The name Glens Falls went through a series of changes, beginning simply as "the Corners," after a bend in the road from a major military installation in Fort Edward. In the 1700s, it was known as Wing's Falls, and later Pearlville, Pearl Village, and Glenn's Falls; but by the middle of the 1800s, it was determined to be Glens Falls, one of the wealthiest villages in the state. It was the people who settled in the town that helped to shape it. The lumber barons provided the financial backing to begin banking and insurance institutions and served as officers of every major business and governmental agency in town. Glens Falls People and Places covers the lives of the prosperous and preposterous people and their contributions to the city's development through the 20th century.