Franklin Falls Pond

Franklin Falls Pond
Franklin Falls Pond, upstream of the Falls
Franklin Falls Pond Franklin Falls Pond
Location	St. Armand / Franklin, New York, United States
Coordinates	44°25.5′N 73°59′W
Primary inflows	Saranac River
Primary outflows	Saranac River
Basin countries	United States
Max. length	2.7 miles (4.3 km)
Surface area	439 acres (1.78 km2)
Surface elevation	1,470 feet (450 m)

Franklin Falls in the spring

Franklin Falls Pond is a 439-acre (178 ha), 2.7-mile-long (4.3 km) pond created by damming the Saranac River three miles (4.8 km) northeast of Lower Saranac Lake in the Adirondack Mountains of northern New York State. The pond is also part of the 740-mile (1,190 km) Northern Forest Canoe Trail, which begins in Old Forge, NY and ends in Fort Kent, ME.

History

The falls at the downstream (northern) end of the pond were the site of a sawmill, a hotel, and a hamlet that grew up around the mill; all were completely destroyed by a fire in 1852. The hotel and the sawmill were rebuilt. Paul Smith, proprietor of Paul Smith's Hotel bought the area around the falls and built a hydroelectric plant, the construction of which flooded 270 acres (1.1 km²), killing a substantial number of trees. The state filed an injunction against the construction, which Smith ignored, leading the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks to bring a suit that was finally settled in 1912, in Smith's favor. Today all that remains of the hamlet is a more modern hydroelectric dam that holds back the pond.

Sources

• Jamieson, Paul and Morris, Donald, Adirondack Canoe Waters, North Flow, Lake George, NY: Adirondack Mountain Club, 1987. ISBN 0-935272-43-7.

External links

• Adirondack Sports and Fitness - Franklin & Union Falls Ponds Archived 2008-07-20 at the Wayback Machine
• "Franklin Falls Pond". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2009-05-04.