Rethinking Star Lake

Visiting Star Lake in 2001 after a 30-year absence was a shock. I knew the iron mine had closed decades before, but that news had seemed remote and unrelated to those of us who were long gone—an asterisk to the real happenings in our lives. But in 2001 the evidence of decline and hardship was everywhere, and the deep impression that visit made led me in 2005 to write Gem of the Adirondacks. That book was in parts a celebration of the past of the community, a story I felt needed to be told, and an expression of sympathy for the long suffering residents. Gem and the later Star Lake painted pictures of the past that might have been overly rosy and too bleak views of the present and future.

The community turns out to save
the historic schoolhouse, 2010

Having visited the community in eight of the past nine years since that return, I have come to a somewhat different conclusion. Yes, the economic engines that once drove the community’s prosperity are gone or much diminished. However, I no longer sense a community reeling from the loss of wealth. Instead, it seems to have come to grips with its present condition, like each of us gradually comes to grips with aging and if fortunate even gets comfortable with it. Community leaders are still striving to bring economic development to Clifton-Fine and residents dread the possible loss of some of the few remaining amenities. Nevertheless, few openly mourn the past, and the sense of community seems never to have been stronger. Eyesores remain, but in the past decade a few new structures have gone up in places occupied in 2001 by deteriorating or newly-demolished ones.

Less than 200 copies of Gem of the Adirondacks remain in print, and one day I will be tempted to come out with a revised and expanded edition. I look forward to the task because the new one will be happier and more hopeful than the one it replaces.