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North Creek | “Teddy Roosevelt’s Wild Night Ride to the Presidency” | September 17, 2026

  • Tannery Pond Center 228 Main Street North Creek, New York, 12853 United States (map)

“Teddy Roosevelt’s Wild Night Ride to the Presidency” Brings an Adirondack Adventure to Life

Painting depicting Theodore Roosevelt's night ride to the presidency in the Adirondacks.

The Midnight Ride of Theodore Roosevelt, Artist: June Borho. Courtesy North Creek Depot Museum

One of the most dramatic nights in Adirondack history returns to the stage on Thursday, September 17, 2026, when Gem Radio Theatre presents Teddy Roosevelt’s Wild Night Ride to the Presidency: An Adirondack Adventure at Tannery Pond Center in North Creek, NY.

The 7 pm radio play recreates Theodore Roosevelt’s legendary 1901 journey through the Adirondacks — a race through darkness and mountain roads that ended with a train ride toward the presidency.

The performance is part of the 125th anniversary commemoration of Theodore Roosevelt’s “Night Ride to the Presidency,” a pivotal American story set unmistakably in the Adirondacks.

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A presidential story rooted in the Adirondacks.

In September 1901, Vice President Theodore Roosevelt was vacationing with his family at Tahawus, near Newcomb, when President William McKinley was shot by an assassin at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo.

Roosevelt initially traveled to Buffalo, but when McKinley appeared to be recovering, the vice president returned to the Adirondacks. Then McKinley’s condition deteriorated.

Reaching Roosevelt was no simple matter in an era before cell phones, paved mountain highways or instant communication. Once word reached him, Roosevelt began an urgent overnight journey by horse-drawn carriage from Tahawus through Newcomb and Minerva toward the North Creek railroad station.

It was a dark, stormy Adirondack night — and Roosevelt was racing toward a presidency he did not yet know was his.

Gem Radio Theatre recreates Roosevelt’s night ride.

Gem Radio Theatre will tell that story through an original radio play commissioned by the North Creek Depot Museum for the 125th anniversary.

Actors in period dress will recreate the journey, with sound effects helping summon the horses, weather and tension of the overnight ride. A slideshow featuring photographs of the actual people and places connected to the story adds another layer of historical immediacy.

Especially compelling is the source material. The story was written by Heloise Cronin Murphy, daughter of Mike Cronin, the third driver in the relay who carried Roosevelt safely on the final leg to the North Creek station.

That family connection gives the production something no generic presidential history lesson can quite match: a national turning point told through the Adirondackers who were actually there.

ADK Taste insight.

Roosevelt’s ride is unusual because the Adirondacks are not merely scenery in the story. Geography shaped what happened. Distance, primitive roads, mountain weather and the communications of 1901 all helped turn a presidential succession into an extraordinary overnight journey.

For history lovers, that makes the North Creek performance particularly evocative. The places named in the story — Tahawus, Newcomb, Minerva and North Creek — still anchor the Adirondack landscape visitors travel today.

Hear the ADK Talks story of Theodore Roosevelt’s ride.

For more on Theodore Roosevelt’s historic Adirondack journey, listen to the ADK Talks episode exploring the Night Ride to the Presidency and the 125th anniversary commemorations in the Gore Mountain region.

ADK Talks: Theodore Roosevelt’s Ride to the Presidency — the Adirondack story behind the dramatic 1901 journey from Tahawus to North Creek.

The episode adds context to the people, places and events surrounding Roosevelt’s journey through Newcomb, Minerva and North Creek, NY.

ADK Taste recommendation.

Make this more than a night at the theater. Visitors interested in Theodore Roosevelt and Adirondack history should allow extra time in North Creek to explore the community where Roosevelt’s overnight journey reached the railroad—and where the story remains a central part of local identity.

Check Tannery Pond Center and the event organizers’ official website or Facebook pages before traveling for any updates to admission, seating or event details.

Event details.

What: The Night Ride to the Presidency: An Adirondack Adventure‍ ‍

Who: Gem Radio Theatre

When: Thursday, September 17, 2026, at 7 pm

Where: Tannery Pond Center, North Creek, NY

Region: Gore Mountain / Southern Adirondacks

Why go: A live radio play combining period-costumed actors, sound effects, historic photographs and a remarkable Adirondack chapter of American presidential history.

For travelers planning a September getaway near Gore Mountain, history enthusiasts, Roosevelt devotees and Adirondackers curious about the events that unfolded in their own backyard, this is one of those rare programs where the setting is inseparable from the story.

And 125 years later, North Creek is exactly where that story belongs.

For more carefully curated things to do across the Adirondacks, subscribe to In Good Taste, ADK Taste’s weekly guide to Adirondack food, stories and events.

Frequently asked questions.

When is The Night Ride to the Presidency radio play?‍ ‍

The performance takes place Thursday, September 17, 2026, at 7 pm.

Where is the Theodore Roosevelt radio play being performed?‍ ‍

Gem Radio Theatre will perform the radio play at Tannery Pond Center in North Creek, NY, in the Gore Mountain region of the Adirondacks.

What was Theodore Roosevelt’s Night Ride to the Presidency?‍ ‍

In September 1901, Roosevelt made an urgent overnight journey from Tahawus through the Adirondacks toward the North Creek railroad station after President William McKinley’s condition worsened following an assassination attempt in Buffalo.

What can audiences expect at the Tannery Pond Center performance?‍ ‍

The production features actors in period dress, radio-theatre sound effects and a slideshow of historic photographs depicting people and places connected to Roosevelt’s journey.

Why is North Creek connected to Theodore Roosevelt?‍ ‍

North Creek was the railroad destination of Roosevelt’s famous overnight Adirondack journey. From there, he boarded a train for Buffalo as the events surrounding McKinley’s death and Roosevelt’s succession unfolded.


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