Annals of the Beaver River

Both Thompson families in front of the Norridgewock II They worked together so closely on so many projects between 1911 and 1939 that everyone at Beaver River knew them as the Thompson Brothers. They provided lodging and meals for tourists, first at the Evergreen, their modest sportsmen’s lodge, and then at the much more substantial hotel, the Norridgewock II. Over the years they were involved in some way in almost every important development in the community. They knew or figured out how to do anything. They knew everyone. They provided the skills and the will to make things happen. This post provides an outline of their story.   Walter and Clinton Thompson were the children of William and Hattie Thompson. Until 1914 the family had a farm outside of the tiny settlement of Sperryville on the north side of the Independence River not far from Chase’s Lake in the Town of Watson, Lewis County, NY. Bill Thompson farmed and worked in the woods. Hattie was a school teacher. Walter Samuel Thom