Lake Placid for Kids: Fun Facts for hiking Mt Jo

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By Diane Chase

Adirondack Family Time Fun Facts:

• Mt Jo was originally named “The Bear”

• It was renamed Mt. Jo in 1877 to honor Josephine Schofield, fiancée of Henry Van Hoevenberg.

• Josephine Schofield helped choose the site for the Loj but died within the year, never living long enough to see their plans built

• Van Hoevenberg bought 640 acres and Mt Jo as a memorial to his fiancée

• Henry Van Hoevenberg built the original Adirondack Loj and some of the trails to the surrounding High Peaks.

• Mt Jo’s elevation is 2,876 ft with an ascent of 700’.

• Heart Lake was originally named Clear Pond.

• At the time Adirondack Lodge (now Loj) was built it was the largest log structure in the world.

• Melville Dewey, of the Dewey Decimal System, was an advocate for simplified spelling and a member of the Lake Placid Club, one-time owners of the Adirondack Loj.

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