John Boyd Thacher State Park and the Indian Ladder Region (Images of America)

The story of John Boyd Thacher State Park and the Indian Ladder Region is the story of how a wilderness became a park. Hardworking farmers transformed the forests into farm fields and blasted a roadway through a cliff to get their goods to market. John Boyd Thacher and his wife, Emma Treadwell Thacher, permanently protected the wilderness for all to enjoy. Photographs show 19th-century tourists making their way from the train stations in Voorheesville, Meadowdale, and Altamont up the steep Indian Ladder Road. Others depict ladies and gentlemen in Victorian-era dress climbing the ladder propped against the cliff and posing behind waterfalls and in the mouths of caves. These photographs have been drawn from the collections of local families and institutions, with many appearing publicly for the first time.