In the northwest corner of the Adirondack Park lie Cranberry Lake and the village of Wanakena. This remote area was the last-settled part of New York State; from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s, its name evoked the very essence of wilderness. Initially, sportsmen, naturalists, and artists flocked to the area. By 1900, summer tourism was booming. The logging industry followed, to harvest the virgin timber; after that, the state purchased the mostly cleared lands. Today, seventy-five percent of the lake's shoreline is state owned, and the Five Ponds Wilderness, south of Wanakena, is one of the largest and wildest areas in the Adirondacks.
Initially, the remote Cranberry Lake region attracted hunters and fishermen like Reuben Wood, world-champion fly caster. It also enticed artist Frederic Remington, writer Irving Bacheller, and Arts and Crafts movement philosopher Elbert Hubbard. Between 1886 and 1896, when railroads began to approach the lake, both industry and tourism were facilitated. Extractive industries like mining and lumbering coexisted with a lively trade catering to leisure travelers and recreationists. Several generations later, much of the natural beauty and wilderness characteristic of the Cranberry Lake region has been restored and is again the basis of its appeal. The communities that thrived along the railways--and the people who lived and worked in those communities--have a role in the area's social and industrial history that should not be forgotten.
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