By: Carla Eilo

 

It is always exciting walking into a library or favorite bookstore and perusing the travel section. You can research an area’s best day trips, learn about great hotels, and see pictures of some of the attractions.

Opening up a travel guide from the late 1800s is just as exciting, especially when it is one describing all of the sights from our neck of the woods. Peeking through “Wallace’s Guide to the Adirondacks,” you learn about that same detailed information and picture what it was like to plan a vacation 100 years ago.

In 1894 author Edwin R. Wallace wrote “Wallace’s Guide to the Adirondacks – Descriptive Guide to the Adirondacks” and gave a comprehensive detail of what to do and see. You can read about the North Elba and Lake Placid areas in Part III of the book.

Everyone has their preferences when it comes to a vacation. Some folks are into a grand and modern experience, while others are interested in a more rustic setting. Lake Placid did not have a shortage of either at this time.

Wallace explained that visiting the Adirondacks is easier and more accessible with the railroads traveling through the Adirondack Park. Arriving to the area at this time could have been done either by stagecoach or railroad. When reaching the area by rail, hotels offered stagecoach ride accommodations to and from.

If you were looking for the most modern amenities and a lavish experience in 1894, the Mirror Lake Hotel, the Stevens House, and the Grand View House were on the top of the list.

wallaceThe Mirror Lake Hotel stood five stories tall and resided just above Main Street overlooking Mirror Lake. It held 400 guests and was noted to have large verandas and reception rooms with fashionable and elegant decor. Two grand drawing rooms on the first floor were connected with a music hall in the middle which featured evening dancing with a live orchestra. Each sleeping room was supplied with an electric bell for room service, incandescent lights, and steam heat. The basement offered billiard parlors for both ladies and gentlemen, a bowling alley, smoking room, reading room, and even a children’s play room.

The “newly” rebuilt Stevens House offered guests a place to stay in the large main building and also offered auxiliary cottages on the property and could accommodate a total of 350 guests. All of these included the most modern appliances. The most notable descriptions were the views from the piazzas and spacious parlors and dining-rooms. Many of the hotel rooms were equipped with an open fireplace. They boasted supplying their hotel restaurant from the connecting farm on the premises, but also offered metropolitan delicacies. An orchestra performed daily.

The Grand View House sat a short distance from the North of the Mirror Lake Hotel and could accommodate 200 guests. The rooms and verandas of the hotel offered mountain views and were decorated with comfort, convenience, and luxury in mind.

Mountain spring water and the most up-to-date sanitary arrangements were a mainstay at these locations. Each of these grand hotels also offered telegraph offices on premises. Also through the hotel-livery services guests were able to obtain “every style of vehicle to allow the guests to visit new places daily.”

If a visitor was interested in a more intimate or rustic setting, there were lodgings to meet those needs. He described the newly rebuilt (at that time) Lake Placid House that was situated in the Village of Lake Placid. It could welcome 60 guests and offered modern conveniences.

Under-Cliff, located on Lake Placid, could house 50 guests. It had one central building surrounded by tents and cottages. Its location was enticing to guests who wanted a retreat style experience. Since it was located on the lake, it was only reachable by steamboat or rowboat.

The author also mentioned two locations that were not always available to guests, but would occasionally open their doors to the public. “Castle Rustico,” a large log structure located on the west shore of Lake Placid, could receive up to 60 guests when opened.

If the visitor chose to stay in our neck of the woods, there were many outdoor activities to engage in, from fishing to hunting. Wallace gives tips and advice for hiking Whiteface Mountain and suggests hiring a guide. Some suggestions for day trips were to take a boat ride on the steamboat Ida and view Lake Placid. Another recommendation was to make a trip to the John Brown farm, residence, and gravesite. The farmhouse even offered the sale of refreshments to guests.

This is just a peek into Wallace’s guide, there are several more chapters describing things to do and see in the Adirondack Park and other places in which you might be familiar. A simple online search for this book will bring up free versions, due to the age of the publication. It might be a fun winter activity to explore vacation options from 100 years ago.

 

If you are interested in taking a look at the travel guide, it is available for free – here.