Mountains. EE. Kayaderosseras. GG. Chateaugay. HH, Clinton. JJ. Au Sable.

Peaks. g. White Face. k. Mount McMartin. m. Mount McIntyre. ň. Mount Marcy. o. Mount Defiance, (in Ticonderoga). Rivers. C. Hudson. a. Bouquet. c. Boreas. d. Indian. e. Adirondack. f. Schroon. i. Au Sable. j. Saranac. q. West Branch. Lakes. W. Champlain. 1. Schroon. Crane Pond. u. Harries Lake.

r. Paradox. s. Pharaoh. t. v. Rich. w. Delia. h. Teralt. y. Sanford. z. Placid. a. Auger Pond. b. Warm. c. Rattlesnake. d. Black. e. Long.

Forts. Ticonderoga. Crown Point.

Villages. ELIZABETHTOWN. roga. Essex.

Westport. Keeseville. Ticonde

BOUNDARIES. North by Franklin and Clinton counties; East by Lake Champlain; South by Warren county; and West by Hamilton and Franklin counties.

SURFACE. The surface of this county is mountainous. Three distinct ranges cross it, and a fourth touches its western boundary. The Kayaderosseras range, beginning at Crown Point, passes over the southeastern towns. The Clinton range extends through the central portion, the Au Sable passes through the northwest section, and the Chateaugay forms a portion of the northwestern boundary.

In the towns of Keene, Newcomb, and Moriah, a group of lofty peaks, known as the Adirondack group, extends from the Au Sable to the Clinton range. Mounts Marcy, McIntire, McMartin, Dial mountain and White face, are the principal of these peaks. Mount Marcy is 5467 feet, or more than a mile, above tide water, Mount McIntire 5183, White face 4855, and Dial mountain 4900 feet high.

It is a characteristic of the mountains of this county, that their sides are precipitous and broken. Between the ranges of the mountains are extensive valleys, through which flow large streams.

The Adirondack pass, about five miles from the Adirondack iron works, demands a cursory notice. At an elevation of some 2500 feet above tide water, a narrow gorge extends quite through the mountain, whose massive perpendicular walls a thousand feet in height, rear themselves on either hand in gloomy sublimity, as if proudly defying the puny art of man. The pass is nearly a mile in length, and rises in height from 500 to 1000 feet.

RIVERS. The principal rivers of the county are the Au Sable, the Saranac, the Bouquet, the Hudson and the Schroon, with their tributaries, and Putnam creek.

LAKES. No county in the state probably possesses so great a number of lakes and ponds as Essex. The character of its sur

face is such as to produce this result; in its deep chasms and mountain gorges, its ravines and dells, bounded by walls of ever during granite, the waters which fall upon the hills, or the product of the melting snows upon its lofty peaks, gather and remain, till they have attained sufficient height to overflow the barriers which restrain them.

It is said that there are in the county nearly one hundred lakes and ponds of considerable size. Of these the most important are Schroon, Paradox, Teralt, Rich, Harries, Delia, Sanford, Pharaoh and Placid lakes, and Augur pond.

CLIMATE. The temperature is low, particularly on the mountains. In the valleys it is more mild, but the frosts are early and severe. It is not well adapted to the raising of fruit, or those grains and crops which require a long summer.

GEOLOGY AND MINERALS. The rocks in this county are primary, with the exception of a narrow belt of transition on Lake Champlain. They are principally hypersthene, granite, primary limestone, gneiss, hornblende, and magnetic iron ore.

Iron is found in immense quantities in almost every part of the county. The principal veins are the Penfield, the Adirondack ores, and the Sanford vein. The latter is estimated to contain at least 3,000,000 tons of pure iron. It is in fact a mass of pure iron ore, unmixed with rock or earth. The iron of this county, in all the qualities which render that metal valuable, is unsurpassed by any in the United States, and being situated in a densely wooded country, and with a convenient access to the lake, can be smelted and conveyed to market as advantageously as any in the country.

There are in the county, and particularly on the shores of the lakes, fossil vegetables and shells. The other principal minerals are Plumbago, marble of the Verd Antique variety, Labradorite, calcareous spar, pyroxene, hornblende, serpentine, scapolite, tabular spar, Brucite, apatite, tourmaline, sphene, colophonite, graphite, zircon, garnet, epsom salts, porcelain clay, and pearl spar.

VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS, SOIL, &c. The soil, though broken, is rich and fertile. The timber is very abundant, and of large size, sonsisting of white and black oak, white and yellow pine, maple, beech, hemlock, poplar, walnut, butternut, birch, ash, elm, basswood, cherry, fir, spruce, &c.

Upon Mount Marcy, the gigantic beech and hemlock gradually diminish in size to mere shrubs, and the former, unable to sustain the weight of its stem, creeps on the rocky surface of its elevated summit. The forests abound with game, and the waters with fish.

PURSUITS. A majority of the inhabitants are devoted to agricultural pursuits. The greater part of the county is adapted to grazing, and in some of the valleys grain succeeds well. Potatoes, oats, together with some wheat, corn and rye are grown. Butter and wool are produced in considerable quantities.

The preparation of lumber for market is a prominent pursuit

with the inhabitants. The amount of lumber and timber ex

ported is very large.

Among the manufactures, that of iron is the most important; it is smelted from the ore in large quantities.

The commerce of the county upon the lakes is very considerable, and every year increasing.

STAPLES. Iron, lumber, butter, wool, and potatoes.

SCHOOLS. There were in the county, in 1846, 167 schoolhouses, in which 7925 children were taught an average period of six months, at an expense for tuition of $8758. The district libraries contained 13,774 volumes..

There were also in the county twenty private schools, with 270 pupils, and two academies, with ninety students.

RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. Methodists, Congregationalists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Roman Catholics, and Universalists. The number of churches of all denominations in the county is forty-two, and of clergymen, twenty-nine.

HISTORY. In 1731 a fort, called Fort St. Frederick, was erected by the French, at Crown Point, on the bank of Lake Champlain ; it was afterward blown up, but the place was again fortified, and retained as a military post.

In 1756, the French erected Fort Ticonderoga, named by them Carillon. In 1758, General Abercrombie, with a large force, composed of British and provincial troops, attacked the fortress, but was repulsed, with the loss of nearly 2000 killed and wounded. Among the former was Lord Howe, who was universally beloved by the troops.

In 1759, both Ticonderoga and Crown Point were abandoned by the French, on the approach of the English forces. The British general garrisoned Ticonderoga, and caused a fort to be erected at Crown Point, which was likewise garrisoned by English troops.

In 1775, both fortresses were captured by a corps of Connecticut and Vermont volunteers, under the command of Colonels Ethan Allen,* Seth Warner and Benedict Arnold. Crown Point was evacuated the next year.

On the eleventh of October, 1776, the disastrous expedition against Canada was terminated, by the capture of the lake fleet, under the command of General Arnold, near Crown Point.

In July, 1777, Ticonderoga was besieged by General Burgoyne; with great labor and difficulty that officer succeeded in

*It is related that when Colonel Allen, who had rushed into Fort Ticonderoga, sword in hand, ordered the commander of the fort to surrender, he enquired "by what authority?" Colonel Allen immediately replied, "I demand it in the name of the great Jehovah and the continental congress."

erecting a battery upon Mount Defiance, which overlooked and enfiladed the fort. General St. Clair, its commander, was thus compelled either to surrender, or evacuate the fort immediately. He chose the latter alternative, and made his escape, though with some loss. It was then garrisoned by the British.

In October, 1777, the garrison, hearing of General Burgoyne's surrender, returned precipitately to Canada. Neither of the fortresses have since been occupied.

This county was chiefly settled by emigrants from Vermont, and other New England states. Considerable portions of it are yet covered with the primeval forests.

VILLAGES. ELIZABETHTOWN is a small village, situated in the midst of beautiful and picturesque mountain scenery. It is the county seat. Population 350.

Keeseville, lying upon both sides of the Au Sable river, and being partly in this county and partly in Clinton, is a large and flourishing manufacturing village. Iron, and woollen and cotton goods, are largely manufactured here. It has also flouring mills, saw mills, a brewery, machine shop, tannery, &c. The falls of the Au Sable give it a fine water power. Here is an incorporated academy. Population 2200.

Westport is a thriving village on the lake. It has a flourishing incorporated academy. Population 700.

Ticonderoga, about two miles from the old fort of that name, is well situated for manufactures, having a valuable and extensive water power, very uniform in its supply, and being advantageously situated for commerce. Population 700.

Essex is a thriving village and has some commerce. Population 700.

Willsborough, in the town of the same name, Au Sable Forks and Jayville, in the town of Jay, are growing and important villages.

Rivers. AA. Schoharie kill. C. Hudson. a. Catskill Creek. d. Kaaters kill. g. Batavia kill.

Falls. On the Kaaters kill east branch, three falls.

Villages. CATSKILL. Coxsackie. Athens. New Baltimore.

BOUNDARIES. North by Schoharie and Albany; East by Hudson river; South by Ulster; West by Delaware and Schoharie counties.

SURFACE. The county of Greene has a very hilly and mountainous surface. The Catskill mountains running centrally through the-county, divide it into two sections, of which the eastern and northern is the most arable.