Spitfire Lake is a part of the St. Regis River in the

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 ...

in northern

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

and is in area. Along with Upper and

Lower St. Regis Lake Lower St. Regis Lake is a part of the St. Regis River in the Adirondacks in northern New York State. At its northern edge is Paul Smith's College, former site of Paul Smith's Hotel. Along with Upper St. Regis Lake and Spitfire Lake, it became ...

, it became famous in the late 19th century as a summer playground of America's

power elite In political and sociological theory, the elite (french: élite, from la, eligere, to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. D ...

, drawn to the area by its scenic beauty and by the rustic charms of

Paul Smith's Hotel Paul Smith's Hotel, formally known as the Saint Regis House, was founded in 1859 by Apollos (Paul) Smith in the town of Brighton, Franklin County, New York, in what would become the village of Paul Smiths; it was one of the first wilderness r ...

. It is the site of many grand old summer "cottages" and

Great Camps __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 ...

;

Frederick W. Vanderbilt Frederick William Vanderbilt (February 2, 1856 – June 29, 1938) was a member of the American Vanderbilt family. He was a director of the New York Central Railroad for 61 years, and also a director of the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad and o ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

were among the summer residents. "The camps of many of these families began as tent colonies, with separate units for sleeping, dining, games, and so on, and evolved into permanent structures built with understated taste."Jerome, p. 109 Spitfire is part of the original

Seven Carries The Seven Carries is an historic canoe route from Paul Smith's Hotel to the Saranac Inn through what is now known as the Saint Regis Canoe Area in southern Franklin County, New York in the Adirondack Park. The route was famous with sportsmen an ...

canoe route from

Saranac Inn The Saranac Inn was a large, luxurious hotel located on a peninsula at the northern end of the Upper Saranac Lake in the town of Santa Clara in the Adirondacks in New York State, United States. It was frequented by US Presidents Grover Cleveland ...

. Image:The Inlet, Spitfire - 1903.jpg, The Inlet, Spitfire Lake, 1903 Image:A Camp on Spitfire Lake.jpg, A "Camp" on Spitfire Lake Image:Boat house on Spitfire Lake.JPG, Boat house on Spitfire Lake

Notes

Sources

*Donaldson, Alfred L., ''A History of the Adirondacks.'' New York: Century, 1921. . (reprint) *Jerome, Christine ''Adirondack Passage: Cruise of Canoe Sairy Gamp'', HarperCollins, 1994. .

External links

''New York Times'', "Point Racing at Paul Smiths", August 9, 1909. (pdf)''New York Times'', "Yacht Racing on St. Regis Lake", August 7, 1904. (pdf)''New York Times'', "Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan to be Guest of Ambassador Reid at Dinner in Honor of Birthday of D.O. Mills", September 5, 1909. (PDF)
Adirondacks Lakes of Franklin County, New York Lakes of New York (state) Paul Smiths, New York {{FranklinCountyNY-geo-stub