The Village of Lake Placid was incorporated in 1900 and is located in the Town of North Elba in the Adirondack Mountains in the northwestern corner of Essex County, New York. As of the 2000 census, the village had a population of 2,638.
Lake Placid was founded in the early 19th century to develop an iron ore mining operation. By 1840, the population of "North Elba" (four miles southeast of the present village near where the road to the Adirondack Log crosses the AuSable River) consisted of six families. In 1845, Gerrit Smith arrived in North Elba and not only bought a great deal of land around the village, but granted large tracts to former slaves, reforming the land law and rflecting his support of abolitionism. The abolitionist, John Brown, heard about Gerrit Smith's reforms, and left his anti-slavery activities in Kansas to buy 244 acres of land, which later became known as the "Freed Slave Utopian Experiment", Timbucto. Upon his execution in 1859, John Brown asked to be buried on his farm, which is preserved as the John Brown Farm State Historic Site.
As leisure time increased in the late 19th Century, Lake Placid was discovered by the rich and famous that were drawn to the fashionable Lake Placid Club. Melvil Dewey, inventor of the Dewey Decimal System, designed what was then called "Placid Park Club" in 1895 and inspired the village to change its name to Lake Placid which became an incorporated village in 1900. Dewey kept the club open through the winter in 1905 which aided the development of winter sports in the area.
By 1921, the area could boast a ski jump, speed skating venue and ski association, and in 1929, Dr. Godfrey Dewey, Melvil's son, was able to convince the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that Lake Placid had the best winter sports facilities in the nation. Lake Placid is now best known as the two-time site of the Winter Olympics (1932 and 1980). Lake Placid, St. Moritz Switzerland and Innsbruck Austria are the only sites to have twice hosted the Winter Olympic Games.
Native son and lifelong resident, Jack Shea, became the first person to win two gold medals when he doubled in speed skating at the 1932 Winter Olympics. 70 years later in 2002, his grandson, Lake Placidian Jim Shea, Jr., won a gold medal in skeleton at the Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games. In the United States, the village is especially remembered as the site of the 1980 Winter Olympics' USA-USSR hockey game, the so-called "Miracle on Ice" when a group of American college students and amateurs upset the heavily favored Soviet national ice hockey team 4-3 and two days later won the gold medal. Another highpoint during the '80 Games was speed-skater Eric Heiden's performance, winning five gold medals.
Lake Placid built its first golf course in 1898, one of the first in the United States, and has more golf courses than any other region in the Adirondacks. Many of its courses were designed by well-known golf course architects such as John Van Kleek, Seymour Dunn, Alexander H. Findlay, and Alister MacKenzie. Craig Wood, a native Lake Placidian, was a professional golfer who won 21 PGA tour titles including two major championships, the Masters and U.S. Open in 1941 (this was the first time someone had successfully captured the first two major championships of the year). In 1954, Lake Placid honored its native son by renaming the Lake Placid Golf & Country Club to the Craig Wood Golf Club.
Catering to the tourist industry with world class resorts and hotels, outstanding dining experiences, and unique shopping opportunities along its picturesque Main Street, Lake Placid is a year-round tourist destination where they can explore the majestic Adirondack Mountains and lakes, participate in a wide variety of non-competitive and competitive sporting events and activities, and enjoy the performing arts.