The Past

Adirondack History

The history of the Adirondacks is documented in several sites on the web. Follow these links to see how time has passed in these mountains.

The History page at Adirondack Net and Adirondacks Research Consortium

History of the Town of Keene, New York

Adirondack Realty is pleased to bring you James Bailey's History of the Town of Keene. Written in 1980, history has progressed beyond some of the information cited here, but the bulk of this text is a fascinating exploration into the development of the town Adirondack Realty calls home. We'd like to hear from any of you who would like to illuminate a part of Keene's history on this web site- write us!

Historic Photos

The Library of Congress has mounted the fabulous American Memory site which has a digital collection of media on thousands of topics. For some spectacular photos and other interesting information, visit historic photos of the Adirondacks and of the Town of Keene. Several of the photos of boarding houses in this collection have been linked to from the History of the Town of Keene pages in our site.

Tales of the Valley

Adrian Edmonds, founder of Adirondack Realty, was born in Keene Valley in 1909. During the course of his lifetime he has had the opportunity to hear a great many tales about life in the town of Keene, and has for the past few years been working to record these stories for posterity. We've placed a few of our favorites here in hopes that you will enjoy them as much as we do.

The Present

General Information

The Adirondacks are the largest state park in the contiguous 48 states. Among the oldest mountains in the nation, they are renowned for their stunning vistas, crystal waters, and its vast wilderness. Following the links below should suffice to give anyone a sense of what qualities embody the park today.

The Adirondack Regional Tourism Site
Official regional tourism site with info on each Adirondack County, although focuses on Lake Placid area in Essex County. There's lots of information on the many recreational opportunities in the Adirondacks, including hiking, fishing, hunting, birding, boating, skiing and more.

Adirondack Information from the University of Vermont

Adirondack Net
Again, you may have visited this site already if you followed the Adirondack History links.

Our Schools

If you are planning to move to the North Country, here are some websites that may interest you about our area schools.

Keene Central School

Elizabethtown Lewis Central School

Westport Central School

Ausable Valley Central School

Lake Placid Central School

Land Use: The Adirondack Park Agency

The Adirondack Park Agency (APA), was created in 1892 by the State of New York amid concerns for the water and timber resources of the region. Today the Park is the largest publicly protected area in the contiguous United States and encompasses approximately 6 million acres, nearly half of which belongs to all the people of New York State and is constitutionally protected to remain "forever wild" forest preserve. The remaining half of the Park is private land which includes settlements, farms, timber lands, businesses, homes and camps.

While the APA is directly responsible for guiding the future of land use within the park, many other organizations address specific land use concerns. The links that follow lead to both government agencies and public interest groups who have something to say on this topic.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

The Blue Line Council

The Adirondack Council

That's all for now... if you know of any links or information that ought to be included here please send us your suggestions!