LAKE GEORGE, WARREN COUNTY

Located on Lake George in Warren County, New York, just south of Ticonderoga, Hague has been a popular resort community since the late 1800’s.  Although in winter the year-round population drops to about 632, in the summer there are many seasonal residents, swelling the population to about 2,500.  In addition, there are many tourists who come in the summer — and also on weekends throughout the year.​

There are two main roads in Hague — Route 9N (or Lakeshore Drive), which runs along the western side of Lake George and Route 8 (known locally as Graphite Mountain Road) which goes westward to Horicon (Brant Lake area).  These roads intersect in the middle of the hamlet of Hague at a triangle where Route 8 ends, near the Hague Town Beach Park.  The hamlet area is where our business section is located — a general store, gift shop, a real estate office, lodging and dining options, three churches, and a community center with town offices.  There are also several other tourist accommodations along Route 9N.

There are many outdoor recreational activities available in or near Hague -- swimming, water-skiing, sailing, golf, lake and brook fishing, hunting, hiking, snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, downhill skiing, snowshoeing, ice skating, ice fishing and, most recently, paddle (platform) tennis. In addition, a number of celebrations are held throughout the year.  Among them are a Winter Weekend, Memorial Day celebration and parade, Fourth of July fireworks and music, and holiday events in December. In addition, bands play live music in free concerts in the park one night a week during the summer. The Hague Historical Society holds a variety of programs throughout the year, and manages The Hague Historical Museum located in the Hague Community Center.

Hague has a Senior Citizens Club, a Rotary Club, a Fish & Game Club, a Snowmobile Club, the Hague Historical Society, and several small groups who meet to attend movies, play bridge, read books, share coffee, or do crafts such as knitting and quilting. The Hague Volunteer Fire Department sponsors a barbecue chicken dinner, a steak roast and a spaghetti dinner as fund raisers on different weekends throughout the year. The beauty of the town, its peacefulness and the wide variety of activities have drawn many former summer residents to retire here. 

Originally, our town was part of Bolton, in what was then Washington County.  In 1807, the people of the northeastern sector of that town formed their own governing body, calling their town “Rochester.”  One year later, the name was changed to “Hague” by the NY State legislature.  The legislature assigned new names to several towns in the state due to the duplication of town names at that time.  Why “Hague” was specifically chosen for our town we do not know. What we do know is that most of the towns that were assigned new names were given names from major cities in Europe.  Some speculate that it was to spark interest in getting tourists from Europe to visit. In March 1813, Hague and other towns in the northern part of Washington County were set off to form a new county known as Warren, in honor of Revolutionary War General Joseph Warren.