1916 Notes from William Thistlethwaite's
Adirondack Development Corporation Brochure
The local newspaper - "The Adirondack Arrow" was never archived or microfilmed during 1942-1947.

Forestport - Hotel Albert, Mr. Chellis, prop. Chicken dinner specialty. Hotel practically new, 28m. from Utica.

White Lake - Studor House, one of best known Adk. resorts. Oley Brothers, proprietors. 37m. from Utica. It is 1/2 mile from the White Lake Station, 2m. from Long Lake, 3m. from Round Lake. Studor House farm produces butter, milk, egg. In White Lake proper, Girls' Friendly Society. Mammoth wood icehouses a feature of interest. Also, Lakeside House, a few steps from the state highway, perched on a hill overlooking the entire lenght of the lake. Fresh vegetables. Fred Isley greets guests on Long Lake at his inn, 400 acres.

Otter Lake Hotel - managed this year by C. J. Buehler, son of Prof. Ferdinand Buchler of Utica. Associated with Mr. Norton, former manager four years ago. Making many improvements, dancing in the pavilion Tu, Th & Sat nites. Garage with gas & oil supplies available for motorists.

McKeever - Moosehead Inn, just off the State highway, taken by Frank W. Smith, well known guide and sportsman. He sold out two years ago, but has returned and changing the grounds into an auto picnic area. Abolishment of the bar. The Sans Souci Camp will be made the dining hall of the Inn, speciality Sunday chicken dinners. Mr. Smith will be at the sports table, with the best of guides available. Formerly from Utica, sold pianos in Utica and Boonville. Located just far in from the highway to avoid dust and noise, overlooking the Moose River.

Old Forge
Its broad shady streets with concrete sidewalks, neat cottages, hotels, good schools & stores. Splendid public spirit. Forge House - run by "Pop" Briggs, this year transferred to C. I. and R. E. Thompson. Cafe, billiard rooms, grill & dining rooms well appointed steam heat, electric lights, music, dancing, movies will be a big feature this year. A dancing pavilion has been erected this year and hundreds of dollars spent on interior decoration. Not how much we can get out of you, but how much we can serve you, the new motto.
D. B. Sperry, second oldest guide in the area, busy adding remodeling his cottage, putting in an 36X20 addition, two stories high onto the east wing.

Moosehead on Main Street, Old Forge, sits back in a grove of shade trees and is made prominent by a mammoth moose head above its front door. Practically a new dwelling, the proprietor is S. A. Smith who has completed electrification this past winter. It supplies the table from its own garden. The quaint architecture makes it a focal point in the village.

Forest House on Main Street is owned by Edward Doolan and known well by the tourist trade. It also has an excellent annex associated with it and a first class livery. The Forest House stage meets all trains.

Forge House - volumes can be written about this landmark hotel. It is one of the most beautiful in the Adirondacks and is synonymous in the minds of thousands who visit the Fulton Chain.

Fourth Lake
On north shore is Ramona and its six cottages, which Mrs. Christian Goodsell is the proprietor and manager. Easy reach of the highway, with a long distance phone, main house, dining room and assembly room with outside sleeping lodges, 5-room, 2-room and 1-room variety. Fairview Station only a short distance away, also reached by steamboat and automobile parties. One of the finest sand beaches on the lake.

Manhassit Hotel has a new name (1916) - now called Aquapine. There is no bar. Authur C. Commer, the proprietor, busy redecorating and remodeling, capable of 75 guests at one time. Tennis courts.

Mountain View Cotages - "Dress for Dinner?" I should say not" says C. D. Petrie, propietor on south side of Fourth Lake near Aquapine. Gives guest comfort of the woods, good food, comfortable beds. Consists of six cottages, two semi-enclosed cottages and three tents. Camp run on the home plan. New this year, hot & cold running water, inside toilets and baths. Twice a week, dancing in the pavilion, orchestra well known around the Chain. Each Wed. motorboat excursions to Eighth Lake, time honored custom, accommodations for 100 guests.

Inwood is different. Quaint Dutch windmill, row of neat cottages, just back from the shore. C. C. Baum is the proprietor and has the same guests every year. Neither a hotel or boarding house. It has its own gas and electric works, water piped from mountainside springs. There is a big assembly room with open fireplaces; a piano for music lovers, well-stocked library. Accommodates up to 75 people.

Bay View - camp where they kill bears in the back yard or pretty close to it. O. C. Tuttle, proprietor, well known guide and sportsman and fisherman, experienced taxidermist. Three bears have been killed from his front door. Main Camp, dining room lined with scores of heads is a delight to the sportsman's eye. Big comfortable cottage 40ft. from the lodge where guest come to get their meals. Cement tennis court.

Turner Camps - center of the north shore, commanding view of the inlet, with sandy beach. A. A. Turner, proprietor, loses sleep over the welfare of his guests, competent man, fine lot of boats available for his guests. Sends out an excellent guidebook to his guest with clothing advice etc. Accesible by boat or the highway.

Cohasset - among the sturdy pines of the north shore, group of buildings, main house & cottages owned by Josiah Woods. Well back from the lake, ground covered by pine needles, spacious verandas. Opened from June 15 to Nov. 15. Mr. Wood is proud possessor of the Forge House register whos guest were between 1867 and 1881. The register from 1881 to 1896 is in the hands of Mr. A. M. Church of Boonville.

Mohawk - imposing building, broad lawns, 10 cottages on the north shore. New building in 1910, prop. c. S. Longstaff. Every room has hot & cold running water, and many private baths. Redecorated in 1916. A new Chickering Grand in the mission-finished music room, crackling wood fire. Dining room, music room, assembly hall and sleeping rooms large & comfortable. Excellent garage for motorist, two fine tennis courts, croquet, boating available.

Kenmore & its cottages, Mr. J. D. Freeman proprietor, long experienced in resort work, excellent fare. Spacious piazzas, takes hold of the traveler's imagination as soon as he sees it.

Grand View House on the south side, John J. Rarick, proprietor. Surrounded by forest of pine, balsam and cedar, 1,800 ft. above sea level. Lighted with acetylene gas, hot & cold water, mountain spring water for drinking. Cooking some of the best, butter & milk from the best dairies in Herkimer Co. Good trail to Lime Kiln Lake from the property. One of the best game sections on the lake, favorite of hunters during the season.

The Wood at the head of Fourth Lake, proprietor P. C. Wood - a Adirondack veteran, also the Neodak, under the same management.

New Arrowhead, rap of hammers, whine of saws, creaking of pulleys as the hotel is made ready for its grand opening June 15, 1916. The old hotel burned last year (1915). It will be 100X135 ft. and four stories high, deep verandas and three rows of individual balconies and a capacity for 125 people. Office is 35x68, with open stone fireplaces and fumed oak paneling. The dining room 35x80 ft. will have a capacity for 150 people. 25 rooms equipped with private baths and an intercommunicating telephone system connecting every room to the office. Mr. O'Hara is having a garage built to house 12 cars. A prominent landscape artist is putting the grounds into shape in the area being cleared from the old Arrowhead.

Twin Maple Camp, near the entrance to Fourth Lake, on the north shore, is owned and operated by C. C. Pierce. It has accommodations for 80 people, provides a home-like atmosphere for its clientele and owes much of its popularity to its excellent table. Sanitary plumbing and the best of spring water, Twin Maple Camp also has excellent bathing and boating facilities.

Ledgedale is one of the most artistic camps at the head of Fourth Lake. T. V. McMahon is the proprietor has made it distinctive with log ceilings, stone interior, large fireplaces, French windows and spacious porches.

Seventh Lake
On by automobile on the sandy road, more than passable. A big steel bridge crosses the outlet this side of the Sixth Lake dam, but is unconnected by a road or sign of a road. The bridge cost $5,000 to build, but a constitutional amendment perished the completion of a roadway.

Just beyond the Sixth Lake dam is the Gerald A. Kenwall store who is currently building a large garage. Three new camps going up on Lime Kiln this summer.

Twists and bends in the road brings you eventually to Seventh Lake, the home of fish, big fish and lots of fish. The Seventh Lake House is equipped with the most modern conveniences; furnace heat, telephone and telegraph services, spring water, fresh eggs, vegetables and milk. F. A. Williams is the proprietor of the big hostelry. Also on Seventh, Point View Cottages with William f. Blake proprietor.

Dart's Camp, only a short distance off the Big Moose Road, is one of the recognized meccas in the woods for sportsman in its day. The main camp is set on a breezy point, built in rustic style with upright logs. It is equipped with 30 sleeping rooms and bathrooms. In addition, there are 15 cottages, each with its own fireplace and bathrooms and lighted by gas. William Dart is the proprietor and one of the most renown guides in the area.

Transcribed by Town of Webb Historian Peg Masters in August 2005

These records made available for not-for-profit research purposes only.
Permission to copy or reproduce any part of this document must be obtained in writing from the Town of Webb Historical Association in Old Forge, NY.