Verplanck Colvin's Geodetic Field Book

Surveyor Verplanck Colvin (1847-1920) created more than 440 field books between 1872 and 1900 to complete a survey of the Adirondack wilderness of New York. This volume shows the area of Blue Mountain Lake in Hamilton County. Colvin began surveying the Adirondacks in 1865. In 1872, the Board of Regents appointed him supervisor of the State Survey and established a Commission of State Parks to study the idea of an Adirondack Park. By 1880, Colvin had completed the most thorough survey of the Adirondacks ever done. He continued work as state surveyor for the next twenty-eight years. While doing his surveys, he also gave speeches to promote the establishment of the Adirondack Park. The Adirondack wilderness area was designated part of a State Forest Preserve in 1885, and as the Adirondack Park in 1892. This book is on loan to the New York State Archives from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Division of Real Property Services.