The Marion River is a
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
that connects
Blue Mountain Lake Blue Mountain Lake may refer to:
* Blue Mountain Lake (Arkansas), a reservoir in Arkansas
* Blue Mountain Lake (New York lake), a lake in Hamilton County in the central Adirondacks, New York
* Blue Mountain Lake (hamlet), New York, a hamlet in the T ...
via
Utowana Lake and
Eagle Lake Eagle Lake may refer to:
Cities, towns, townships etc. Canada
* Eagle Lake, Haliburton County, Ontario
* Eagle Lake, Parry Sound District, Ontario
* Eagle Lake 27, Ontario (Indian reserve)
* Eagle Lake, Kenora District, Ontario
United States
* ...
(the
Eckford chain
The Eckford Chain of lakes is composed of Blue Mountain Lake, Eagle Lake, and Utowana Lake in the Adirondack Mountains in New York. The chain was named for Henry Eckford, a noted engineer and ship builder who made a survey of the lakes in 1811 ...
) to
Raquette Lake
Raquette Lake is the source of the Raquette River in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State. It is near the community of Raquette Lake, New York. The lake has of shoreline with pines and mountains bordering the lake. It is located in the t ...
in
Hamilton County in the central
Adirondacks
The Adirondack Mountains (; a-də-RÄN-dak) form a massif in northeastern New York with boundaries that correspond roughly to those of Adirondack Park. They cover about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2). The mountains form a roughly circular d ...
. New York State has classified the Marion as a Scenic River.
The Marion River Carry is a
portage
Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...
around the rapids in the Marion River to Utowana Lake. The carry was shortened by a dam, that raised the level of the river and then by the Marion River Carry Railroad; at , it was the shortest
standard-gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...
railroad line in the United States.
There is a detailed, animated, three-dimensional model of the carry railroad at the
Adirondack Museum
Adirondack Experience (formerly Adirondack Museum), located on NY-30 in the hamlet of Blue Mountain Lake in Hamilton County, New York, is a museum dedicated to preserving the history of the Adirondacks. The museum is located on the site of an h ...
in Blue Mountain Lake.
History
The Marion River played an important part in the development of the central Adirondacks. Both Blue Mountain Lake and Raquette Lake were acquired by
Thomas Clark Durant
Thomas Clark Durant (February 6, 1820 – October 5, 1885) was an American physician, businessman, and financier. He was vice-president of the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) in 1869 when it met with the Central Pacific railroad at Promontory Sum ...
, developer of the
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
, as part of the building of the
Adirondack Railway
The Adirondack Railway (originally Adirondack Company) was a railroad that connected Saratoga Springs to North Creek, New York, a distance of . Built by Dr. Thomas Clark Durant, vice-president of the Union Pacific Railroad, it was started in 186 ...
to
North Creek in the 1870s. Durant, his son,
William West Durant
William West Durant (1850–1934) was a designer and developer of camps in the Adirondack Great Camp style, including Camp Uncas, Camp Pine Knot and Great Camp Sagamore which are National Historic Landmarks. He was the son of Thomas C. ...
, and other family members built hotels and great camps on both lakes. W.W. Durant dammed the river at the Utowana end in 1879, and operated a sawmill there; this also allowed steamboats to travel most of its length. This was followed in 1900 by the Marion Carry Railroad, which operated until 1929. Efforts to save one of the
steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
s from the railroad in 1947 led to the creation of the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake, where the engine may still be seen. It was also unusual in connecting to steamboat routes on either end, rather than other railways.
[Kudish, Michael, ''Where Did the Tracks Go in the Central Adirondacks?'', Volume Two, Purple Mountain Press, Fleischmanns, New York, 2007. .]
References
External links
St. Hubert's Isle - The Marion Carry RailroadInteractive map of the Marion River Carry Railroad
{{authority control
Adirondacks
Rivers of New York (state)
Tributaries of the Saint Lawrence River
Rivers of Hamilton County, New York