NEWTON FALLS, N.Y. — Eight years ago, a paper mill closed in this remote corner of the western Adirondacks, taking with it more than 100 jobs. Most of the 75 houses in this speck of a hamlet a two-hour drive from Canada soon fell into disrepair, their frames thrashed by weather and hardship. Some families moved wherever they could find work. Others were stuck with homes they could not sell and long commutes over desolate country roads. The nearest gas station closed, the local hospital struggled to fill its 20 beds, and the volume of mail at the one-person post...