‘More than an ordinary boom’ in 1895

L.A. Porter of Crown Point preferred to buy local.

So when he remodeled his home in 1895, he used paint manufactured by Ticonderoga Waterproof Paint, a start-up local enterprise.

Porter painted his home a “delicate colonial yellow with white trim,” offset with “a sprinkling” of maroon and dark green.

“It is now a model of convenience and one of the most elegant residences in Factoryville,” the Ticonderoga Sentinel reported on June 6, 1895.

Other local structures painted with the company’s paint included H.G. Burleigh’s “mammoth barn” and Bessette’s wheel wright shop in Ticonderoga, and the Crown Point Methodist Episcopal Church.

Ticonderoga has long been associated with paper and pencils.

For a time it also was associated with paint — a unique variety known for its elasticity and durability marketed under the brand name Brown’s Waterproof Paint.

“The Ticonderoga Waterproof Paint Company has placed on the market a full line of these paints in all colors and at prices to meet the competition of any other first-class paint,” the Lake George Mirror reported on June 8, 1895.

The company, which operated at least to 1900, also manufactured Brown’s Waterproof Compound, a waterproof coating for boots, shoes, clothing, horse covers and tents.

S.B. Remington, an architect and builder, and C. F. Mercure, along with other investors, launched the company in 1895.

On Jan. 22, the two men traveled to New York City to purchase equipment for the plant that was under construction, the Sentinel reported on Jan. 24, 1895.

“The Ticonderoga Waterproof Paint Company have their factory all enclosed and ready for plastering,” the Sentinel reported on Feb. 21, 1895. “Their boiler and engine are set, and we witnessed the raising of the smoke stack last Monday. They expect to begin manufacturing the first of March.”

On March 7, 1895, the Sentinel reported: “According to reports, we believe that the Ticonderoga Waterproof Paint Company will be more than an ordinary boom to our town.”

The Sentinel reported on March 26, 1896 that the company had started construction of a new two-story factory building.

“The work is being done Sundays because the water is shut off at the Upper Falls on that day.”