Black Brook, New York, USA (Au Sable Forks)
1862 - Black Brook

BLACK BROOK, named from its principal stream, was taken from Peru, March 29, 1839. It is the southwest corner of the County. Its surface is rocky and mountainous, the highest peaks being 1,500 to 2,500 feet above the lake. Among the mountains are several nearly level table lands, 200 to 300 feet above the general level. The forest trees are thinly scattered, and nearly the whole town is too rough and poor for cultivation. The Au Sable river forms a portien of the south boundary. The Saranac flows north-esterly across the northwest corner. Great and Little Black Brook; tributaries of the Au Sable, drain the central parts of the town. Among the mountains are several small lakes and ponds. The soil is cold, wet, and poorly calculated for agricultural pursuits. Extensive beds of iron ore are scattered through the town. The Palmer mine, two miles north of Au Sable Forks, yields from 16,000 to 20,000 tons annually. The Myers and Trombois mines are also largely worked. The people are principally engaged in the manufacture of iron, charcoal and lumber.

Sable Forks, on the Au Sable River. in the south-east part of the town, is mostly in Essex County. Messrs. J. & J. Rogers have extensive works here and at Black Brook1 and they manufacture over 2,500 tons of blooms, neaily 1,000 tons of merchant iron, 50,000 kegs of nails, using 1,600,000 bushels of charcoal per annum. Black Brook village, near the south border, contains extensive iron works and several sawmills. Clayburgh, on the Saranac, in the north part, lies partly in the town of Saranac. It contains Iron works and mills. Union Falls (P. O.) and Garlick Falls (P. O.,) both on the Saranac, are hamlets and lumber stations. The first settler was Zephaniah Palmer, who settled at Au Sable Forks about 1825. Several plank roads have been built in town to facilitate the iron and lumber business. The town has an area of 82,004 acres.

Gazetteer and Business Directory of Franklin and Clinton Co, N. Y. For 1862-3, Hamilton Child, 1862

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