A History of the Altona Flat Rock, Silver Anniversary Edition

Format and Purchasing Information

Description

The Altona Flat Rock is spectacular. Its natural physical beauty is outstanding, its glacial story is dramatic to the highest degree, and its place in North Country history is unique, remarkable, and undeniable.

This updated version of the 1980 original work takes the reader directly to the source, with many new photographs documenting the Flat Rock’s features, both natural and man-made. It’s the next best thing to being there.

Though its intrinsic beauty remains, much has changed on The Rock in the past twenty-five years. The site has been officially defined as a Sandstone Pavement Barrens by New York State, which places it at the very top of the list of endangered ecological systems. It is the rarest among the rare, with fewer than twenty similar sites existing around the globe.

For the past quarter-century, the Altona Flat Rock has been the subject of intense scientific scrutiny. Most of that attention has resulted from the efforts of two Plattsburgh State University professors, Dr. Kenneth Adams and Dr. David Franzi. They have led the way in determining the Flat Rock’s role in the modern world, with the goal of managing and preserving this unique ecosystem.

The glacial history of this area is as wild as it gets. As related here, there were massive ice sheets; huge, raging rivers of glacial melt-water; inland seas; spectacular waterfalls; dramatic cliffs; and a resultant desolate landscape. The pine barrens environment followed.

In the past 150 years, man has made his mark on those pine barrens, enduring rattlesnakes, building huge dams, defending against deadly fires, and giving the Altona Blueberry a regional fame attained by few other commodities before or since. For a substantial period of time, this tiny fruit was a main component of the North Country’s financial life.

New to this edition is a clearer understanding and description of the glacial era, and the connection of David Sibley and his father, Fred to the North Country. David Sibley is the author of the best-selling bird guidebooks ever, and is a world-renowned birding expert.

It’s all here, with new photographs and new information. You’ll hear stories from old-timers, told in their own words. This Silver Anniversary Edition retains all of the great original stories of the Blueberry Business, the Million-Dollar Dam, the Hermit of Flat Rock, and the massive fire of 1957, which drew national attention to the area.

Take a journey into New York’s past, to a place described in 1842 as “the land of whortleberries and pigeons, rattlesnakes and trout.” You won’t be disappointed.