View looking down Main Street, past the Grand Army Hotel (site of George Henry's). Building at center housed James Fuller's store. Note the profusion of elm trees. (Richards Library collection)
Hackensack Mountain viewed from the current elementary school. (Museum collection)
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Hackensack Mountain, located in the center of Warrensburg, rises approximately 1,357 feet above sea level. The name is derived from the Algonquin word Achkincheschakey (A-kin-hes-kakee) which means, “where two rivers come together," a
reference to the view from the
summit showing the confluence of the Hudson and Schroon Rivers. Numerous buildings in the town were
constructed with granite quarried there.
In September 1963 a 100-acre forest fire destroyed much of the
vegetation on the mountain. Water drops
from helicopters were used to help extinguish these blazes. In the 1970s there was a small town-operated
ski area known as Blister Hill on the south end of the mountain. In 1980 Everett Frulla donated much of the mountain to the citizens
of the Town of Warrensburg, designated as a public park. In 2011, with the help of Glens Falls
Hospital’s Creating Healthy Places to Live, Work & Play initiative, the town,
the school district and Warren County partnered to formalize the mountain as
the Hackensack Mountain Park and Recreation Area. This included a designated trail system for
year- round recreational use, public parking areas and an informational map/brochure
created by the staff of Up Yonda Farm, a division of the Warren
County Dept. of Parks, Recreation and Railroad.
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Hammond's Crystal Pharmacy, at left. Next is Atlantic & Pacific (A&P), then Adirondack Candy Kitchen. The large building at right is the Music Hall block. This entire site is now Jacobs & Toney gas pumps and Tax Express. (Richards Library Collection)
Hammond's (Crystal) Pharmacy stood on Main Street at the north end of the present day gas station owned by Jack Toney. Oscar F. Hammond moved to Warrensburgh from Granville in 1861 and opened his drug store in 1863. He and his wife, Holly, lived in the house next door which is still standing. The pharmacy was destroyed in the fire of 1896 and was rebuilt. Oscar died of Bright’s disease in 1897. After his death, his son Benjamin took over the business and ran it until his death in 1915. It was during this time (1909) that it became known as the "Crystal Pharmacy." After 1915 Benja-min’s widow ran the store and eventually sold it to Arthur Goldsmith in 1921.
Lower part of Recreation Field, once part of a nine-hole municpal golf course. (Museum collection)
Recreation Field. - In January of 1925 William B. Isham Jr. presented the town with a nine-acre parcel of land located on Library
Avenue, to be used for a public playground and park. The deed specified that the area would be used
in perpetuity by the town for the stated uses. If at any time part or all of the property was
allocated for any other use or purpose, the land would revert to the Trustees
of Richards Library. Also, the town was
required to raise enough money to provide proper equipment and maintenance to
carry out the intended purposes.
Lower part of Recreation Field, once part of a
nine-hole municpal golf course. (Museum collection)
Soon thereafter, $3,000 was appropriated by the Town Board for equipping and maintaining the Recreation Field. By June 1925 grading work for Isham Memorial Park was finished and by December the first stage of the work was completed. Park Commissioners Frank Bisbee, William Quinlan and Charles F. Burhans reported total expenditures of $2,470.62. Over 10,000 cubic yards of soil was moved from the back of the lot to the southwest corner to provide a level plateau measuring 375 feet by 305 feet.
Soon thereafter, $3,000 was appropriated by the Town Board for equipping and maintaining the Recreation Field. By June 1925 grading work for Isham Memorial Park was finished and by December the first stage of the work was completed. Park Commissioners Frank Bisbee, William Quinlan and Charles F. Burhans reported total expenditures of $2,470.62. Over 10,000 cubic yards of soil was moved from the back of the lot to the southwest corner to provide a level plateau measuring 375 feet by 305 feet.
