Town of Webb Historian Peg Masters, and longtime resident, Linda Cohen, have co-authored their second book, Old Forge and The Fulton Chain of Lakes, which contains more than 200 historic photographs of the area with their descriptions.
Most of the vintage photographs in the book were provided by the Town of Webb Historical Association, along with the research materials to describe the location and identify the people in the photographs.
Cohen and Masters also co-authored a previous book of historic postcards in 2003, Old Forge: Gateway to the Adirondacks.
Royalties from that book’s sales continue to benefit the Historical Association.
With the success of the first edition, Arcadia Publishing invited the authors to compile their latest book, which is different from the first book, according to Cohen.
According to Masters, postcards were used for the first book but the images in the second book are from actual photographs.
“With post cards we didn’t have many people stories because there weren’t many post cards with people,” Cohen explained.
“But this time we were able to include people stories in the text because there were lots of photographs with people-so that makes it a little more alive,” she said.
The first chapter of the book, Old Forge: An Adirondack Wilderness Settlement, looks at the early history of Old Forge.
Other chapters are: Neighboring Settlements: From Thendara to McKeever; Fulton Chain of Lakes: First Lake to Fourth Lake; The Fulton Chain of Lakes: Fifth Lake to Eighth Lake; and The Moose River: North and South Branches.
The final chapter, Historic Old Forge: Celebrating our Heritage, looks at our historical landscape today, said Peg Masters.
Cohen and Masters, both descendants of 19th century settlers of the Old Forge region, have always been interested in its history.
Masters is the Town of Webb Historian and Cohen has been an active member of the Town of Webb Historical Association for a number of years and a Board member since 2004.
Cohen acknowledged Gail Murray, executive director of the Historical Association and the administrative assistant, Kate Lewis, for their help in compiling the book.
Charles Herr, president of the Inlet Historical Association also assisted in researching the text for the lakes in the upper Fulton Chain.
All sales royalties from the second book will also benefit the Town of Webb Historical Association.
A Meet the Authors Book Signing event is scheduled for Saturday, May 28, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon at the Old Forge Hardware.
The co-authors will also conduct a Slide Show Presentation and Book Signing at the Old Forge Library on Tuesday, July 19, at 7:30 p.m. as part of the library’s Summer Lecture Series.
The co-authors will also be available to sell and sign books at the Old Forge Library’s Authors Fair on July 26.
