LAKE PLACID — The Lake Placid-North Elba Historical Society has announced the first program in its 2026 Winter Speaker Series: “Greetings From the Great Camps: The History of the Adirondack Vacation.”

American Historian and year-round Adirondacker Connor Williams, who also serves as lead historian at Great Camp Sagamore and teaches at Middlebury College, will lead a discussion on the forces, movements, moments and people that led to the nexus of wilderness, exertion, rejuvenation and comfort that still all define the Adirondack region today.

In 1850, the Adirondack region remained, literally, a blank spot on the map; yet by 1900, the Adirondacks hosted elaborate summer estates for the wealthiest families in America — including Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, Carnegies, Whitneys and Morgans. Theodore Roosevelt inherited the presidency while on a midnight buckboard ride through the heart of the park. For more than a century since, the Adirondacks have remained a famous destination drawing magnates, celebrities and everyday Americans. Hikers, hunters, canoe campers, power boaters, elites and environmentalists — and many combinations thereof — all look forward to their visits and vacations in “the ADK.” How did this transition occur? Why did it occur? What forces led to the development of the region during the late 19th century, and how does Adirondack history interact with American history more broadly? And just what was a “Great Camp,” anyway?

The program will be held at Cambria, Lake Placid on Wednesday, January 15th at 7:00 pm. The event will also be recorded and can be viewed on the Society’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@DigitalMedia-LPNEHS after January 15th.

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Upcoming programs in this year’s Winter Speaker Series:

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¯ February 19: John Brown in the Adirondacks with Author Sandra Weber.

¯ March 19: Horse Drawn to Iron Horse “The Opening of the Adirondacks” with Historical Society Board Member Parmelee Tolkan

¯ April 16: Trailblazing Together: Stewardship, Partnership, and the Future of the Adirondack Rail Trail with Julia Goran

All Winter Speaker Series programs are free and open to the public.