Thurman

In the early years, Thurman was primarily a farming and logging community, with mining for garnet, serpentine, asbestos and marble as well. Communities grew up along the tumbling streams, locating sawmills and gristmills for local industry. The prospect of a railroad through the Adirondacks inspired railroad magnate Dr. Thomas C. Durant (well-known as a principal in the Union Pacific Railroad during the building of the Transcontinental RR) to construct a line connecting Saratoga Springs and North Creek, beginning in 1963. It reached Thurman in 1870, the year Thurman Station was built, a long, rambling barn-like building, referred to as a “combination passenger/freight” station.. As Americans discovered the lure of wilderness, vacationers were looking for easy access to hotels and resorts. Soon, trains loaded with passengers and freight would stop at Thurman Station four times a day, and stagecoaches would carry passengers along rugged roads to the outlying towns.

Think what this station must have meant to the people living in these parts, people who had done most of their traveling by horse and wagon or on foot. Imagine how this station and the rail line must have pushed back the horizons surrounding Thurman! The trains made possible transporting of goods to and from town, opening new markets and changing the pace of doing business. People had the freedom to come and go, and the result was increased business for the hospitality industry. From early on, guest houses and lodges flourished, and by the early 1900s, they were in their heyday. The Delaware and Hudson, the company that took over the Adirondac Railroad, demolished the station in 1933 and replaced it with a small three-sided shelter large enough for just a few people to take cover from the elements, but tourists kept coming. In the 40s, 50s and 60s dude ranches drew guests from far and wide.

Today, Thurman is a quiet Adirondack community that caters to those looking to escape into the sublime wilderness. Mountains, rivers, and country roads make this small town a great place to relax or explore the outstanding nature-inspired adventure. Thurman comes to life during Thurman Maple Days and New York State Maple Weekends, keeping the town hopping the last three weekends of March, when visitors are invited to explore the many sugarhouses of Thurman, reputed to have more maple operations per square mile than anywhere around. The following itinerary will direct you to sites where you can enjoy farm-fresh food, sample a plethora of fresh maple products, learn about sustainable forestry and even climb a mountain. In autumn, the maple producers are joined by many other businesses and organization to host Thurman Fall Farm Tour, when silviculture talks, woods walks, studio tours, Cheese tasting, demonstrations of horse training, spinning, crafts and more keep guests busy from one end of Thurman to the other.