Around Boonville

Nestled in the Black River valley with the Tug Hill Plateau to the east and the Adirondack Mountains to the west, Boonville traces its origin to the failure of a grand investment scheme. In the mid-1790s, Gerrit Boon, agent for the Holland Land Company, purchased vast acreage in northern New York, hoping to establish a plantation for the production of maple sugar. When that enterprise collapsed, Boon founded a settlement in the remote wilderness. Adopting a paternalistic stance, he attracted set