Lake Clear is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

and a lake in Franklin County, New York, United States. The area is named for Lake Clear, 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. It is located in the town of Harrietstown. In the late 19th century, Lake Clear was near the center of a thriving tourist industry;

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, ...

, three miles (5 km) to the north, is home to some of the earliest and most elite of the Adirondack Great Camps, and famous

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 ...

was only five miles to the north.

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 ...

, on the shore of

Upper Saranac Lake Upper Saranac Lake is one of three connected lakes, part of the Saranac River, in the towns of Santa Clara and Harrietstown, near the village of Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks in northern New York. Upper Saranac Lake is the sixth largest lak ...

, is four miles (6 km) to the west, and the village of Saranac Lake is six miles (10 km) to the southeast.

New York Central and Lake Clear Junction as a passenger train transfer point

In 1892, the

Mohawk and Malone Railway The Mohawk and Malone Railway was a railroad that ran from the New York Central Railroad's main line at Herkimer north to Malone, crossing the northern Adirondacks at Tupper Lake Junction, just north of Tupper Lake. The road's founder, Dr. Willi ...

reached Lake Clear, and in 1906, Paul Smith built an electric railroad that ran from Lake Clear to his hotel. That railway became the Adirondack Division of the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mid ...

(NYC) in 1913. ''See also:'' Lake Clear was served by New York Central trains from

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

in the north and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to the south. From Lake Clear passengers would transfer to Lake Saranac and Lake Placid to the east. However, by the post-World World War II years, the default itinerary for trains coming from cities to the west and the south beyond the Adirondacks region involved trips east through Lake Clear to Lake Placid, rather than Montreal or

Malone Malone is an Irish surname. From the Irish "''Mael Eóin''", the name means a servant or a disciple of Saint John. People * Gilla Críst Ua Máel Eóin (died 1127), historian and Abbot of Clonmacnoise, Ó Maoil Eoin * Adrian Malone (1937–2 ...

to the north. Scheduled train service by the New York Central north to

ended in 1956. On April 24, 1965 the NYC ran its final train on the route. The tracks through Lake Clear were removed in 2021 to enable construction of a new rail-trail between Lake Placid and Tupper Lake, planned for completion in 2024.

Lake Clear today

Today the area is still largely devoted to tourism, but in a much quieter way. Many of the area's great camps and cottages are still in use, along with other guest facilities. The nearby

Saint Regis Canoe Area The Saint Regis Canoe Area in Adirondack Park is the largest wilderness canoe area in the Northeastern United States and the only designated canoe area in New York state. It is closed to motorized vehicles. Among the 50 ponds (small lakes) and lak ...

is a major draw for paddlers. The state now owns much of the land, including most of the shoreline of Lake Clear, and it operates a

fish hatchery A fish hatchery is a place for artificial breeding, hatching, and rearing through the early life stages of animals—finfish and shellfish in particular.Crespi V., Coche A. (2008) Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Gloss ...

at nearby Little Clear Pond. The

Adirondack Airport Adirondack Regional Airport is a public use airport located four nautical miles (5 mi, 7 km) northwest of the central business district of Saranac Lake, in Franklin County, New York, United States. The airport is owned by the T ...

is northeast of Lake Clear; although it is nominally in Saranac Lake, it is known locally as the "Lake Clear Airport".WBNZ News - "Chamber to Help in Marketing Lake Clear Airport"

References

External links

Adirondack Airport
Hamlets in New York (state) Hamlets in Franklin County, New York {{FranklinCountyNY-geo-stub

New York Central and Lake Clear Junction as a passenger train transfer point

Lake Clear today

References

Further reading

External links