the “Deserted Village” of Adirondac, a mid-19th century iron-mining hamlet established in the very shadow of the High Peaks, which continued to engage my attention over the years. I wrote a lot, myself, about the village, and in the course of my research became familiar with an incredible array of first-hand accounts from the 19th century and multiple studies of the site prepared in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. To ensure that others interested in this key historic site would have access to these resources, I collected them into three anthologies that contain (nearly) every known publication about the Deserted Village. You will find these anthologies described in detail on this page. Follow this link to the Deserted Village anthologies.


Adirondack Railroad window No. 2INSIDER’S ADIRONDACKS, OUTSIDER’S NEW YORK
I prepared this collection of 33 photographs, each with a short interpretive description, as the catalogue for a photographic exhibition at Wagner College that was on display throughout the month of March 2011. No, it’s not research, but you may find it of interest if your imagination has been captured by the other material I’ve posted on this site. View a complete online preview at no charge (best to view using the full screen option).