Begun in 1882, Camp Wild Air was the first permanent
camp
Camp may refer to:
Outdoor accommodation and recreation
* Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site
* a temporary settlement for nomads
* Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...
on
Upper Saint Regis Lake
Upper St. Regis Lake is a part of the St. Regis River in the Adirondacks in northern New York State. Along with Lower St. Regis Lake and Spitfire Lake, it became famous in the late 19th century as a summer playground of America's power elite, ...
, in the town of
Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
,
Franklin County in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
's
Adirondacks
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 d ...
.
[National Register of Historic Places Registration Nomination Form: Camp Wild Air]
from NY OPRHP The camp was built by ''
New York Herald Tribune
The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...
'' publisher
Whitelaw Reid
Whitelaw Reid (October 27, 1837 – December 15, 1912) was an American politician and newspaper editor, as well as the author of ''Ohio in the War'', a popular work of history.
After assisting Horace Greeley as editor of the ''New-York Tribu ...
on a peninsula accessible only by water. It presently consists of 12 buildings, 10 of which were built before 1931.
The camp was originally designed by Reid's niece, Ella Spencer Reid, who also named the camp. It was begun on land that was leased; Mildred Phelps Stokes Hooker (1881–1970), daughter of
Anson Phelps Stokes
Anson Phelps Stokes (February 22, 1838 – June 28, 1913) was a wealthy American merchant, property developer, banker, genealogist and philanthropist. Born in New York City, he was the son of James Boulter and Caroline Stokes. His paternal gran ...
, in her ''Camp Chronicles'', sniffs that "she seems to have built before she owned."
[Hooker, p. 12] The land was purchased by the Reids in 1890.
[ The main lodge of unpeeled cedar logs, called the Living Room, was designed by ]McKim, Mead and White
McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm that came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in fin de siècle New York. The firm's founding partners Charles Follen McKim (1847–1909), Wil ...
, and is the only known example of a rustic design from that firm. It was added in 1917 after a fire damaged earlier structures; it features sitting and billiard rooms overlooking the lake.[ The "Bishop's Palace", a small log octagon set at the water's edge with a massive fireplace and chimney, was named for its occasional use by Episcopalian clerics; there are two other, similar buildings at the camp, all designed by ]William Rutherford Mead
William Rutherford Mead (August 20, 1846 – June 19, 1928) was an American architect who was the "Center of the Office" of McKim, Mead, and White, a noted Gilded Age architectural firm.Baker, Paul R. ''Stanny'' The firm's other founding pa ...
. There is also a guest cottage with eight bedrooms, two boathouse
A boathouse (or a boat house) is a building especially designed for the storage of boats, normally smaller craft for sports or leisure use. describing the facilities These are typically located on open water, such as on a river. Often the boats ...
s and a recreation hall. The main buildings are connected by stone walkways. Many of the furnishings are original.
The camp is still owned by descendants of the original owners.[ It was included in a multiple property submission for listing on the ]National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
and was listed in 1986.
References
Sources
* 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.
* Hooker, Mildred Phelps Stokes, ''Camp Chronicles'', Blue Mountain Lake, NY: Adirondack Museum, 1964. .
External links
''New York Times'', GUESTS AT ADIRONDACK CAMPS; Governor General of Canada and Lady Minto to be Entertained by Owners of Summer Homes on Upper St. Regis Lake -- Many House Parties.", August 9, 1903
{{Registered Historic Places
Adirondack Great Camps
Residential buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state)
Buildings and structures in Franklin County, New York
National Register of Historic Places in Franklin County, New York