Resort Hotels Of The Adirondacks

An architectural study of the large Adirondack hotels that focuses on the cultural history of travel and tourism.

A sweeping, richly illustrated architectural study of the large, historic New England coastal resort hotels

The Adirondack region evolved over years from vast, impassable wilderness to a land of logging camps, tanneries, sawmills, and small settlements. By the end of the 19th century, the area grew again, becoming a tourist destination famed for its great hotels, quaint inns, cottages, and rustic cabins. The hotels and inns spread throughout the Adirondacks, beginning after the Civil War and continuing during the Gilded Age between World Wars I and II. The region drew the rich and famous, as well as workers and families escaping the polluted cities. This volume contains 200 vintage images of those famed accommodations that catered to years of Adirondack visitors. Most of the buildings seen in this book no longer exist, having been destroyed by fires, the wrecking ball, or simply forgotten over time. Adirondack Hotels and Inns provides a timeless look at the vacation retreats of the past.

Garden photographer Janet Loughrey has covered the vast Adirondacks region to document how people have overcome the area's challenging mountain climate to create beautiful gardens for the past 150 years. Her profiles of contemporary gardeners and landscapers and their creations are supplemented with fascinating historic photos of the lavish landscaping of famed Adirondack-style estates such as Nirvana and the Knapp Estate and grand old hotel resorts such as Scaroon Manor and Sagamore.

Blacks in the Adirondacks: A History tells the story of the many African Americans who settled in or passed through this rural, mountainous region of northeastern New York State. In the area for a variety of reasons, some were lifetime residents, while others were there for a few years or months—as summer employees, tuberculosis patients, or in connection with full- or part-time occupations in railroading, the performing arts, and baseball. From blacks who settled on land gifted to them by Gerrit Smith, a prosperous landowner and fervent abolitionist, to those who worked as waiters in resort hotels, Svenson chronicles their rich and varied experiences, with an emphasis on the 100 years between 1850 and 1950. Many experienced racism and isolation in their separation from larger black populations; some found a sense of community in the scattered black settlements of the region. In this first definitive history, Svenson gives voice to the many blacks who spent time in the Adirondacks and sheds light on their challenges and successes in this remote region.

In 1892, the Adirondack Park, located in the northeast corner of New York, was declared "forever wild," and from then on, public land could not be further developed. Early on, tourists were drawn to the clear blue lakes, winding rivers and streams, and awe-inspiring mountain peaks of the region. The stunning scenery of the Adirondacks suited the postcard perfectly, making the medium the primary method park visitors used to correspond with family and friends, whether on a trip for healing from tuberculosis and other breathing disorders or vacationing from New York City and the surrounding area. Today the park remains an unspoiled wilderness that continues to draw visitors eager to enjoy its natural beauty.

The Adirondack region evolved over years from vast, impassable wilderness to a land of logging camps, tanneries, sawmills, and small settlements. By the end of the 19th century, the area grew again, becoming a tourist destination famed for its great hotels, quaint inns, cottages, and rustic cabins. The hotels and inns spread throughout the Adirondacks, beginning after the Civil War and continuing during the Gilded Age between World Wars I and II. The region drew the rich and famous, as well as workers and families escaping the polluted cities. This volume contains 200 vintage images of those famed accommodations that catered to years of Adirondack visitors. Most of the buildings seen in this book no longer exist, having been destroyed by fires, the wrecking ball, or simply forgotten over time. Adirondack Hotels and Inns provides a timeless look at the vacation retreats of the past.