The Adirondak Loj (pronounced "Adirondack Lodge") is a historic lodge in

North Elba North Elba is a town in Essex County, New York, United States. The population was 8,957 at the 2010 census. North Elba is on the western edge of the county. It is by road southwest of Plattsburgh, south-southwest of Montreal, and north of ...

, Essex County, New York. It is near Lake Placid in the

Adirondack Mountains The Adirondack Mountains (; a-də-RÄN-dak) form a massif in northeastern New York with boundaries that correspond roughly to those of Adirondack Park. They cover about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2). The mountains form a roughly circular ...

. The current facility, located on the shore of Heart Lake, was built in 1927 and is owned and operated by ADK ( Adirondack Mountain Club). The Loj property hosts the trailhead of the popular

Van Hoevenberg Trail The Van Hoevenberg Trail is a hiking trail that leads southward from Adirondak Loj to the peak of Mount Marcy, the highest point in New York State. Located in the High Peaks Wilderness Area The High Peaks Wilderness Area, the largest Forest P ...

, which leads to

Mount Marcy Mount Marcy (Mohawk: ''Tewawe’éstha'') is the highest point in New York, with an elevation of . It is located in the Town of Keene in Essex County. The mountain is in the heart of the Adirondack High Peaks region of the High Peaks Wildern ...

and

Algonquin Peak Algonquin Peak is in the MacIntyre Range in the town of North Elba, in Essex County, New York. It is the second highest mountain in New York,Goodwin, Tony, and David Thomas-Train, Editors. ''High Peaks Trails'', 14th Edition. Lake George, NY ...

, the two highest points in the state. Accommodations include private rooms and hostel-style bunkrooms, with a buffet breakfast included and dinner available by reservation. There are also campsites,

lean-to A lean-to is a type of simple structure originally added to an existing building with the rafters "leaning" against another wall. Free-standing lean-to structures are generally used as shelters. One traditional type of lean-to is known by its Finn ...

s, and canvas tents available on the property at the Wilderness Campground, which is also managed by ADK. The Loj sits on a

private protected area A private protected area, also known as a private reserve, is not an official category within IUCN's Protected Area guidelines, but includes those protected areas that fall under geographical space that is privately owned, 'kept aside' for public be ...

of 706 acres that includes Heart Lake and Mount Jo; the preserve is owned and managed by ADK.

History

Currently in its second iteration, the original Adirondack Lodge was designed by Henry Van Hoevenberg, one of the early trailblazers of the Adirondack High Peaks region and namesake of

Mount Van Hoevenberg Mount Van Hoevenberg is a summit point located in the Adirondack Mountains in the Town of North Elba, Essex County, New York, 9 miles (15 km) east-southeast of the village of Lake Placid. Named for Henry Van Hoevenberg (1849–1918) (no ...

. The main draw to the Adirondack Lodge was its proximity to Algonquin and Marcy, which had trails cut up to their summits by Van Hoevenberg himself. It opened in 1890, and was well-known for its beautiful vistas and colorful fireside storytelling by Van Hoevenberg. Eventually, due to near constant financial troubles, Van Hoevenberg was forced to sell the property in 1895, though he would remain on as a caretaker until 1898. During this time, the property changed hands several times before eventually ending up under the stable ownership of the Lake Placid Club in 1900. A member of the Lake Placid Club at that point, Van Hoevenberg found himself once again as a caretaker at his beloved lodge. However, disaster hit on June 3, 1903 when the entire structure was consumed in a catastrophic fire that swept Essex County. It was replaced by the present structure, designed by Saranac Lake architect William G. Distin, in 1927.

Spelling

The spelling of the building's name was changed from its original "Adirondack Lodge" to "Adirondak Loj" by a previous owner,

Melvil Dewey Melville Louis Kossuth "Melvil" Dewey (December 10, 1851 – December 26, 1931) was an influential American librarian and educator, inventor of the Dewey Decimal system of library classification, a founder of the Lake Placid Club, and a chief lib ...

, founder of the

Lake Placid Club The Lake Placid Club was a social and recreation club founded 1895, in a hotel on Mirror Lake in Lake Placid, New York, under Melvil Dewey's leadership and according to his ideals. It was instrumental in Lake Placid's development as an internatio ...

, creator of the Dewey Decimal System and ardent advocate of

spelling reform A spelling reform is a deliberate, often authoritatively sanctioned or mandated change to spelling rules. Proposals for such reform are fairly common, and over the years, many languages have undergone such reforms. Recent high-profile examples ar ...

.Steinberg, Michael. ''Our wilderness : how the people of New York found, changed, and preserved the Adirondacks''. Lake George, NY : Adirondack Mountain Club, 1991.

References

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External links

Adirondak Loj page at the Adirondack Mountain Club site
Hotels in New York (state) Adirondacks Buildings and structures in Essex County, New York Adirondack Park Hotels established in 1890 1890 establishments in New York (state) Buildings and structures completed in 1927 Nature reserves in New York (state)