Paul Smith's Hotel
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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
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,
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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
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, and the power elite of the latter half of the 19th century, such as
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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
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. 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.


See also

* Upper St. Regis Lake *
Spitfire Lake Spitfire Lake is a part of the St. Regis River in the Adirondacks in northern New York State and is in area. Along with Upper and Lower St. Regis Lake, it became well-known in the late 19th century as a summer playground of America's power el ...
*
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 ...
*
Adirondack Architecture Adirondack architecture refers to the rugged architectural style generally associated with the Great Camps within the Adirondack Mountains area in New York. The builders of these camps used native building materials and sited their buildings w ...


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