Voices of Lake Luzerne

Welcome to the Lake Luzerne Historic District—one of the most story-rich corners of the Adirondack foothills. Along Main Street and the banks of the Hudson River, a short walk reveals centuries of history: wilderness settlement, industrial innovation, community life, and the cultural traditions that shaped this remarkable town.

The half-mile route guides you from the Rockwell Falls Public Library along the River Trail to the Adirondack Folk School, past the Garnar chimney and the Gailey Schoolhouse, then across the street toward the Pagenstecher Pulp Mill, the Kinnear Museum, and finally the First United Methodist Church. At each stop, voices from the past will take you back in time and show you Lake Luzerne through the eyes of the people who shaped it. We've designed the tour so that you may keep walking as you listen, triggering new narratives to begin as the previous one ends. Taking this approach, you can expect the entire loop to take about an hour to complete.

For a longer walk, we invite you to venture beyond our core tour to the site of the former Wayside Inn, Benjamin Clapp Butler's majestic hotel which once overlooked Lake Luzerne, and St. Mary's Episcopal Church, the construction of which Butler spearheaded in thanks for surviving terrible fighting in the Civil War. A lawyer, legislator, and gifted entepreneur, he tells his story at both of these these points of interest.

No source has been more important to this project than Timber, Tannery and Tourists, the town history published by Lester St. John Thomas in 1979. Born and raised in Luzerne, Thomas brought to his work as a historian a journalist’s discipline: careful listening, respect for documentary evidence, and a conviction that local knowledge matters. He was a lifelong witness to the town whose past he set out to preserve.