Eclipsing the Murray Rush: Adirondacks Brace for a Celestial Invasion

In just a few days, people from around the country will pour into the Adirondacks to view a once in a lifetime total solar eclipse. There are no more rooms to be found for the event and local governments have declared states of emergency in order to properly address the impact of the influx of visitors to the New York mountains. Arguably, the last time the Adirondacks saw such a sudden surge in transient population was the Murray Rush that began in the summer of 1869.

One hundred and fifty-five years ago, W.H.H. Murray’s book, Adventures in the Wilderness, brought waves of people from the newly industrialized eastern cities looking for the tranquil and restorative wilderness of the Adirondacks that Murray popularized. When it began, lodging in the mountains for these new nature seekers was nearly nonexistent, but when the Murray Rush came to an end roughly five years later, hotels and camps had begun to flourish in the Adirondacks.

Those travelers that arrive in the Adirondacks on April 8, 2024 are direct beneficiaries of Murray’s call to nature and the “fools” that followed him.