Lake Placid, New York
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| Lake Placid, New York | |
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  Lake Placid, New York
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| Coordinates: | |
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| Country | United States |
| State | New York |
| County | Essex |
| Area | |
| - Total | 1.5 sq mi (3.9 km²) |
| - Land | 1.4 sq mi (3.6 km²) |
| - Water | 0.1 sq mi (0.4 km²) |
| Elevation | 1,801 ft (549 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| - Total | 2,638 |
| - Density | 1,913.2/sq mi (738.7/km²) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| - Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 12946 |
| Area code(s) | 518 |
| FIPS code | 36-40761 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0954931 |
Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 2,638. Lake Placid is named after nearby Lake Placid.
The Village of Lake Placid is near the center of the Town of North Elba and is southwest of Plattsburgh. Lake Placid, along with nearby Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake, comprise what is known as the Tri-Lakes region.
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[edit] History
Lake Placid was founded in the early 1800s to develop a mining operation based on iron ore discovered nearby. By 1840, the population of "North Elba" (four miles south-east of the present village near where the road to the Adirondack Loj crosses the Ausable River) consisted of 6 families. In 1845, Gerrit Smith arrived in North Elba. He not only bought up a great deal of land around the village, he also granted large tracts to his slaves, reforming the land law and reflecting his support of Abolitionism.
The abolitionist John Brown heard about Gerrit Smith's reforms, and left his anti-slavery activities in Kansas to buy 244 acres (1.0 km²) of land, which later became known as the "Freed Slave Utopian Experiment," Timbucto. Upon his execution in 1859, John Brown asked to be buried on his farm, which is preserved as the John Brown Farm State Historic Site.
As leisure time increased in the late 19th century, Lake Placid was discovered by the rich and famous, who were drawn to the fashionable Lake Placid Club. Melvil Dewey, inventor of the Dewey Decimal System, designed what was then called "Placid Park Club" in 1895 and inspired the village to change its name to Lake Placid. Dewey kept the club open through the winter in 1905, which aided the development of winter sports in the area (although nearby Saranac Lake had hosted an international winter sporting event as early as 1889). By 1921, the area could boast a ski jump, speed skating venue and ski association, and in 1929, Dr. Godfrey Dewey, Melvil's son, was able to convince the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that Lake Placid had the best winter sports facilities in the nation. [1] The Lake Placid Club was the headquarters for the IOC for the 1932 and the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid.
Lake Placid became an incorporated village in 1900.
[edit] Olympic History
Lake Placid is best known as the two-time site of the Winter Olympics. In the United States, the village is especially remembered as the site of the 1980 USA-USSR hockey game, the "Miracle on Ice," when a group of American college students and amateurs upset the heavily-favored Soviet national ice hockey team 4-3 and two days later won the gold medal. The victory is sometimes ranked as one of the greatest in American sports history. It is also the site of the Olympic Oval where Eric Heiden won his five Olympic Gold Medals.
Lake Placid also hosted the 1932 Winter Olympics. Along with St. Moritz, Switzerland and Innsbruck, Austria, it is one of the three places to have twice hosted the Winter Olympic Games. Lake Placid was the first location in North America to host two Olympic games. Los Angeles became the other when it hosted the Summer Olympic Games for the second time in 1984.
Jack Shea, a resident of the village, became the first person to win two gold medals when he doubled in speed skating at the 1932 Winter Olympics. His grandson won gold in the Skeleton at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. Jack Shea carried the Olympic torch through Lake Placid in 2002 shortly before his death as a victim of an alleged [1] drunk driver. His grandson competed in the Olympics that year in his honor.
On November 20th, 1995, two-time Olympic Gold medalist Russian figure skater Sergei Grinkov collapsed and died from a massive heart attack while he and his wife were practicing in Lake Placid for their upcoming performance in the 1995-1996 Stars on Ice tour.
[edit] Recreational Opportunities
Lake Placid is well-known among winter sports enthusiasts for its skiing, both Alpine and Crosscountry. 4,867-foot Whiteface Mountain, in nearby Wilmington about 13 miles (21 km) from Lake Placid, offers skiing, hiking, gondola rides, and mountain biking, and is the only one of the High Peaks that can be reached by an auto road. The area has one of only three bobsled rides in the western hemisphere, and is one of the few places in the contiguous United States which offers dogsled and sleigh rides.
Many people use Lake Placid as a base from which to climb the forty-six High Peaks in the Adirondack Mountains; those who complete these climbs may join the Adirondack Forty-Sixers.
Lake Placid built its first golf course in 1898, one of the first in the United States, and has more golf courses than any other region in the Adirondacks; many of its courses were designed by famous golf course architects such as John Van Kleek, Seymour Dunn, Alexander H. Findlay, and Alister MacKenzie. The geographic features of the Adirondacks were considered reminiscent of the Scotland mountains where the game was invented, and thus a fitting canvas for original play, or "mountain golf."
Lake Placid is near the West Branch of the Au Sable, a well-known stretch of river for fly fishing. Over six miles (10 km) of the West Branch is year-round catch-and-release, artificial lures-only water.
[edit] Events
- Since 1999 it has been a site for the annual Ironman Triathlon, one of only six official Ironman Triathlons to be held in the continental US.
- ESPN's Great Outdoor Games were inaugurated there in July of 2000.
- The Lake Placid and I Love New York Horse Shows have been held at the North Elba Showgrounds for the past 37 years.
- Nearby Saranac Lake, New York) hosts an Annual Winter Carnival, one of the oldest Winter Carnivals in the country complete with an Ice Palace.
- Lake Placid is also home to the Lake Placid Sinfonietta, a professional summer chamber orchestra that has existed since 1917 and offers concerts lakeside.
- The Winter Empire State Games are held in Lake Placid every February.
[edit] Education
- Post-Secondary Education
- Primary & Secondary Education
- In Lake Placid, public education is administered by the Lake Placid Central School District.
Lake Placid is home to five private schools:
- Mountain Lake Academy
- National Sports Academy
- North Country School
- Northwood School
- St. Agnes School
[edit] Transportation
Lake Placid is served by nearby Adirondack Regional Airport in Saranac Lake, 16 miles (26 km) from the village. Lake Placid Airport, two miles south of the village, presently offers no scheduled flights.
Other relatively nearby airports include Albany International Airport and Burlington International Airport. Lake Placid is also served by an Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach connection through Westport via Ground Force 1 Limousine Service. In addition, Lake Placid is served by Adirondack Trailways of the Trailways Transportation System.
Lake Placid is not located on any interstate highway. It can be reached from Interstate 87 to the east via New York State Route 73, New York State Route 86, and New York State Route 9N. County Roads 21, 31 and 35 also serve the community.
[edit] Geography
Lake Placid is located at (44.285691, -73.985404)[2].
According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 1.5 square miles (3.9 km²), of which, 1.4 square miles (3.6 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.4 km²) of it (9.87%) is water.
The village is located near the south end of a lake called Lake Placid. More immediate to the village is Mirror Lake, which lies between the village and Lake Placid.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census[3] of 2000, there were 2,638 people, 1,303 households, and 604 families residing in the village. The population density was 1,913.2 people per square mile (738.1/km²). There were 1,765 housing units at an average density of 1,280.1/sq mi (493.8/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 95.75% White, 0.68% African American, 0.45% Native American, 0.91% Asian, 0.57% Pacific Islander, 0.19% from other races, and 1.44% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.91% of the population.
There were 1,303 households out of which 22.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.1% were married couples living together, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 53.6% were non-families. 45.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.02 and the average family size was 2.93.
In the village the population was spread out with 22.4% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 33.2% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 16.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 92.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.3 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $28,239, and the median income for a family was $43,042. Males had a median income of $26,585 versus $21,750 for females. The per capita income for the village was $18,507. About 8.5% of families and 13.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.3% of those under age 18 and 17.8% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Interesting Facts
- The Adirondack Museum is building a branch location on Main Street in Lake Placid. The unusual design, which features a large tower, has been contested by some local residents.
- Singer Kate Smith, winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, spent her summers in a camp on Lake Placid, in which one of the rooms was equipped as a radio studio. She converted to Roman Catholicism at the local St. Agnes Church and although she died in North Carolina, it was her wish to be buried in the St. Agnes Cemetery in Lake Placid, where her mausoleum stands today.
- The 1950 Nordic skiing World Championships were the only time the event was held in the United States in a non-Olympic year, and one of only three to ever held outside of Europe (Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada in 1995 and Sapporo, Japan in 2007 are the others.).
- Alfred Hitchcock's only screwball comedy, Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941 film), takes place partially in Lake Placid. It is where Carole Lombard flees to when she wants to make Robert Montgomery jealous. Lake Placid Serenade was a 1944 musical starring Vera Hruba Ralston, William Frawley, Roy Rogers, and his horse Trigger.
- Lake Placid is home to one of the last remaining Howard Johnson's restaurants in the United States.
- The town of Lake Placid, Florida is where Melvil Dewey died in 1931, after suffering bitter losses in the stock market crash of 1929. He formed a branch of the Lake Placid club there, and successfully petitioned the Florida legislature to rename the town.
[edit] References
- ^ Fea, John, in Findling, John E. and Pelle, Kimberly D., editors, Encyclopedia of the Modern Olympic Movement, Greenwood Press, 2004. ISBN-13: 978-0313322785. p. 297
- ^ US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990. United States Census Bureau (2005-05-03). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
[edit] External links
- Official Website of the Village of Lake Placid
- Lake Placid information
- Lake Placid Olympic Authority
- Lake Placid, New York is at coordinates Coordinates:
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