Background of the Tupper Lake Woodsmen's Days

Hurd Mill on Raquette Pond in Tupper Lake

Tupper Lake has a long and glorious history in the lumbering industry. Original settlers axed out a living from the forests which surrounded the village and covered the nearby mountains. The Raquette River provided the transportation for logs to the mills and wood products factories in Tupper Lake. One such mill, the Hurd Mill, once stood an the exact location of today's Woodsmen's Days event at the Tupper Lake Municipal Park.

Junior crosscut competition at early Tupper Lake Woodsmen's Days event Lumberjacks have been a part of Tupper Lake's history for over a century. They have competed in woodsmen games in Tupper Lake for most of that time. The recent event was created by the Tupper Lake Woodsmen's Association in 1980. Each year, volunteers and members of the Association work to bring new and exciting activities, competitions, displays, fun, and activities to what is now one of the Adirondack Region's largest summer spectacles.

Working lumbermen in the Tupper Lake area It has been said that because of the size and popularity of the Tupper Lake Woodmen's Days event, that many innovations in the logging industry were first unveiled there. Some of the original chainsaws, loaders, and skidders might have seen their original demonstrations in front of the crowds and lumberjacks in Tupper Lake.