Adirondack Names

---

On this page we will explore what some of the names of Adirondack peaks, lakes, and places mean and where they originated. One thing to note about Adirondack names is that many are Native American words applied by Europeans. The Iroquois and the Algonquin, the two tribes dominant in New York, rarely entered the Adirondack region, or Couxsachrage (dismal wilderness), and therefore did not have names for many of the places. Even where these natives did name specific landmarks, in many cases the names were replaced later by Europeans.

Mountains (click a link in this section to be taken to photos of the peak)

• Algonquin, Boundary, and Iroquois: Reportedly Boundary peak was so named because it was the boundary between Algonquin and Iroquois territory. Algonquin territory was on the north side, towards Algonquin Mt, and Iroquois territory was to the south, towards Iroquois Mt. There is no evidence to support such claims, however. According to the Adirondack Mountain Club's Guide to Adirondack Trails: High Peaks Region, Boundary was the southern boundary of the Old Military Tract (see Misc. section below).
• Basin: Yes, it seems very strange that the 9th tallest mountain in the Adirondacks would be called "Basin," but the peak is actually named for the basin that it forms one side of. I believe the entire basin is formed by Sawteeth, Saddleback, Basin, and Gothics, but don't quote me on that.
• Colden (the Mountain): Both Mt. Colden and Lake Colden are named for David S. Colden, a potential investor in the McIntyre Iron Works. Colden was present on an 1836 expedition which reached Lake Colden and named it such. The mountain was named McMartin in an 1837 expedition to Marcy, but for some reason in the 1850's the name Colden gradually became applied to the mountain as well. And with a little help from Verplanck Colvin, who referred to the peak as "incorrectly known as Mt. McMartin," the name Colden has stuck.
• Colvin: named for Verplanck Colvin, long-term superintendant of the Adirondack Geological Survey and one of the earliest proponents of creating the Adirondack Park.
• Couchsachraga: derived from the Native American word Couxsachrage, meaning "dismal wilderness" or "winter habitat."
• Dix: named for John Dix, Secretary of State under Governor William Marcy. He would later be a governor of New York, a U.S. Senator, and Secretary of the Treasury.
• Emmons: named for Ebenezer Emmons, a college professor and employee of the New York Natural History Survey. Emmons organized the first recorded ascent of Mt. Marcy and named the peak such.
• Esther: after Esther McComb, who made the first recorded ascent of the peak as a 15-year old. Click the link to see the plaque that was placed on the summit to commemorate her "indomitable spirit." Esther is the only peak in the Adirondacks named after a woman. Incidentally, Ms. McComb is no relation to Alexander Macomb, after whom Macomb Mt. is named.
• Gothics: supposedly named by Old Mountain Phelps because to him its slides resembled Gothic architecture from his vantage point on Marcy. No one knows for sure though.
• Haystack: named by Old Mountain Phelps because it supposedly resembled a stack of rocks. So he called it Haystack. Go figure.
• MacIntyre Range: Named for Archibald McIntyre, founder of the McIntyre Iron Works, located in Tahawus (near Newcomb). The USGS added the "a" to the name of the mountain range despite the fact that it does not appear in the name of the man the range is named for. The range is made up of Algonquin, Boundary, and Iroquois Mountains (see above for the naming of these peaks) and Mt. Marshall (see below).
• Macomb: after Alexander Macomb, who was a land speculator in the Adirondack region in the late 1700's. At one time he held title to a whopping four million acres. In comparison, the State of New York owns 2.5 millions acres in the Adirondacks today.
• Marcy: after state governor William Marcy. Ebenezer Emmons named the peak Marcy on making the first recorded ascent of the mountain in 1837. Marcy has in the past been referred to with the Indian word Tahawus, meaning "cloud-splitter," but I have never seen any solid proof to indicate that Native Americans ever actually referred to the peak using this name.
• Marshall: named for Robert "Bob" Marshall, who was one of the original 46-ers. This peak's name has been changed several times in its history, but its present name is likely to stick. The Adirondack Forty-Sixers pushed for the name to be changed to Marshall after Bob Marshall's death in 1939.
• Nipple Top: this is an easy one. Named for its characteristic shape from the Elk Lake area.
• Phelps: named for Orson "Old Mountain" Phelps, famous Adirondack guide. Phelps coined the names for many of the Adirondack high peaks.
• Saddleback: named for the characteristic saddle shape of its summit.
• Santanoni: the name Santanoni is a bastardization of "Saint Anthony."
• Upper and Lower Wolf Jaw: supposedly these two peaks together look like the jaws of a wolf. I have yet to find an angle from which I agree with this observation.

Lakes

• Colden (the Lake): See Colden in Mountains section above.
• Flowed Land: this lake south of Lake Colden in the High Peaks was the result of the damming of the Opalescent River by the proprietors of the McIntyre Iron Works. Click the link for more information on both the mine and Flowed Land.
• Indian Lake: named after the presence of the Penobscot Indian Sabael Benedict on the shore of this lake. Benedict was the first settler in Hamilton County, and lived to be 108 years old, attesting to the life-giving powers of clean air and wilderness. The hamlet of Sabael, located along the western shore of Indian Lake, is also named after him. (Benedict's family, and especially his son, Lewis Elijah, who led the the future proprietors of the McIntyre Iron Works to a rich vein of ore on the Hudson, are often considered part of the Abenaki tribe of Canada. This is true; however, Sabael was born on the Penobscot River in Maine, and his family later joined the Abenakis.)
• Lake Tear of the Clouds: this name originated from a quote by Verplanck Colvin describing the highest source of the Hudson River: "Far above the chilly waters of Lake Avalanche ... is a minute, unpretending tear of the clouds ... the well-spring of the Hudson." See the Quotes page for the full quote as well as many more quotes from other authors.
• Middle Settlement Lake: named because one of John Brown's colonies, the one known as the Middle Settlement, was located near this small lake. Brown, not the John Brown of abolitionist fame (who lived in Lake Placid, incidentally), held title to many lands in the Old Forge area and attempted to sub-divide and sell them to prospective farmers. His attempts eventually failed due to the harsh climate, short growing season, and poor soil of the Adirondacks.

Miscellaneous

• Adirondack: originally a derogatory term used by the Iroquois to describe their neighbors, the Algonquins. When food was scarce, the Algonquins would eat the inside of the bark of the white pine. The word Adirondack is a derivation of the Iroquois word for "bark-eater." The Ha-De-Ron-Dah Wilderness area in the western Adirondacks is an attempt at a more accurate spelling of the original Native word.
• The Garden: This is actually a very heavily-used parking lot in Keene Valley. It is primarily used by hikers accessing the Johns Brook Valley, but the trail to Big Slide via the Brothers also departs from this lot. It is referred to as the Garden because it was built in 1970 atop a former vegetable garden.
• Old Military Tract: This tract was a 665,000-acre plot of land located in the northern Adirondacks that was set aside by the state in 1781 in order to compensate troops that protected the north from Indian raids. Very little of the land was ever used for that purpose.

Back to main page.