Wilmington, NY

Wilmington is an Adirondack town on the West Branch of the AuSable River, below Whiteface Mountain. It began as a farming and milling settlement, then shifted toward tourism as hotels opened around the turn of the twentieth century. Franklin D. Roosevelt helped launch the Veterans Memorial Highway in 1929; the road reached the summit in 1935, giving the mountain a route and the town a signature piece of engineering. Whiteface’s ski area and the 1980 Winter Olympic alpine events added another layer. Wilmington is a river town whose history climbs straight up the mountain.