Vintage Postcard: Fire on Whiteface Mountain

Every week we share a different image on the Essex on Lake Champlain Facebook page and invite our viewers to play some Vintage Essex Trivia. Last week we shared the image above minus the caption along the top and said: This vintage postcard scene does not depict Essex, but you should be able to recognize at least one regional landmark…where do you think this is? What do you recognize? Any guesses? When do you think this dates to?

Here is what the community had to say:

Suzanne B. McSherry: Back when Whiteface was an active volcano! LOL

Jeremy Williams: Mirror Lake. Lake Placid visible and Whiteface in background. c. 1900

Mark Maine: Algonquin Peak

Some comments were close and others were spot on. The caption of course tells us what we need to know: “Adirondack Mts. NY – Fire on Whiteface Mountain, August 20th, 1899.” The back side of the postcard (below) also tells us that it was sent in 1908, look at the postage mark.

Vintage Postcard: Fire on Whiteface Mountain (back side) (Source: Geo Davis via Rosslyn Redux)

Do you have any thoughts to share? Please leave a comment below!

Share Your Essex Artifacts

If you want to share your old photos of Essex (also brochures, postcards, menus, tickets, artifacts, etc.) on the blog please email us at editor [AT] essexonlakechamplain [DOT] com.

About Katie Shepard

Passionate about reading and writing stories, Katie Shepard enjoys discovering more about her home while writing and editing for Essex on Lake Champlain. Katie graduated from SUNY Plattsburgh in 2011 where she studied English literature, philosophy, and Asian studies. Her first book Essex, New York Architecture: A Doodler's Field Guide was published in 2015.