Every year, when I pull out my Adirondack hiking guides, I ponder the Northville-Placid Trail, the 130-plus-mile route that transects these mountains. Though we've hiked segments of the route, we've never made the commitment to backpack the entire length.

I've frequently wondered, "Where's Northville?" I'm quite familiar with Lake Placid, of course, but I knew nothing about the southern terminus. So when Adirondack Architectural Heritage made Northville the subject of one of its always-informative tours, we immediately signed up. Our exploration revealed a jewel in the southern Adirondacks.

Driving there is not straightforward. Northville can't be described as right next to anything! Our not-quite-direct trip brought us through Lake George, Lake Luzerne and then Speculator before heading south on Route 30 toward Great Sacandaga Lake. Across a bridge, on a small peninsula, sat our destination.

A PARK SUBMERGED

Settlers first reached here in 1788, when Benjamin Olmstead, formerly of Connecticut, chose to make it his home. Growth began slowly, with only six families entrenched by 1807. A few mills sprang up, but it was lumber that propelled the early economy. Tanneries, glove factories and agriculture offered additional employment.

Arrival of the railroad in 1875 benefited Northville, as it did so many small communities during the middle and late 19th century. The Fonda, Johnstown and Gloversville Railroad added another chapter when it built Sacandaga Park. Upstate New York's answer to Coney Island, the park attracted visitors from a broad radius during its decades of success.

When repeated flooding in Albany and south spurred a decision to build the Conklingville Dam in 1929, creating Sacandaga Lake, much of the amusement park became submerged. So did a number of small nearby communities. In fact, many homes in Northville were moved from elsewhere in the valley. Railroad traffic ended. Later, interstates funneled traffic far to the east and south.

The economic upheaval must have caused hardship. However, the stalling of development left this very pretty community intact through the 20th century. A compact downtown anchors the village. Handsome homes dot the residential streets of the peninsula. No hotels remain from the handful that once stood here, however there are impressive bed-and-breakfast places. And we found pleasant camping nearby.

LOCAL LORE

A visit should begin at the Northville/Northampton Historical Museum. The facility occupies a red-plank, one-room schoolhouse relocated from nearby Giffords Valley in 1990. Inside, we found a few local curiosities, such as Kersted's Adirondack Liver Pills, a locally made potion purported to cure everything from hemorrhoids to nervousness. And there's an early electric washing machine that bears no resemblance to anything you've ever seen before. We also spent time perusing old photos, including some of Sacandaga Park in its heyday.

Our walk began at the end of Main Street, by the Federal-style farmhouse built by Joseph Spier Jr., son of an early settler, in 1825. He served as the town's first postmaster. By his death at age 93, he'd seen the village grow from six families to a population exceeding 1,000.

Along the way, naturally, we learned some local lore. The yellow clapboard home at 431 Main belonged to Northville inventor Olaf Johnson. He devised an automatic transmission for REO in the 1930s but lost the crucial patent fights. In the small factory out back, Johnson also produced a knitting machine that was sold throughout the world.

At 331 Main, we saw Northville's first brick structure, built by Joseph Spier Sr. in 1819 from bricks made at a nearby creek. Yellow with brown trim and shutters, the home's most notable feature is its large covered front porch. We were told this house gained fame for its annual Halloween displays.

George Brown, Northville's first pharmacist, owned the house at 201 Main. The home, in Queen Anne architectural style, boasts a columned porch and Palladian window. In Brown's will, he stipulated that his downtown drugstore should always be used for that purpose. Nevertheless, it now houses a Chinese restaurant.

CHIMNEY BIRDS