Gabriels is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

in the town of

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

Franklin County, New York Franklin County is a County (United States), county on the northern border of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. To the north across the Canada–United States border are the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, from east to ...

, United States, inside the

Adirondack Park The Adirondack Park is a park in northeastern New York (state), New York protecting the Adirondack Mountains. The park was established in 1892 for "the free use of all the people for their health and pleasure", and for watershed protection. At , ...

near Paul Smiths. The village developed around a

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

cure facility, the Gabriels Sanatorium, which was opened in 1897 by the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute for women in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. In 2019, the institute had about 6,200 Religious sister, sisters worldwide, organized into a number ...

. The land was donated by Paul Smith and W. Seward Webb. The site was later purchased by Paul Smith's College. The site was sold to the Department of Corrections in 1982. The Department of Corrections' Camp Gabriels closed in 2009. Both the sanatorium and the hamlet were named for Henry Gabriels, a Belgian-born prelate who served as bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ogdensburg. The hamlet developed as the commercial center on a train depot serving the Adirondack Division of the

New York Central The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...

line. The station existed primarily to deliver vacationers to the nearby resort at Paul Smiths. In 1961, the New York Central abandoned the Adirondack Division from Malone Junction to Gabriels. Today, the hamlet remains the commercial center for the town of Brighton, with a post office, small businesses, a

Catholic church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, and farms.Town of Brighton History Net

References

{{Franklin County, New York Adirondacks Hamlets in New York (state) Hamlets in Franklin County, New York