Page 29 - Town of Newcomb Newsletter - July August 2021

The group was tasked with putting in roads (truck trails)
to help Huntington Forest become a wildlife sanctuary and pro-

tect it from fires. Just like P-69, S-129 built miles of telephone
lines that helped connect the ranger’s station at Catlin Lake with
Chase Point on Rich Lake. They even connected the ranger head-
quarters to a commercial phone line on Rt. 28N.

Many other projects were undertaken from clearing and
removal of dead and fallen trees to help with the prevention of
forest fires, to building ice houses, sheds, stone walls and taking

down dangerous buildings. They constructed 28 miles of foot
trails as well as many miles of truck trails.

The workers also had weekly educational programs,
learning everything from forestry, the 3 r’s, history, and algebra.
Classes focused on teaching trades the men could use once they
left, bookkeeping, journalism and auto and diesel mechanics.
In their free time, men played baseball, card games, and occa-

sionally, enjoyed Field Days with other camps.
They helped the local community of Newcomb, build ski

trails, and helped the state police look for lost hunters. By 1940,
the group had constructed 4 bridges and were working on a
caretaker’s camp at Lake Durant. After the closing of S-129 in
1941, another group finished this project.

For a few years after S-129 was closed, it was maintained
as a possible POW camp. In 1944, after several hundred German
POWs from South Africa arrived at Pine Camp near Black River,

many of these prisoners were sent to various logging operations
in the Adirondacks. Newcomb was one of the camps that was
set up for this purpose.

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