Historic Saranac Lake operates this online archive of local history. Started in December, 2008, this project has grown to almost eight thousand pages. You can create an account and add your knowledge by clicking on the "Edit" button to get started, or add a Comment at the bottom of the page.  You can add new articles or make additions to existing ones. Search for any term in the search box at top right of every page. This site is monitored by Historic Saranac Lake staff and volunteers.

About Saranac Lake

Saranac Lake is a village of five thousand, located near the center of the Adirondacks. This wiki covers the neighboring communities that make up the Saranac Lake Central School District. These communities share much of the history of the "outdoor life" of the region for both work and recreation, going back to the early nineteenth century. In the late nineteenth century, Saranac Lake became an internationally known center for treating tuberculosis, a contagious disease that afflicted people in the prime of life, and killed many of those who contracted it. That history profoundly affected the village and its surrounding area, from its architecture to the astonishing variety of people who were drawn here in hope of a cure, many of whom stayed on. For a time it was also a center for winter sports, hosting international competitions well before nearby Lake Placid hosted the 1932 Winter Olympics. See also: A History of Saranac Lake and Saranac Lake Timeline.

Contents

Solid underlines represent links to articles. Titles in bold face have more substantial content. Titles underlined with a dashed line like this do not yet exist.

Major pages: Streets, Area History, Time Line, About HSL Wiki

Jump to Buildings, Business Organizations, Community Organizations, Family Reminiscences, People, Places, Transportation

Activities

• Boating and Boat BuildingSki Jumping from Maple Hill - 1899
• Bootlegging
• Camping
• Cousining
• Curing
• Ice Harvesting
• Lumbering
• Silent Films
• Scouting
• Sports
• Winter Carnival

Buildings

Baker Memorial Chapel

• Banks
• Churches
• Cure Cottages
• Great Camps
• Hotels
• Hospitals
• Libraries
• Mills
• Restaurants, Nightclubs and Speakeasies
• Properties on the National Register of Historic Places
• Sanatoria
• Schools
• Sports Venues
• Theatres

Business Organizations

Ampersand Hotel

• Architectural firms
• Banks
• Commercial Private Sanatoria
• Clothing Stores
• Dairies
• Electric Companies
• Farms
• Grocery Stores
• Hotels
• Laundries
• Libraries
• Liveries
• Manufacturers
• Masons
• Mills
• Newspapers
• Pharmacies
• Plumbers
• Presses
• Radio Stations
• Railroads
• Roadside Attractions
• Sanatoria
• Theatres

Community Organizations

• Clubs and Associations

• Libraries

• Post Offices

• Schools

Family Scrapbooks, Albums and Reminiscences

• Scrapbooks, Photo Albums and Letters
• Reminiscences & Oral Histories

People

Dr. Edward R. Baldwin

• Architects

• Artists

• Athletes

• Bankers

• Builders

• Clergy

• Cottage proprietors

• Doctors

• Famous Visitors

• Farmers

• Forest Rangers and Fire Observers

• Guides

• Masons

• National Guard

• Native Americans

• Nurses

• Photographers

• Residents

• Settlers

• TB Patients

• Tray boys

• Veterans

• Unidentified Photographs

Places

• Historic Carries (Portages)

  Historic Saranac Lake frequently receives queries regarding local history. Do you have any answers to the questions below? Please feel free to add what you know in the comment box, or email [email protected] with your knowledge or your own question.

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  An unknown camper; "Henry" is written on the back of this photograph. • 12/30/2013 These photographs were sent to us by Michael Specht, son of Malcolm A. Specht, who camped on the north shore of Pope Bay in Lower Saranac Lake from 1939 to about 1960. Please contact us if you can identify this gentleman. Two unknown guides. Can you identify either of them? These are details from photos of Malcolm A. Specht; the originals are on his page.

• Historic Adirondack Camps (Private)

• Historic Districts

• Lakes and Ponds

• Neighborhoods

• State Campgrounds

• Summer Camps/Group Camps

• Towns, Villages and Hamlets

• Most people on the wiki appear on this list

Events

• The Circus
• Fires
• Forest Fires
• Murders
• Extreme Weather

Transportation

• Bus Lines

• Railroads

• Roads, Streets and Avenues

• Stagecoaches

See also

• Books and Other Resources

• Directories of TB Institutions

• History Day Displays

• A History of Saranac Lake

• Snippets

• Thematic Index

• Saranac Lake Timeline

• Weather

• Queries

William F. Kollecker panorama, from Blood Hill. Undated, but clearly after 1914 (the Boys' Club exists) and before 1926 (the old Harrietstown Town Hall is in place). Courtesy of Ted Comstock.

 

For more panoramic photographs of Saranac Lake, see Saranac Lake Village

 

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Historic Saranac Lake, 89 Church Street, Saranac Lake, NY 12983

Acknowledgments

Comments

2013-03-30 20:10:40   I am a childhood friend of Irene La Pan Peck, we have lost contact over the years. I'm trying to locate my best friend I last spoke to her in New England. Elizabeth Levensky ( Iskyan). [email protected] —Elizabethlevensky

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2013-03-30 20:33:43   I'm afraid all I can find is a 1981 news story indicating that she had moved from New Hampshire to Salado, Texas. Good luck! —Mwanner