Fake Ghost Town Which Became The Real Thing, Part 2

The dogs and I were walking through forest checking out the remains of an old village which had been part of the long abandoned Adirondack Frontier Town, now pretty much a ghost town:

There were many old cabins and a log church, all slowly crumbling their way into the ground:

Wally was doing an unusually fine job of keeping up with us. Perhaps because he's nearly blind and this was completely new territory for him, he wanted to be sure he didn't lose us. Winky, alas, didn't much care and wandered around casually, pretty much ignoring the rest of us:

I did manage to get Wally and Winky together and called all the dogs back toward the car. The deer flies were getting hungry and I wanted to be back inside a car:

I got all the dogs loaded back up into the car and then took a drive around the looped road, snapping photos of the old log buildings as I passed by:

Most were just plain cabins whose original purpose I couldn't guess:

But this one was clearly a refreshment stand.I know refreshment stands when I see them, even if they're built of logs:

But it was already hot and there was no water anywhere, so I drove the dogs back to the Schroon River, also on the grounds of the old Frontier Town. Clover and Daphne raced right down to the water's edge, wrestling the entire way:

Seamus went right into the water. Daphne and Clover considered do so also, but never got up the courage. Fergus did go in, but I'm sorry to say that the photo of his maiden "swim" did not turn out well:

But Seamus was delighted to do his brontosaurus act:

And everyone was happy. Just look at Fergus frolicking and Clover running:

I had to coax old Wally and Winky down to the water and hope they'd drink. As with horses, you can lead a dog to water but you can't.........well, you know the rest. This had been a lengthy rest stop but an unusually interesting and refreshing one. It was time to continue on our way toward the farm:

Fake Ghost Town Which Became The Real Thing, Part 1

Another Sunday morning rolled around and I was taking my six dogs up to the farm once again. I drove up the Northway to Exit 29 and turned into the old parking lot for the abandoned tourist trap, Frontier Town. This was our third stop there so I knew just where I wanted to go. I drove all the way back through the gates into the woods, past the Boreas River and turned onto the grassy lane which I knew from our last adventure there would take me to an old ghost town. I drove all the way in to make it easier for Wally and Winky, two old-timers who can't walk very well, very fast or very far:

This clearly had been part of the tourist attraction and it occurred to me that it had been built to look like a ghost town and now, many years after everything had been shut down, it really was one. The dogs and I walked right up to the storefronts this time, past the old leather horse collar and in through the old doors:

The rooms inside were designed to look rustic and it was kind of sad to see them slowly crumbling:

It looked to me as if these had been stores at one time:

There were still old ceiling fans and fluorescent light fixtures hanging from the ceilings. There were still lots of shelves for whatever wares were being sold - probably tee shirts and the like:

I walked through the old, red, swinging saloon doors, noting the old fashioned tin ceiling inside:

The old player piano was still inside the saloon and the large mirror behind the bar was unbroken:

I love exploring such old places but had to be careful not to fall through rotten floor boards. I also had to worry about Wally and Winky getting lost. I called them continuously. Here's old Winky slowly making his way down the dusty ghost town "road:"

I spotted some old buildings off in the trees and we all walked over to take a closer look. This old log church was my favorite:

An old log cabin and what appeared to be a pavilion for outdoor dining. I'm sure Seamus and Fergus were looking for food scraps but no one had eaten there for a very long time. The theme park was open from 1952 to 1998:

I found a collection of old cowboy boots on the ground and thought at first that perhaps they'd been for sale in the park. But these were old, worn boots, some with duct tape repairs. Perhaps they were left here by the ghosts of old cowboys:

I walked around, checking out all the buildings which were once part of a frontier "village." But we were just getting started. I'll post more about Frontier Town tomorrow: