History Lesson: The disappearance of a Wilton hamlet: Gurn SpringsPublished Feb. 9, 2013

In this undated photo, Lyndes Emerson goes for a morning walk in his Gurn Springs neighborhood. Courtesy of Jeanne Woutersz

WILTON -- Gurn Springs had been a hamlet of the town for more than 200 years. The town confirmed this in its 21st Century Plan.

A hamlet is a community that encourages walking to all the necessary destinations, such as grocery stores, restaurants, church, schools and recreation.

The Emerson Tavern, on the corner of Ballard, North and Traver roads, was not only the first government meetinghouse of the town in 1818, but home to some of the first settlers.

Broadstreet Emerson came to this area from Connecticut in 1790.


The tavern that bore his name was built on the stagecoach route from Schuylerville to Corinth. The area was then known as Emerson's Corners and later as Kent.

Local history claims a famous visitor was Napoleon, when he made a tour of the new country after the Revolutionary War. His room was always "off-limits" to the family out of respect for the war hero.

Lyndes, the eldest of three children, was born in 1900 in the old mansion. He lived there all his life, only leaving for a short while from 1928-1932, to work as a signalman on the New York Central Railroad.

When his father, Burton Emerson, died, he took over the family farm.

He was less than successful as a farmer because he was always a few months behind with his planting and harvesting. He did have 40 milking cows, but claimed that excessive government regulations caused him to retire from milk production.

He worked at the community landfill, which was located near the new Target warehouse site. He collected a lot of discarded goods from the landfill and filled his home with many salvaged items.

In the 1950s, the state was interested in acquiring the tavern for historical restoration, but Lyndes refused the offer.

He sold 220 acres in 1970 and traveled for awhile, then moved to Glens Falls to live with relatives.

The old tavern continued to deteriorate until the town needed to take action to eliminate a safety hazard and authorized the Wilton Fire Department to burn the structure.

In his later years in Gurn Springs, Lyndes Emerson walked daily to Ernie's Grocery store to collect his mail, buy his supplies and visit neighbors. There were no sidewalks on the neighborhood's dirt roads.

The Northway was built in the 1960s and the old Gurn Springs Road had to be improved to withstand increased traffic.

Commercial structures began to change the character of the area. The road was renamed Ballard Road.

The old Town Hall was destroyed by fire in 1973 and the new town complex was built on Traver Road. The Gurn Spring Methodist Church was closed and the congregation transferred to the new church to the east of the Northway.

The truck stop at the new exit 16 bought the former church property and continued to expand. Another gas station was built across from the truck stop on Ballard Road's northwest corner. The two remaining corners were cleared for further commercial development.

The Target warehouse was built on North Road and existing houses were removed. The Ellithorpe Farm Market was sold to the Saratoga National Bank to make room for a Stewart's convenience story complex. All the original houses were demolished in this project. Ernie's Grocery closed.

The town is proposing zoning revisions that would consider the Gurn Spring hamlet designation outdated because the area is now business oriented.

There are few homes left in the area. Planned sidewalks are no longer needed because the character of the area has changed dramatically.