John Burroughs was born April 3, 1837 in the Catskill Mountains on a farm near the village of Roxbury. He is a major figure in American literature. Over a million and a half copies of his books were sold. He was held in such esteem that 11 schools in the United States are named after him. He taught briefly in Ulster County (NY) and after his marriage moved to Washington, where he worked in the Treasury Department during the Civil War. At that time he began a life-long friendship with Walt Whitman. Many of Burroughs' essays first appeared in popular magazines.

In 1873, Burroughs returned to New York and built a stone house, ``Riverby,'' on the west bank of the Hudson in West Park. Years ater, seeking more contact with nature than his riverside home provided, he bought land a mile and a half mile away, where, in the fall of 1894, work began on his Adirondack- style cabin, ``Slabsides.''It was there, with his literary reputation firmly established, that many famous men (and women) of the time visited him, including Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir, Henry Ford, and Edison.

Around 1920, Burroughs renovated the family farmhouse in the Catskills and named it ``Woodchuck Lodge.'' This became his summer residence until his death, which occured as he was returning from California in 1921.

Slabsides may still be visited today in the 220-acre John Burroughs Sanctuary in West Park, NY. Slabsides is now one-hundred years old. The centennial events are outlined on the page ``Today''