View source for Upper St. Regis Lake

{{short description|Lake in northeastern New York, United States}}
{{More footnotes|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox body of water
| name               = Upper St. Regis Lake
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| image              = Upper St Regis Lake - Guide Boat.jpg
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| caption            = A [[Adirondack guideboat|guideboat]] on Upper St. Regis Lake, [[Saint Regis Mountain]] behind.
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| location           = [[Franklin County, New York]]
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| coordinates        = {{coord|44|24|18|N|74|16|34|W|region:US-NY_type:waterbody|display =inline,title}}
| type               = [[lake]]
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| area               = {{convert|742|acre|km2|adj=on}}
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| pushpin_map             = New York#USA
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| pushpin_map_alt         = Location of Upper St. Regis Lake in New York, USA.
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[[File:Topridge Boathouse.jpg|thumb|The boathouse at [[Camp Topridge|Topridge]].]]
'''Upper St. Regis Lake''' is a {{convert|742|acre|km2|adj=on}} lake, 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]], drawn to the area by its scenery and [[Paul Smith's Hotel]].  It is the site of many old summer "cottages" and [[Great Camps]], including [[Marjorie Merriweather Post]]'s [[Topridge]].  [[Frederick W. Vanderbilt]], [[Anson Phelps Stokes]] and [[Whitelaw Reid]] were among the summer residents.  "The camps of many of these families began as tent colonies, with separate units for sleeping, dining, games, and so on, and evolved into permanent structures built with understated taste."<ref>Jerome, p. 109</ref>
[[Apollos Smith|Apollos "Paul" Smith]] started his hotel in 1859 as a primitive operation that appealed to sportsmen.  Gradually, the hotel became something of a fad amongst the wealthy and powerful of New York.  As camping became more of a family activity, Smith would allow families to set up camp for day use along the shores of the St. Regis Lakes, returning to the hotel for the night.  Eventually, families would lease or buy land from Smith and build tent platforms, and finally clusters of cabins and cottages.
Even in the early stages, some of these camps became quite elaborate.  In 1883, one of the first families, the Stokes, would arrive in a "special parlour horse car direct from 42nd street to Ausable for $100."  The party consisted of ten family members and an equal number of servants, "three horses, two dogs, one carriage, five large boxes of tents, three cases of wine, two packages of stovepipe, two stoves, one bale of china, one iron pot, four washstands, one barrel of hardware, four bundles of poles, seventeen cots and seventeen mattresses, four canvas packages, one buckboard, [...], twenty-five trunks, thirteen small boxes, one boat, one hamper", all of which was then transferred to wagons for the {{convert|36|mi|km|adj=on}} ride to Paul Smiths, and thence by boat to their island campsite.<ref>Hooker, p. 2-3</ref>
Upper Saint Regis Lake is part of the original [[Seven Carries]] canoe route from [[Paul Smith's Hotel]] to [[Saranac Inn]].  It is also the original home of the ''Idem''-class racing sailboats, originally built in 1900, the oldest class of actively racing one-design boats with original boats participating.
The lake is located in the towns of [[Harrietstown, New York|Harrietstown]] and [[Brighton, Franklin County, New York|Brighton]], both in [[Franklin County, New York]].
<gallery>
Image:Camp Katja.jpg|Camp Katia
Image:Boathouse at Katja.jpg|The boathouse at Camp Katia.
Image:Boathouse 2 at Topridge.jpg|Another boathouse at Topridge.
Image:Adirondack Guideboat.jpg|An [[Adirondack guideboat]].
Image:Billiard Room, Camp Wild Air, Upper St Regis Lake, NY.JPG|Billiard Room, [[Camp Wild Air]]
Image:Image-Bishops Palace, Camp Wild Air, Upper St Regis Lake.JPG|Bishops Palace, Camp Wild Air
<!-- Deleted image removed: Image:Bishops Palace, Camp Wild Air, Upper St Regis Lake.JPG|"Bishops Palace", Camp Wild Air -->
</gallery>
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
==Sources==
*Donaldson, Alfred L., ''A History of the Adirondacks.''  New York: Century, 1921.  {{ISBN|0-916346-26-9}}. (reprint)
*Jerome, Christine, ''Adirondack Passage: Cruise of Canoe Sairy Gamp'', HarperCollins, 1994.  {{ISBN|0-935272-94-1}}.
*Hooker, Mildred Phelps Stokes, ''Camp Chronicles'', Blue Mountain Lake, NY: Adirondack Museum, 1964.  {{ISBN|0-910020-16-7}}.
==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/08/07/120287641.pdf ''New York Times'', "Yacht Racing on St. Regis Lake", August 7, 1904. (pdf)]
*[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1903/08/09/102016812.pdf ''New York Times'', "Guests at Adirondack Camps",August 9, 1903. (PDF)]
*[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1905/07/23/101417424.pdf ''New York Times'', "DOINGS IN THE ADIRONDACKS; Prominent Women Devoting Much of their time to Charity Work", July 23, 1905]
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[[Category:Adirondack Park]]
[[Category:Lakes of New York (state)]]
[[Category:Lakes of Franklin County, New York]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Franklin County, New York]]
[[Category:Paul Smiths, New York]]