Sturdy, deep and wide, with arms broad enough to hold a tall lemonade and a fat paperback novel, Adirondack chairs are the symbol of a carefree summer by the lake. They can be found spread throughout the Village of Lake George between May and October – in the parks, on the beaches, and outside the Visitor’s Center on the corner of Beach Road and Canada Street.
Each autumn the Village Street Department gathers up the chairs and returns them to the Public Works garage for winter storage. Damaged chairs are sent to the woodshop for repair where Village woodworker Eric Burdett uses the slower days of winter to replace broken arms and rotting legs. Chairs beyond repair require replacement and Eric uses a decades-old pattern to craft new ones. “I stick to the same design we’ve been using for years — I’ve played around a little with cutouts on the back. I did a loon on one, but really the only thing I’ve changed is the lumber. I’ve started using treated pine for the parts that come into contact with the ground.”
In recent years he has expanded the Village inventory to include double-seated chairs, and, new in the summer of 2012, triple-seaters replaced some of the straight benches on the Lakefront walkway.
The simple design originated in the town of Westport, on the eastern fringe of the Adirondack Park. According to the legend, Thomas Lee designed the “Westport Chair” in 1900 for use by friends and family at his summer residence on Lake Champlain. The design allowed guests to sit comfortably on the sloping lawn. Haery (sic) C. Bunnell, a Westport carpenter, took up the design and produced these chairs to sell to summer vacationers. Bunnell was issued a patent for the chair in July of 1905. Reportedly the chairs were a big seller at $4 apiece.
Today the Adirondack chair has evolved from the original single-planked back model to a more complex design of slats, but the right-angled seat and wide armrests remain true to the original design. The chairs, originally built of hemlock, can now be found made of oak, teak, and even plastic from manufacturers far removed from the Adirondack Mountains. The Adirondack chair is still produced locally by area craftsmen and, in local high schools, the Adirondack chair is a popular project in woodshop classes guaranteeing the tradition continues.
Summer is just a dream when the temperature dips below zero in these mountains, but in a few short months, the throne-like chairs, repaired and repainted, will return to the Village landscape awaiting visiting royalty.