Saranac Inn - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Saranac Inn was a large, luxurious hotel located on a peninsula at the northern end of the Upper Saranac Lake

Upper Saranac Lake

Upper Saranac Lake is one of three connected lakes, part of the Saranac River, in the towns of Santa Clara and Harrietstown, near the village of Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks in northern New York. Upper Saranac Lake is the sixth largest lake in the Adirondacks. With Middle Saranac Lake and...

in the town of Santa Clara

Santa Clara, New York

Santa Clara is a town in Franklin County, New York, United States. The population was 395 at the 2000 census. The name was derived from the wife of an early town businessman, John Hurd....

in the Adirondacks in New York State, USA. It was frequented by US Presidents Grover Cleveland

Grover Cleveland

Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...

and Chester A. Arthur

Chester A. Arthur

Chester Alan Arthur was the 21st President of the United States . Becoming President after the assassination of President James A. Garfield, Arthur struggled to overcome suspicions of his beginnings as a politician from the New York City Republican machine, succeeding at that task by embracing...

and New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes

Charles Evans Hughes

Charles Evans Hughes, Sr. was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican politician from New York. He served as the 36th Governor of New York , Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States , United States Secretary of State , a judge on the Court of International Justice , and...

. It closed in 1962, and burned to the ground in 1978.

Saranac Inn is also the name of a small hamlet

Hamlet

The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...

that grew up in the vicinity of the Inn, and to the public golf course that was originally part of the Inn. The par 72 Saranac Inn Golf Club was recognized by Golf Digest

Golf Digest

Golf Digest is a monthly golf magazine published by Condé Nast Publications in the United States. It is a generalist golf publication covering recreational golf and men's and women's competitive golf. Condé Nast Publications also publishes the more specialized , and Golf World Business. The...

as one of four U.S. courses that are one hundred years or older that received four and a half stars.

History

Originally built as the Prospect House in 1864, it started as a small hotel that accommodated 15 guests. It was gradually enlarged to handle up to 100. In 1886 it was purchased by a group of investors who renamed it Saranac Inn, and began a program of renovation and construction that brought the capacity to 250 by 1909. The opening of the Mohawk and Malone Railway

Mohawk and Malone Railway

Dr. William Seward Webb's Mohawk and Malone Railway crossed the northern Adirondacks at Tupper Lake Junction, just north of Tupper Lake. Webb was president of the Wagner Palace Car Company...

in 1892, dramatically reducing travel time from major east coast cities to the Adirondacks, had a major impact on the hotel.

In 1912 the hotel was purchased by Harrington Mills, the owner of the Harrington Hotel in Washington, DC, who completely rebuilt the structure, adding two stories, elevators, and a private bath in each room. It underwent further enlargement in the 1920s, and noted Saranac Lake

Saranac Lake, New York

Saranac Lake is a village located in the state of New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 5,406. The village is named after Upper, Middle, and Lower Saranac Lakes, which are nearby....

architect William G. Distin

William G. Distin

William G. Distin , an architect of Saranac Lake, New York, was an early associate of Great Camp designer William L. Coulter who went on to design a number of Adirondack Great Camps....

was responsible for much of the design work. At its height, between the enlarged main hotel and the many lakeside cottages and platform tents favored by some guests, it could accommodate a thousand guests.

After the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

, the hotel's business dropped sharply, and it changed hands several times. In 1946, it was purchased by a national hotel chain, who brought in large conventions, briefly improving finances. It changed hands again in 1957, but closed in 1962 as unprofitable. Finally, it was bought for $400,000 by auctioneers, who sold the property piecemeal, the golf course, the cottages, the hotel all going to different owners. In the mid-1970s, the hotel was partially dismembered for salvage materials. Finally, on June 17, 1978, a spectacular seven-hour fire destroyed what was left.

The small collection of cottages that grew up around the Inn (the first dozen were built by the Inn owners) still exists,[known as the Brown cottages] however, as do some of the Great Camps

Great Camps

Great camps refer to the grandiose family compounds of cabins that were built in the latter half of the nineteenth century on lakes in the Adirondacks such as Spitfire Lake and Rainbow Lake. The camps were summer homes for the wealthy, where they could relax, host or attend parties, and enjoy the...

built in the area. World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, the Great Depression

Great Depression

and the Income Tax

Income tax

An income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...

combined to put an end to the Great Camp era, however; and like the Inn, many of the Great Camps were abandoned and/or lost for unpaid taxes, burned or left to crumble.

Sources

Tolles, Bryant F., Jr., Resort Hotels of the Adirondacks, University Press of New England, 2003. ISBN 1-58465-096-6.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.