We have a great resource in the New York State Museum, even though many of us (myself included) probably take it for granted.

It has archives, good visual exhibits, they put new items up just enough to keep things interesting, they have air conditioning and - unlike other area museums I blogged about earlier - it's free.

So, really, what is there to stand in your way of checking out the State Museum's newest exhibit which features the Adirondacks? Everyone from the Capital District, through school field trips, probably first learned about the Adirondacks at this museum. (Remember the stuffed mountain lion? the stag near the logging exhibit? the bobcat?)

In this exhibit, which just opened in late June, we get to see the Adirondacks through the eyes of an early photographer.

I'd say it's worth dealing with Madison Ave traffic/paying for the meter. But if your summer is really busy and you can't fit it in - even to just beat the heat for a couple hours - the exhibit will be at the museum for several months, through February 24, 2013.

Here's the press release -

http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/press/releases/stoddard.cfm

A new exhibition opens on June 29 at the New York State Museum showcasing the works of photographer and conservationist Seneca Ray Stoddard, who is best known for his photography and guidebooks of New York’s Adirondack Mountains.

Seneca Ray Stoddard: Capturing the Adirondacks, includes over 100 of Stoddard’s photographs, Adirondack guideboats and other items from the Museum’s collection that are reflected in the photographs, copies of Stoddard’s books and several of his paintings.

“This is the first time the State Museum has exhibited these remarkably important photographs from our extensive Seneca Ray Stoddard collection,” said Museum Director Mark Schaming. “It’s an enormously rich visual turn of the century record of the Adirondacks, as well as other magnificent regions of the state. Stoddard’s work continues to be an important resource in understanding the history and development of the Adirondack region.”

Born in Wilton, Saratoga County, Seneca Ray Stoddard (1844–1917), focused his photography and writing on the growing recreational industry of the Adirondacks. His work was instrumental in shaping public opinion about tourism in the Adirondacks and in the preservation and management of the Adirondack wilderness.

Established in 1836, the New York State Museum is a program of the State Education Department’s Office of Cultural Education.

Located on Madison Avenue in Albany, the Museum is open Monday through Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. except on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Admission is free. Further information can be obtained by calling (518) 474-5877 or visiting the Museum website at http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/.