Annals of the Beaver River

During the 19 th   and early 20 th  centuries, moving buildings was a fairly common practice in the Adirondacks. Relocating a building was almost always more economical than building a new structure since finished lumber, fittings like window and doors, and roofing were costly to transport by rail and wagon. To move a building, it was necessary to remove the furnishings, partly deconstruct the building, brace each part, jack the building off its foundation, and pull the building on big wheels or log rollers to a new location using a team of draft horses. Fireplaces and chimneys could be disassembled, often with each rock numbered to aid in reassembly at the new site. There were no overhead wires to avoid and few utilities to disconnect. Labor and horses were readily available, especially when there were logging camps in the vicinity. The photo at the head of this article gives some idea of what the process might look like. Note, this photo is not at Beaver River. There are a g...