Short History of the Mount Riga Community

There is a special summer community on the top of Mount Riga in Salisbury, to which families return year after year. Today, private summer cabins without electricity, wired phone service, or cable serve some 40 families. However, it once was a much larger community with a thriving industry. In the early 1800s, the Mount Riga community boasted a general store with four clerks, a school with as many as 110 students and a community ballroom in the iron master’s house.

The community traces its origin to the iron-smelting industry. The location provided two key elements for iron making:  forests for charcoal and fast-flowing streams for energy. Such was their value that it proved more practical and economical to bring ore up the long, steep mountain road in saddlebags and ox carts than to bring the charcoal down.

The first European inhabitants were colliers, men who cut wood and charred it to make charcoal for local iron furnaces and forges. Abner and Peter Woodin built the first forge at the outlet of South Pond in 1781. The mountain lake was dammed for waterpower. A cold blast furnace was built and put into operation in 1810. Local lore has it that the Mount Riga furnace was the source for anchors on the legendary U.S. warship USS Constitution (Old Ironsides). The furnace stack, rebuilt multiple times, is only one of seven still standing from among the 40 blast furnaces that once lit the skies of the Upper Housatonic Valley.

The old growth forests were depleted by the 1850s, and the furnace went out of blast in 1856. Families moved off the mountain for new opportunities. Over time, much of the area was reclaimed by nature and later acquired by a group of local families who organized Mount Riga, Inc. They have a strong sense of conservation management to ensure preservation of this wilderness plateau which remains a hidden gem.

Over Labor Day weekend this year, the families gathered at the old furnace for an end-of-summer celebration of the 100th anniversary of incorporation. After Labor Day, the cabins are closed for winter, and families head down the mountain until their return the next summer.

Ken Suydam and family, 1896. Photo from Salisbury Association Historical Society Photo Archives

Ice fishing on Mount Riga, 1925:  David Jones (on the left), mountain guide and camp cook.  The other man is believed to be Anson Williams. Photo from Salisbury Association Historical Society Photo Archives

Lotos Lodge and members of the Warner family. Photo from Salisbury Association Historical Society Photo Archives

Mame Conklin’s camp on Mount Riga, 1898. Photo from Salisbury Association Historical Society Photo Archives

Ken Suydam and family, 1896. Photo from Salisbury Association Historical Society Photo Archives
Related Articles Around the Web

Latest News

Amenia board honors employees for service

Long-term town employees were recognized at the Town Board meeting on Thursday, June 12. Honorees pictured with Town Supervisor Leo Blackman, were Judy Carlson, Office Manager at the Town Garage, center, for her 35 years of service to the town and Megan Chamberlin, current Highway Superintendent, for 20 years.

Leila Hawken

AMENIA — Acknowledging the many years of service accumulated by town employees, the Town Board paused to honor that service at its meeting on Thursday, June 12.

“Thank you for making a difference,” said Town Supervisor Leo Blackman in recognizing Judy Carlson, Office Manager at the town garage, for her 35 years of service.

Keep ReadingShow less
Historic marker dedicated at Amenia Union Cemetery

In anticipation of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the start of the American Revolution in 2026, new historic markers are appearing at each of the local cemeteries where Revolutionary War veterans are buried. Unveiling the new marker at Amenia Union Cemetery on Saturday, June 21, were left to right, Town Historian Betsy Strauss, Jim Middlebrook representing the regional chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, and Gail Seymour, President of the Union Cemetery Association.

Photo by Leila Hawken

AMENIA — One by one, new historic markers are appearing at local cemeteries where Revolutionary War dead are buried. On Saturday, June 21, community members gathered to see a new marker unveiled at Amenia Union Cemetery on Leedsville Road.

A tent provided welcome shade for the attendees and refreshments as about 30 residents gathered for the unveiling and to share stories of local history with one another.

Keep ReadingShow less
Millbrook Historical Society announces summer Quaker lecture series

The Nine Partners Road Quaker Meetinghouse, built in 1780, will be the site of two summer lectures sponsored by the Millbrook Historical Society.

Photo by Leila Hawken

MILLBROOK — Long in the planning, the Millbrook Historical Society has announced that it is sponsoring two lectures in observance of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. Both lectures relating to Quaker history are to be held in the historic Quaker Meeting House on Nine Partners Road.

For the first talk, scheduled for Sunday, June 29, at 2 p.m., the historical society has invited Sarah Gronningsater, Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania, to talk on “Quakers, Anti-slavery, and the American Revolution.” The topic will explore the role that New York’s Quakers, especially in the Hudson Valley, played in the rise of the anti-slavery movement that followed the American Revolution.

Keep ReadingShow less
Millerton voter turnout declines after 2023 peak

Downtown Millerton

Photo by Aly Morrissey

MILLERTON — Voter turnout in the Village of Millerton dropped sharply in 2025, with just 58 ballots cast in this year’s village election — less than a third of the record turnout seen just two years earlier.

The election on June 17 marked a stark contrast to 2023, when signs littered the intersection of Route 22 and Route 44 and 208 voters headed to the polls to decide a competitive mayoral race between incumbent Jenn Najdek and challenger Kelly Kilmer. That year also featured two contested trustee positions and generated the highest turnout in at least five years.

Keep ReadingShow less