Historic Indian Lake, New York

in the Catskills, was responsible for the distinctive
look of the 1938
Indian Lake
Theater. Over the
years the building has housed
restaurants, a
drug store, an
electrical appliance store, a pizzeria, a deli and the Community Action Agency. In
2008, the theater became a non-profit multipurpose
community center, and has hosted plays, school
functions, live music and films of all kinds.
M
Built in 1870 by the Shermans of Glens Falls
as a farm, this property had two barns, an icehouse
and a chicken
coop. World War
I veteran Bill
Cross married
Lilias Wamsley on
July 4, 1920, and
moved into the
farmhouse. He
worked the farm,
did carpentry and
guided; Lilias taught at local one-room schools,
including Blue Mountain Lake. The home was more
recently a bed and breakfast.
K
This house was built and owned by Isaac Kenwell in the 1880s. He
L
This home, which at one time had a barn
behind it, was built in 1893 for George and Susan
Orton Tripp. George was Hamilton County Sheriff
from 1892 until 1896 and ran a blacksmith shop in
Indian Lake. His son,
Roscoe, took over the
business and turned it
into an automobile livery. He lived here with
his wife, Ethel Maxam
Tripp, who died at the
age of 100.
net
Pelon Rd.
M
t Rd
.
NORTH
K
H F ED
A
Rts. 28/3
0
L
J I
G
Rt. 30
Rd.
Crow Hill
had built Ste. Marie’s
Store and also created
Raquette Lake’s first
hotel. Ike returned to
Indian Lake and, as
a representative for
Union Bag and Paper
Company, earned a
good reputation as an expert timber cruiser, estimating the worth of forest land. Charlie Wilson,
who was the first to supply the town with electricity,
owned the house, which later became Gadway Real
Estate.
Adirondack Lake
Ben
JhadArchitect
and contractor Franklin Shippey, who
designed many of the buildings at Grossinger’s
C B
Rt.
28
Produced by:
Indian Lake Main Street Revitilization Committee
Collaborating Partners:
Adirondack Museum
Indian Lake Museum
Main Street Revitalization Committee
Adirondack Architectural Heritage
Town of Indian Lake
Indian Lake Theater
Photos and Design: gra•Fix
Photos and Text: Bill Zulo
Editing: Betsy Folwell
Historic
Indian Lake, New York
Self-guided Walking Tour
Ito ndian
Lake’s first settlers were drawn to the area
work in the logging industry. The log cabins they
built were gradually replaced by mostly wood-frame
vernacular structures, using native materials and
local builders. When the rail line reached North
Creek in 1876 and stagecoaches began regular
routes tourism became the dominant industry.
The large, bold, capital letters in the descriptions of the
buildings correspond to their position on the map.
A
Civil War veteran Beriah Wilbur built this
home in the early 1880s. He owned a hotel and
lived here with wife Mary Campion. Beriah was the
Indian Lake postmaster
from 1875 to 1885, and
the west side of the house
served as the post office.
John McGinn purchased
the home for his daughter Gertrude and husband Jerry Donahue, a logger
who died in a river drive.
B
This house was built
in 1886 by George Per-
sons, who lived here with
his wife, Ida Bell Fish, and
their children Louis, Katherine, Elizabeth and Laura.
Katherine, Indian Lake’s first town historian, taught
school for many years and kept a small museum
next to her father’s workshop behind the house.
C
This Italianate-style home was built by George
Richardson, who lived here with wife, Lucy, and
daughter, Mildred. George
was one of the carpenters
who built the Indian Lake
Methodist Church. The
place was later occupied by
Carl and Florence Montgomery, who with Howard
Armstrong owned the Indian Lake Garage.
D
George Persons built this home in 1896 for
Oriella Porter and her husband, George More-
house, who had a blacksmith shop next door. His
stepdaughter, Mabel, and her husband, Allie Hunt,
moved here from Raquette
Lake, where they had been
caretakers for Lucy Carnegie.
Their daughter, Ruth, and
husband, Gilbert Spring,
started Spring’s Store.
E
James McCane, while living on the property
in a log cabin, built this home circa 1906. From
1920 until 1970, William
McCane lived here, with
his first wife, Lillian, who
operated the telephone
exchange from the second
floor; McCane’s Ice Cream
was on the first floor. From
1943 until 1981, McCane’s
was the Indian Lake Town Hall. Whitewater rafting
supplanted the river drives, and the current owner
Adventure Sports Rafting Company leads trips
down the Hudson River.
F
Nelson Ste. Marie’s son Russell was a druggist
when the 1921 fire threatened the whole downtown.
His store was purposely dynamited to
stop the conflagration, and Mrs. Ste.
Marie’s shears were
later found in the
roof of the McCane
building. Roy Savage
started the hardware
business in the new building. In the 1950s William
DeGraff was followed by Richard Seacord and then
the Pine family as owners.
G
Isaac Kenwell built the first store in the center
of town around 1873 and soon sold it to Oliver
Ste. Marie.
This oldfashioned
general store,
known as
Ste. Marie’s,
was a place
where you
could buy a
pair of shoes,
a fishing pole and groceries. Pete Hutchins Floor
Covering has carried on the tradition in Indian
Lake’s oldest business.
H
In 1921 a
dancehall
and hotel/
restaurant
owned by
Frank Pelon
burned.
Both the hall and the hotel were rebuilt, with the
hall used for square dances, church festivals, basketball games and Charlie Chaplin movies. During Prohibition the barroom was moved behind
the dance hall. John Farrell and his brother Henry
bought the business, renamed it Farrell’s, and in
the 1930s brought to Indian Lake the bar from the
Old Nassau Tavern in Princeton, New Jersey. Later
called the Oak Barrel, followed by the Indian Lake
Restaurant and Tavern, its colorful history endures.
IWilliam
This building was constructed around 1900 by
Carroll, who operated a meat market on
the first floor and an undertaking business on the
second floor. With new owners the building became
a rooming
house called
the Commercial Hotel.
Lumberjacks
were frequent
guests, and
during biggame season
cots were set
up in the dining room to accommodate hunters.
The Harr family bought the business after 1945,
running it first as a tavern and then as Marty’s Chili
Nights, a Mexican restaurant.