Camp Uncas is an

Adirondack Great Camp __NOTOC__ The Great Camps of the Adirondack Mountains refers 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 camp ...

, the second built by

William West Durant William West Durant (1850–1934) was a designer and developer of camps in the Adirondack Great Camp style, including Camp Uncas, Camp Pine Knot and Great Camp Sagamore which are National Historic Landmarks. He was the son of Thomas C. Dura ...

for his own use. It lies on the shore of Lake Mohegan, near

Great Camp Sagamore Great Camp Sagamore is one of several historic Great Camps located in the Adirondack Mountains of northern New York State. History Great Camp Sagamore was constructed by William West Durant on Sagamore Lake between 1895-1897. Prior to Sagamore, W ...

, and was completed in two years. Previously Durant had built

Camp Pine Knot Camp Pine Knot, also known as Huntington Memorial Camp, on Raquette Lake in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State, was built by William West Durant. Begun in 1877, it was the first of the "Adirondack Great Camps" and epitomizes the "Great Camp ...

, which he sold to industrialist

Collis P. Huntington Collis Potter Huntington (October 22, 1821 – August 13, 1900) was an American industrialist and railway magnate. He was one of the Big Four of western railroading (along with Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker) who invested ...

, due to financial difficulties

History

The camp was built of logs felled on the property, and all iron hardware was forged on site. In the main lodge and dining hall, the log construction was unusual in that the logs were not interlocked, as in conventional log buildings, but rather were pinned together at beveled corners. The scale is massive: the dining hall is , the walls high at the eaves with a cathedral ceiling high at the ridge, with a huge fireplace on one side. Floors, walls and ceilings were all of polished planks and peeled and polished natural logs. In 1896, Durant sold Uncas to

J. Pierpont Morgan John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age. As the head of the banking firm that ultimately became known ...

with . After Morgan's death in 1913, the camp stayed in the Morgan family until 1947, when it was sold to the widow of Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, who also owned Sagamore. General and Mrs. George Marshall, as guests of Mrs. Vanderbilt, entertained

Madame Chiang Kai-shek Soong Mei-ling (also spelled Soong May-ling, ; March 5, 1898 – October 23, 2003), also known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek or Madame Chiang, was a Chinese political figure who was First Lady of the Republic of China, the wife of Generalissimo and ...

at Uncas in 1949. Mrs. Vanderbilt left Uncas to a foundation, which sold it; eventually it was bought by the

Rockland County Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. It is about from the Bronx at their closest points. The county's population, as of th ...

Boy Scout A Scout (in some countries a Boy Scout, Girl Scout, or Pathfinder) is a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split ...

s who used it as a camp. In 1975, it was returned to private use. The camp was included in a multiple property submission for listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986, and was listed there in 1987. The camp was designated a National Historic Landmark on October 7, 2008.

References

Sources

* Gilborn, Craig. ''Durant: Fortunes and Woodland Camps of a Family in the Adirondacks''. Utica, NY: North Country Books, 1981. * Gilborn, Craig. ''Adirondack Camps: Homes Away from Home, 1850-1950''. Blue Mountain Lake, NY: Adirondack Museum; Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2000. * Kaiser, Harvey. ''Great Camps of the Adirondacks.'' Boston: David R. Godine, 1982.

External links

St. Hubert's Isle - Great Camps - Camp Uncas

{{Registered Historic Places Adirondack Great Camps National Historic Landmarks in New York (state) Buildings and structures in Hamilton County, New York National Register of Historic Places in Hamilton County, New York Residential buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state)