Warrensburg Historical Park

Timber, water, and location drove the early development and fortunes of Warrensburgh. Adirondack forests of hemlock, pine and spruce attracted lumbermen, while the Schroon River powered mills along its banks and carried logs to mills in Warrensburgh and Glens Falls. Warrensburgh’s central location in Warren County helped expand the region’s commercial activity, and early entrepreneurs sustained a burst of creative endeavor throughout the 19th century. Manufacturing centered on the Schroon River and its dam north of the Judd Bridge. Sawmills produced lumber, a grist mill ground grain into flour, and the tannery tanned leather and made leather for shoe soles. The peg mill made shoe pegs for the German army and later clothespins, while farmers brought freshly shorn wool to the carding mill for cleaning and combing. A potash factory extracted lye from wood ashes for soapmaking, a paper mill turned wood pulp into paper, the planing mill planed lumber, and the sash and blind mill made window sashes and blinds. Later factories produced quality men’s shirts and fashionable shirt waists for ladies, and a woolen mill and pants factory became known for heavy woolen trousers and vests called Warrensburgh woolens. One mill was later converted into the powerhouse for the trolley line, and the town had its own electric company and a telephone and telegraph company. By the early 1900's, most manufacturing had ended because of declining natural resources, fires, and cheaper methods of production. Of the original mills, only the former D.E. Pasco Grist Mill remains.

Warrensburg, New York · United States