Papermaking history talk planned

LAKE LUZERNE, N.Y. » A history presentation about the local pulp and paper mill industry is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Lake Luzerne Town Hall, 539 Lake Ave. (Route 9N).

This free program, by Stephen Cernek, is part of Lake Luzerne’s 225th anniversary celebration.

Albrecht Pagenstecher, his brother Rudolf, and cousin Alberto imported a patented wood grinder from Germany to the United States in 1866 that could turn wood into a pulp suitable for making paper. Until then all paper was made from either cotton rags or straw.

They first operated a successful pulp mill at Curtisville, Mass., before building a small wood pulp mill at Lake Luzerne in 1868 where the first American-made wood pulp grinder was installed.

By early 1869 the Pagenstechers and their business partners incorporated the Hudson River Pulp Company and built a second pulp mill five miles south at Palmer Falls on the Hudson River in Corinth.

In less than 30 years, under the supervision of Warren Curtis, the mill at Palmer Falls grew from a one-building operation into a sprawling complex of stone and brick buildings that become widely recognized as the largest pulp and paper mill in the world. This program will detail the development of what became known after 1880 as the Hudson River Pulp and Paper Company.

Cernek was born in Corinth, attended Corinth schools, and worked at the International Paper mill for five summers. He earned a doctorate in American history and is presently teaching at Southern New Hampshire University.

He has been at work researching the history of paper manufacturing in Corinth since the mill closed in 2002, and is currently director of the Hudson River Mill Museum Project that is working to convert the former IP Office building in Corinth into a museum.