The town of
Drifstville was founded in the early Spring of 1901.
A series of vicious meteorological events had led to its unexpected birth, a surprise of the greatest magnitude for Driftsville's sister town, Otter Creek.
The winter had been especially heavy, the mountains of the
Adirondacks covered with a thick blanket of snow that had every old man claiming the season as the snowiest he'd ever seen, despite the fact that the snow was, in fact, lighter than it had been ten years earlier.
Time dulls the memory and what was an especially cruel winter was forgotten in the sharp frost of the present.
The spring, however, was truly vicious, coming fast and hot from warmer climes.
The snow melted fast and the river was six months swollen, crawling up the banks with a hungry clamor.
The town of Otter Creek was vacated entirely, the houses and buildings left empty.
The river crawled further, as if driven by the absence of an opposing populace, and carried away several buildings constructed short-sightedly without dependable foundations.
The structures were carried several miles south down the river, most getting snagged on branches and fallen trees and coming apart under the blows of the melting snow.
A few, however, survived the tumultuous trip and, with the river receding as quickly as it had advanced, settled in a hitherto unpopulated valley.
The owners of the deported houses went in search and found the valley surprisingly fertile and well-placed.
A road passed nearby and the water had created a soil of unheard vigor.
Finding the location pleasant, they planted roots in the most literal sense, building deep foundations into the bottoms of their houses.
The town was named Driftsville, in honor of the event that had begun the growth.
The location being so acceptable to human life, the original settlers soon lured their families, extended as far as possible, to the area. The small town, originally a handful of houses, grew. The farms nearby grew to keep up with the increasing demand for supplies. Businesses sprouted like mushrooms after a rainstorm, a stable, a blacksmith, a general goods store. A hotel was built in 1910 to house traders coming through, on their way from Albany and other southern cities to the even more expansive Otter Creek.
The First World War, however, made an impression. A full fifty percent of Driftsville's growing male adolescent population was deployed to the brutal fields of the European theater. John Sherman died in the Battle of Bulge, son of the mayor at the time. The mayor, distraught, rode his horse to the top of nearby Chestnut Mountain and shot himself through the chest with an antique handgun. Local legend says the report can still be heard echoing through the tress if the anniversary of the occasion is quiet. The incident was Driftsville's first recorded suicide. Other deaths occurred, the local division being especially keen to man the front lines, and in the end only a handful of the town's sons returned.
A bar opened in the midst. A large number of the fathers, bereft, found solace in the bottles of cheap whiskey. The farms went to waste, the hotel became disheveled. The smithy closed and the only business doing a brisk trade was the tavern. The town looked to be going to rot and many expected it to dissolve in the near future.
Enter prohibition. The bar was closed, and the men, without their easy liquor, found themselves with large amounts of free time to dedicate to other pursuits. Some turned back to farming, tilling their forgotten fields and bringing life back to the valley. Others discovered the joy of trapping, capturing and skinning the lush fauna for sale to other industries. Many, however, found the hobby that would bring more wealth to the town than every other trade combined; Moonshining. Stills were constructed throughout the valley. The smoke was visible only from very close, with cunning devices invented to prevent detection from the nearby road. The results were shipped to Speakeasys in distant cities, the term "Driftsville Special" achieving a certain notoriety among the more discerning of the patrons. The town, recognizing the benefit of both contraband trade and the healthy effects of local brews being too lucrative to drink, covered the machinations of its citizens to the best of its ability. Several shiners were still caught, most notably Steven "Bucktooth" McCullan, a man in possession of a total of thirty eight stills through the mountain range. However, the bulk of the operators evaded detection and continued to peddle their wares to their thirsty neighbors.
With so much local income being made from alcohol, the onset of the Great Depression did little to hurt the local economy. None of the town's money was heavily invested in banks and the farms were largely dependant on a local market. If anything, the large number of people willing to spend their few dollars on drowning their sorrows made the most important businesses even wealthier. In 1933, with the end of prohibition, several of the most prominent moonshiners crossed the line of legality into opening up full-blown breweries and distilleries. Several remain, at least in name, most notably "Bucktooth" Beer, the brainchild of the released Steven McCullan, and Chestnut Mountain Whiskey, a business started by Cassius Shaughnessy. Chestnut Mountain Whiskey is noted today for the distinctive flavor created by the maple distilling barrels. As the businesses were entirely operator-owned and financed, the town continued to do a brisk trade in intoxication. The only noticeable effect of Roosevelt's New Deal was the hiring of several Drifstville laborers for the construction of the Otter Creek Dam.
When Nazi Germany invaded Poland, many of the inhabitants of Drifstville were staunchly against movement into yet another World War. Many had lost friends, sons, and brothers in the first World War and the idea of repeating those losses left a bitter taste in many mouths. Even with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Driftsville remained opposed. The draft made no distinction between those who wanted to fight and those who didn't, however. Again the youth of Driftsville was called into service and again over fifty percent of the young men went to war. The older men, remembering the events of the Great War, found religion, and a church, at first small, but growing progressively larger as the fighting continued, was founded, letting Driftsville Christians have somewhere closer to worship instead of traveling all the way to Otter Creek Methodist, a few miles away. Drifstville Baptist was founded by a young preacher named Oscar Williams, a transplant from Boston, used to larger crowds which gave him a booming voice when he found his momentum. His voice was one of the greatest strengths of the church and several families from Otter Creek began to travel on Sunday mornings to listen to his sermons. The bar took a mild hit in revenue but the overall effects were minimal.
The war ended with far fewer casualties than the first had. A large number of the returning men had skills far more marketable than what they had been taught by their fathers. Driftsville again lost half of their sons, but this time to jobs in Albany and Boston. Families, expecting a homecoming of men ready to labor again in the fields, were shocked by the development. However, they found the new alternative superior to the previous, as the sons went on to get high-paying jobs, college educations, and a certain amount of power in the world, with sizable portions of each paycheck going back home to the family. The sons started families of their own, the infamous Baby Boom, and found significant pleasure in visiting their old homes with these new children. Drifstville suddenly found itself attracting tourism. The fifties and sixties were a boom time for Driftsville, and the old hotel suddenly found itself with competition. Several new businesses started up to supporting the burgeoning industry and new families moved in to work in these businesses. The desire for at least a little bit of home in their new lives created increasing business for the local breweries and distilleries, and a plant was opened to manufacture Driftsville lounge chairs, a distinct piece of furniture combining comfort and affordability. Nearby Otter Creek tried to cash in, but a series of vicious lawsuits led to the design being the intellectual property solely of the Driftsville Furniture Manufacturing Company.
In the sixties a small college opened in Driftsville and some of the families that had moved out in the past found it appealing to send their sons and daughters to the school. Driftsville University was small at first, but soon made itself known as one of the premiere technology education schools in the country, largely for its close relationship with the local businesses. Students trickled in from across the country. While protests were held against the Vietnam War, Driftsville U. found itself in the unique position of sharing the picket lines with the town's populace at large. The town still felt the sting of the First and Second World Wars and the idea of becoming mired once again in a cross-oceanic war was repellent enough to drive even some of the police officers to the streets. The town grew still and soon its parent, Otter Creek, was consumed by the city limits. Otter Creek had felt World War Two far more harshly than Driftsville had and its economy had suffered for it.
Nothing of importance happened in the eighties.
The early nineties brought even more growth to the town, with the absorption of Driftsville University into the State University of New York system. However, the buyout of several businesses in town by larger corporations elsewhere, and the closing of the furniture plant, led to a sudden recession. Many families found themselves without jobs. The bars began to once again do a brisk trade. The tourists stopped coming in such large numbers, and the breaking of the Otter Creek Dam in the spring of 1997 led to a sudden flash flood that damaged large amounts of property. The dam was rebuilt, but Driftsville has yet to recover completely.
Now Driftsville finds itself once again growing. New businesses are opening and some have rediscovered the pristine landscape under the shadow of Chestnut Mountain. The unemployment rates remain high, but are decreasing yearly. The town revenue is increasing to counter the unemployment rates. Driftsville is set for a new Renaissance and, with luck, it will be realized.
-Charles Sherman Jr.
Teacher's Comments: Some historical inaccuracies mar an otherwise good paper. Ignoring the 80's doesn't get you any extra credit, either.
Revise.
B-
No comments:
Post a Comment