Adirondack Region, NY – 18 SEP 2010

Returning to New York from Montreal, I took route CA 15 to US 9; cutting through the eastern side of the Adirondack region next to Freeway 87 and close to Lake Champlain. It was really pretty and I hit some interesting sites near the small town of Chazy, NY. First was this small cemetery called Riverview.
Driving through a stone arch, the cemetery is on the right, then a large mausoleum followed by a small stone church.






The mausoleum was the size of my small two car garage.
It was chained closed, but I could look beyound into a half open door:
In such a small cemetery, who was this person who had the only mausoleum albeit larger than those found in big town cemeteries? I found the answer to that question fascinating. William Henry Miner 1862-1930, who owned Heart’s Delight Farm. His family homestead of 144 acres in 1903, grew to be 15,000 acres with 300 structures. Born in Wisconsin, his father died when he was 10, after which he was raised on his Uncle’s farm. When he was 18, he worked for Prey Manufacturing Company in Minneapolis and attended the U of M. He owned Miner, Inc. in Chicago and became a gentleman farmer, making millions from his mechanical inventions for rail transportation. He’s been called: businessman, builder, engineer, entrepreneur, educator, agriculturist, philanthropist and visionary. His farm had beef & dairy cattle, mules, draft horses, purebred horses, sheep, pigs, chickens, turkeys, pheasants and brook trout. Employing 800 workers the farm had: it’s own dairy, a box factory, ice house, indoor swimming pool, greenhouses, grist mill, 20-bed guest house and an entertainment center with an auditorium that could hold 300 people. The Miner Institute Miner Institute is a testament to his life. I found his story so interesting, I ordered his biography. (It turned out to be a good read.)
Next I came across a half mile line of John Deere vehicles:
A sign on the barn says: “John Deere Hill - Dairy Farm - Trombly Family 1916.” Tony Trombly is the current owner who has 70 tractors & 40 snowmobiles on display in his field, and this sign outside the house:
Then I found this unusual farm animal (one one each side of the driveway) announcing the Conroy Farm:
They also have a large store with a café: Conroy’s Organics which has home-made breads and a deli which uses natural antibiotic/hormone free meats, local eggs & fresh produce from the store. (Yum, wish we had one of these in Los Angeles.) While researching Conroy Farm I found this great website where you can put in your zip code and find stores that carry local produce: Local Harvest
A little further down the road I found a large lot filled with strange art work. It had a well-worn sign calling it Stoneledge Sculpture Garden but no information on the artist or artists. (The tractor is not part of it.)



This three-piece set of artwork had 3 typed pages attached to it which said it's called 1000 Days Before Emancipation – The Last Day F John Brown by John Kokoszka of Peru, NY. It then rambled on about John Brown, the Artist and his intent. (And yes, it was capitol F and no 'o'.)
Looking at the variety of sculpture and the skill levels displayed, my guess would be there is more than one artist involved.

Not very impressive pieces but just having any type of artwork displayed along a county road is a pleasant surprise.
I once found some wonderful sculptures along a country road in South Dakota. When I get home I’ll look those up and share them with you.
My last stop for the day was Fort Ticonderoga. (Fort Ticonderoga)
Looking over the Forts’ fence at part of Lake Champlain:
The view as I headed to Albany for the night: