Paul Smith's Hotel, (1859–1930) 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. One of the first wilderness resorts in

Adirondacks The Adirondack Mountains ( ) are a massif of mountains in Northeastern New York (state), New York which form a circular dome approximately wide and covering about . The region contains more than 100 peaks, including Mount Marcy, which is the hi ...

, it was, in its day, the most fashionable of the many great Adirondack hotels, patronized by American presidents

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, serving from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. He was the first U.S. president to serve nonconsecutive terms and the first Hist ...

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

and

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States, serving from 1923 to 1929. A Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer from Massachusetts, he previously ...

, celebrities like

P.T. Barnum Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding with James Anthony Bailey the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He w ...

, and the power elite of the latter half of the 19th century, such as

E. H. Harriman Edward Henry Harriman (February 20, 1848 – September 9, 1909) was an American financier and railroad executive. Early life Harriman was born on February 20, 1848, in Hempstead, New York, the son of Orlando Harriman Sr., an Episcopal clergy ...

and

Whitelaw Reid Whitelaw Reid (October 27, 1837 – December 15, 1912) was an American politician, diplomat 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-Yo ...

. In 1860, an article titled "Shooting in the Adirondack" was published in the periodical "All the Year Round." The article, the author of which remains unknown, describes a hunting trip the writer took at the Paul Smith's Hotel in 1859 led by Apollos Smith "and one Warren for the woods". This was

Stephen Warren Morehouse Stephen Warren Morehouse (ca. 1840–1882) was a wilderness guide, cook, and hotel worker at Apollos “Paul” Smith's Adirondack hotel in northern New York State.Godine, A. (2023). The Black Woods: Pursuing Racial Justice on the Adirondack Fr ...

recorded in the 1860 US Census as an employee of the Paul Smith's Hotel and who later served in the Massachusetts 54th Colored Infantry Regiment.Barry, H. (1860). ''1860 Franklin County of New York census''. United States Census Bureau, 191. Retrieved from Family Search. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCHT-8CS For years the hotel was kept intentionally primitive, offering neither bellboys nor indoor bathrooms. It started as a seventeen-room inn, though by the start of the 20th century it would grow to 255 rooms with a boathouse with quarters for sixty guides, stables, a casino, a bowling alley, and a wire to the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

. It also had woodworking, blacksmith, and electrical shops, a sawmill and a store. Stagecoaches delivered guests to the hotel until 1906, when a short electric railroad connected it to the nearest main line. Smith died in 1912, but the hotel continued under his son, Phelps, until it burned down in 1930.

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. .

References

External links

History of the Town of BrightonHistoric Saranac Lake''New York Times'', August 30, 1903, "Season in the Adirondacks Shows No Signs of Waning; Outdoor Sports of All Kinds Followed by Fancy Dress Balls and Bowling and Pool Tournaments -- Fair at Paul Smith's Hotel a Big Success."
{{coord, 44, 26, 04, N, 074, 15, 07, W, type:landmark_scale:20000_region:US-NY, display=title Adirondacks Buildings and structures in Franklin County, New York Defunct hotels in New York (state) Smith, Paul Hotel Burned hotels in the United States Paul Smiths, New York

See also

Sources

References

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