Harnessing Fulton County’s Tourism
Great Sacandaga Lake Discovery Center
Every year, hundreds of thousands of people flock to the Great Sacandaga Lake, a gem of the southern Adirondack Park. However, as they enjoy a variety of water sports in its pristine 42 square miles of water, many are unaware of the lake’s bittersweet history that lies right underneath them.
The lake’s creation caused the demise of 10 communities, making it one of the largest eminent domain actions New York State has taken to date. “So many people come up to the Great Sacandaga Lake, and they recreate there, and they will never know that they’re boating over a certain part of the lake where there were homes,” said Scott Henze, Director of Planning and Tourism for Fulton County.
Fulton County has set out to change that with the construction of the Great Sacandaga Lake Discovery Center (GSLDC), scheduled to open its doors in late spring or early summer 2026.
In addition to educating people about the lake’s history, the county expects the center to be a draw for tourists with interactive displays about not only the history, but the current uses of the lake as well. The GSLDC is strategically located in the Town of Northampton with access to the town’s Village of Northville and the start of the Northville-Placid Trail.
“It will be another stop on this tourism corridor, Route 30, as people continue up into the North Country,” Henze said. The GSLDC’s offerings will complement other Route 30 attractions including the Adirondack Experience in Blue Mountain Lake and The Wild Center in Tupper Lake.
The interpretive center is the third prong of the Fulton County Board of Supervisors’ “Destination Fulton County,” the name they gave the strategic plan for funds granted through the American Rescue Plan Act enacted by the federal government in 2021. “It’s part of a much larger strategy for tourism,” said Jon Stead, the Administrative Officer for the County of Fulton.
The other two components in the strategic plan were a massive infrastructure project involving the installation of 15 miles of sewer line along Route 30 from Gloversville to the Village of Northville and the construction of Parkhurst Field.
The latter is a nonprofit Little League baseball complex constructed on the very fields where early 20th century baseball greats including Cy Young, Honus Wagner and “Doc” Graham played. The sports complex is designed to attract travel tournaments to the city and preserve Gloversville’s baseball legacy.
The county had three clear criteria for the center’s site selection. One was that it would have a view of the Great Sacandaga Lake. The second was that it be situated on a major roadway, and the third was that it be located next to a walkable downtown area with amenities attractive to visitors.
When the county learned of a private property going on the market that met all its criteria, county officials negotiated its purchase. “We couldn’t think of a better site than the one that we’ve chosen,” Henze said.
A Community Hub
The Fulton County Board of Supervisors formed a steering committee that included historians from around the county, town supervisors, key staff members and the tourism director to determine what the center would encompass. “It has been a real collaborative effort,” said Jared Goderie, board chairman.
The center is designed not only to educate visitors but also to serve the lake’s communities. One-third of the facility will be an area for an education center available to schools, local historians, and other groups associated with the Great Sacandaga Lake.
Stead and Henze spoke with all the local historians to see how the center could serve them best. These conversations led to the inclusion of a fully equipped space for historians to do research and store documents in a secure, climate-controlled area.
The center includes a laboratory that local school districts can use for classes related to the lake. For example, Northville High School students analyze the lake water for a science class, and Broadalbin-Perth High School students do walleye stocking activities in the school’s Science Research Program.
A transitional space between the education and display areas of the center is the “Harnessing Nature Theater,” a 36-seat theater with a floor-to-ceiling monitor. Here the center will play excerpts from the documentary, “Harnessing Nature: Building the Sacandaga,” which chronicles the creation of the reservoir and includes interviews with some of those displaced by the project. Community groups associated with the lake will also be able to use the theater for special events.
“The county really wants this facility to be a working community hub and fill the voids of some of the local groups that are affiliated with the Great Sacandaga Lake,” Henze said.
Discovering The Sacandaga
The portion of the building dubbed the “Rotunda” is dedicated to exhibits. A wide variety of interactive and digital displays on different topics will encourage visitors to engage with the history and culture of the lake.
One area is designated for visiting displays related to the history, culture and present-day uses of the lake.
“Coney Island of the North,” gives visitors an insight on how people enjoyed the Sacandaga region in the past.
“Harnessing Nature: An Engineering Marvel” gives the history of the construction of the Conklingville Dam and the eminent domain process, with video footage.
Visitors can see dramatic before, during and after the flooding process videos in “The Flooding…”
Kids can play an interactive maps game in the “Children’s Discovery Spot” as well as take part in other Great Sacandaga Lake-themed activities and games. “It will be learning by having fun,” said Carla Kolbe, the Fulton County Tourism Coordinator.
“Connections…The Railroad Years” focuses on the railroad industry in the Sacandaga Valley.
The “Recreation” exhibit provides information on the breadth of the lake’s role in recreation and tourism in the area.
“Natural Resources Habitat” highlights the lake’s environmental features and conservation and provides before-and- after the flooding looks at the lake’s geography and geologic features.
Spaces are also dedicated to the Great Sacandaga Lake Advisory Council and the Great Sacandaga Lake Fisheries Federation for displays of the organizations’ choosing.
The center’s building is a modern Adirondack vernacular style, reflecting its location and incorporating features reminiscent of the region’s history, for example, elements of the Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville Rail stations established in 1867.
Architect Ed Anker and his colleagues at the Capital Region-based Phinney Design Group planned the building with sustainability in mind. “We’re keeping the building as environmentally friendly as possible,” he said, noting that it has geothermal heating and cooling as well as the possibility of solar panel installation. “We want to keep the building as operationally efficient as possible.” The construction uses “Glulam,” a glue-laminated timber touted for its sustainability that utilizes waste products from manufacturing.
“The lake’s creation is such a great story that we think the story itself is an attraction because the Great Sacandaga Lake is so popular,” Henze said. “I think it brings more to the table when people are recreating here.”
The idea is to have the GSLDC be a stop for those traveling further north into the Adirondack Park. “They can spend two or three hours at the Discovery Center and then go to Northville” Henze said. “It will capture some more tourism for the county.”
Preserving The Sacrifice
The lake’s great recreational and commercial opportunities take place against the backdrop of history and the sacrifices made by three thousand residents forced to give up their homes and communities.
“Today, the Great Sacandaga Lake is a great recreational asset that we have, but in yesteryear, it was the worst thing ever,” said Fulton County Tourism director Scott Henze. “This project is continuing to educate people and make sure people understand the history behind it so that the story never dies.”
Severe flooding of the Hudson River every spring, costing millions of dollars in property damage and the loss of human life prompted New York State legislators to pass an amendment allowing for the creation of state-owned reservoirs. In the case of the Great Sacandaga Lake, this involved the construction of the Conklingville Dam and the flooding of the Sacandaga basin to an elevation of 771 feet above sea level.
This meant that over 3,000 people in 10 communities would lose their homes along the river through an action of eminent domain by New York State. Residents had the option to sell or move their homes. Workers relocated 3,872 gravestones, cleared 12,000 acres of timber and burned any remaining structures to the ground. In 1930, engineers closed the gates of the dam. Waters flooded the Sacandaga basin to form the Sacandaga Reservoir, later renamed the Great Sacandaga Lake to encourage tourism. In some places today, visitors can catch a glimpse of empty foundations where buildings used to stand or the stumps of trees that lined the streets of river towns.
In the GSLDC, visitors can stand on a huge map of the lake showing where this history happened. “Set right into the floor will be a large-scale terrazzo mural of the lake, like a nautical sounding map,” said Ed Anker of the Phinney Design Group, the firm contracted to design the facility. Surrounding this map is the display “Ghosts of the Hamlets” featuring 10 video kiosks, each featuring a story of one of the 10 drowned communities. Photos and artifacts from each hamlet accompany the videos.
“I think that the Great Sacandaga Lake Discovery Center pays homage to the lake’s history in a way that is really respectful,” said architect Ed Anker of the Phinney Design Group.
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