Main Street

Main Street runs north from its junction with Lake Street and Kiwassa Road at the Lake Flower dam. It bends to the east at its intersection with Broadway, and continues a block past Church Street, where it becomes Dugway Road shortly before ending at Pine Street. It is one of the earliest streets in the village.

Looking north on Main Street near the

Riverside Inn| showing the old Harrietstown Town Hall|, 1920s. Photograph by William F. Kollecker|. ]]

Looking south on Main Street with the

Berkeley Hotel| right, Roberts Block| center, Saranac Lake High School| left. Photograph by William Henry Jackson|, 1906 ]]

 

Looking north on Main Street from its intersection with

Broadway|, 1930s ]]

Looking north on Main Street 1916. Photo courtesy of Nora Bouvier.

 

Main Street at the corner of

River Street|, from left, the porch of the Empire Hotel|, the old Town Hall, Walton and Tousley|, the Tousley Building| apparently under construction, Little Joe's|, the Donaldson Block|, and the Haase Block| are all visible. The sign for the Blue Bird Tea Room| can be seen at right. (c. 1924) (Adirondack Daily Enterprise|, undated clipping) ]]

Looking north on Main Street at the corner of River Street, undated. Courtesy of James Rudi Snyder.

 

More photographs here.

24 Main Street Also 26 Main||Site vacant since 1958||

Seaver A. Miller Cottage]]|

Torn down for the LaPan Highway. 

[[1]]|

44 Main Street See 42 Main Street||51 Main Street||A. Goldsmith Cottage||DIS 1911| 45 Main Street Was 45-49||52 Main Street||

Green's Market]]|

Artists Guild, 

Edelberg's Furs, 

Hogan Block,

Nutter's Shoe Store|

49 Main Street See 45 Main Street||52 Main Street||Charlie Green's Market||SLD1906| 50 Main Street See 48 Main Street||59 Main Street||50 Main Street||Altman's (1924-32), Emily Durell's Gifts, Roby's Gifts, Little Joe's| 53 Main Street was 65-67||62 Main Street||

Linwood Cottage]]|

DIS 1911

Sears parking lot,

[[3]], Cure Cottages, p. 9 & 105|

56 Main Street See 54 Main Street||63 Main Street||Donaldson Block||SLD1908, NYC1915
Cure Cottages, p. 63
 | 58 Main Street See 54 Main Street|| ||Distin's Studio||SLD1906| 60 Main Street See 54 Main Street||67 Main Street|

File:60 Main St.

Reuben Reynolds Cottage]]|| Adirondack National Bank (destroyed)| 64 Main Street See 62 Main Street||67 Main Street||64 Main Street
(Haase Block)||DIS| 68 Main Street was 68-70||69 Main Street||

Telephone Exchange]]|

Reuben Reynolds

Trudeau|

Old Address	Post-911 Address	Building Name/Notes
Starts at Lake Street (West), Riverside Drive (East)|
	Now Riverside Park	Riverside Inn
2 Main Street	3 Main Street	Paul Smith's Electric Light and Power and Railroad Company]]
10 Main Street	17 Main Street	10 Main Street]]	TBSBC|
12 Main Street	21-23 Main Street	Currier Block]]	Cure Cottages, p. 106|
Crosses the Saranac River on the Main Street Bridge|
16 Main Street	Site vacant since 1958	16 Main Street]]	Torn down for the LaPan Highway. Behind it was the Adirondack Bottling Works|
18 Main Street	Site vacant since 1958	Toole Cottage| DIS 1933, See 16 Main Street F. M. Bull's Drugs|
20 Main Street	Site vacant since 1958	Gruber Cottage]]| DIS 1913, Torn down for the LaPan Highway.  Also 22 Main Cady Sporting Goods  |
Crosses the George LaPan Highway (West, after 1957), River Street (East)|
25 - 29 Main Street	38 Main Street	Spaulding Block]]
27 Main Street		Utting's Groceries	SLD1906|
28 Main Street	39 Main Street	Empire Hotel]]|  SLD1906, SLD1908, DIS 1911 (destroyed), [[2]]|
30 Main Street	39 Main Street	Harrietstown Town Hall]]
31 Main Street		Mrs. Carter Cottage 2	DIS 1912|
33 Main Street		Saranac Lake Hardware Apartments	DIS 1933|
34 Main Street	43 Main Street	Walton & Tousley Hardware]]	was 34-36, /Rice Furniture|
35/37 Main Street	42 Main Street	Kendall's Grocery, Albany Market,	SLD1906, DIS 1912 third business building on east side of Main, torn down in 1945?|
36 Main Street See 34 Main Street	43 Main Street	Slater Cottage (DIS 1911), was 34-36  Cure Cottages, p. 67|
38 Main Street	49 Main Street	Tousley Building]]
39 Main Street		Ryan's Livery, Harris Cottage	SLD1906, DIS 1913|
41 Main Street		Edelberg's Furs, Munn Brothers	SLD1906|
41 1/2 Main Street		Crakow Cottage	DIS 1929|
42 Main Street	51 Main Street	Milo Miller Store]]	was 42-44, , A. Goldsmith & Son, E.L. Finnegan's Shoes|
43 Main Street	48 Main Street	43 Main Street]]	Waterhole, Cure Cottages, p. 105, 106|
46 Main Street	55 Main Street	46 Main Street]]	The Book Store|
48 Main Street	57 Main Street	Little Joe's]]	Cure Cottages, p. 61|
51 Main Street	Now part of the Sears parking lot	51 Main Street	Pot Shop|
52 Main Street	61 Main Street	Central Market]]| SLD1906, SLD1908 Gibney's Market, Post Office Pharmacy|
53 1/2 Main Street	Site vacant, 2009	53 1/2 Main Street (behind Linwood)	DIS|
54 Main Street	63-65 Main Street	Donaldson Block]]
55 1/2 Main Street	Site vacant, 2009	Perez Cottage (behind Newberry's)	DIS 1930|
61-65 Main Street	66 Main Street	Mrs. Lucius Evans Cottage]]	[[4]]|
62 Main Street	67 Main Street	Haase Block]]| SLD1908 was 62-64, 60-64 |
63 Main Street	Main Street	Alfred A. Moody Insurance
65/67 Main Street	66 Main Street	Newberry's]]| Later Sears, now Wholesale Furniture, 67 Main was (apparently) the site of the Bijou Theatre.|
69 Main Street	74 Main Street	Post Office Building]]| DIS Later Meyers Drugs; Downhill Grill Cure Cottages, p. 66|
68 1/2 Main Street	75 Main Street	Adirondack National Bank]]	SLD1910-11|
70 Main Street	75 Main Street	Humidor
71 Main Street was 71-79||76 Main Street|| Coulter Block]]|| |
74 Main Street was 74-76||77 Main Street|| Fowler Block]]||DIS 1912|
77 Main Street	79 Main Street	Endicott-Johnson Shoes
78 Main Street was 78-80||79 Main Street|| Roberts Block]]| DIS 1911 Finnigan's|
82 Main Street	81 Main Street	Kendall Building]]
84 Main Street	85 Main Street	Mulflur Building]]
83 Main Street was 83-85||86 Main Street|| Leonard's Department Store]]|| |
Intersection with Broadway (West)|
89 Main Street	90 Main Street	Harding Block]]	E. J. Kennedy's|
Passes Academy Street (Southeast)|
90 Main Street	Berkeley Square	Berkeley House]]	DIS 1928-1952 (burned)|
94 Main Street	97 Main Street	94 Main Street]]| Blue Gentian/Corvo's, Cure Cottages, p. 107, E. L. Finnegan's Shoe and Clothing Store, Community Store|
96/98 Main Street	Vest Pocket Park	98 Main Street]]	Originally the home of W.F. Roberts [[5]]|
100 Main Street	109 Main Street	Guild House]]	(demolished- now site of the expanded Library) [[6]], [[7]]|
102 Main Street	109 Main Street	Saranac Lake Free Library]]
95 - 101 Main Street	100 Main Street	Hotel Saranac]]	DIS 1952-54|
99 - 103 Main Street		Odd Fellows Hall]]
104 Main Street	115 Main Street	Lawrason Brown Office and Residence]]| DIS 1911, [[8]]|
105 Main Street	118 Main Street	Edward Livingston Trudeau house and office]]| [[9]][[10]](burned), [[11]]|
108 Main Street	121 Main Street	Conklin Cottage]]
110 Main Street	now roadway	Werle Town House	Address of the Werle Town House before it was moved to Church Street|
Crosses Church Street|
112 Main Street, changed to 110 when Church St. was extended	129 Main Street	Werle Cottage]]	JOL1931, SLA1935, PHR1930, NYC1915, [[12]], [[13]]|
112 Main Street	.	112 Main Street	no longer exists. DIS; |
116 Main Street	133 Main Street	Woods Price House]]	DIS 1911|
117 Main Street	Main Street	117 Main Street]]
118 Main Street	139 Main Street	118 Main Street]]	DIS|
121 Main Street	142 Main Street	121 Main Street]]
123 Main Street	148 Main Street	123 Main Street]]	NYC1915|
132 Main Street		124 Main Street]]
141 Main Street	.	141 Main Street	DIS|
144 Main Street	191 Main Street	144 Main Street	TBSBC, NYC1915|
150 Main Street	197 Main Street	Tanzini Cottage	TBSBC 1930|
152 Main Street	199 Main Street	Tanzini Cottage 2	DIS 1930|
163 Main Street	.	Rodwell Cottage 2	DIS 1911|
Ends at Pine Street|

None

View from Main Street at the foot of

Lake Street|, 1930s]]

 

Main Street looking northeast in front of the

Hotel Saranac|, 1930s ]]

Main Street from

Church Street|, 1930s ]]

 

Main Street from the top of

Berkeley Hill|, 1879. Evans Cottage is on the left. Photograph by George W. Baldwin| from Alfred L. Donaldson|'s A History of the Adirondacks| ]]

Main Street near the start of

Broadway| (from the Berkeley House|) ]]

 

The text below is from a caption published for the picture above at right by the Watertown Times in 1948. For information on the caption, see Old Saranac Lake photographs

SARANAC LAKE ABOUT 1900—Looking up Main street from the Berkely Hotel, a photographer, thought to be George Baldwin or William Adams, captured an early morning scene from the top balcony of the Berkeley Hotel on Berkeley Square.

The building on the extreme right served the village as its post office for many years. Today it houses the Horton Flower shop. The horse and buggy in front of the building is the Trudeau Sanatorium bus which carried people and supplies to and from the famous sanatorium. The house and buggy bus has been succeeded by a new station wagon in 1948.

The long white building on the left, the Lute Evans cottage, was one of the first tourist homes in Saranac Lake and for many years the late John D. Rockefeller, Sr., stayed in the Evans House during summer vacations. Next to the postoffice is the original Kendall pharmacy. Built by Dr. Frank E. Kendall in 1893 after he left the employ of F. M. Bull who operated the first pharmacy at 18 Main street. Still the Kendall pharmacy the building has been remodeled and modernized.

The cottage beside the Kendall building today houses the T. F. Finnigan Clothing company. The two houses that follow and face on Main street were known as the Rube and Rant Reynolds houses. They were used for many years as tourist houses and today serve as the site for many buildings including the Adirondack Enterprise the Adirondack National Bank and Trust company, the Federal Savings and Loan and others.

In the rear left center of the building can be seen the original Harrietstown town hall which was replaced by the modern town hall after fire razed it in 1926. The original site of the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, the fire allegedly started somewhere in the shop of the newspaper late in the evening. The publisher of the paper, John S Ridenour, printed the paper in Malone while his equipment was being salvaged.

Along with completely destroying town records and the newspaper office, the fire also destroyed much property belonging to the Odd Fellows lodge who also held their meetings in the building.

---

, 1939

Watertown Daily Times, 1939 ¹

Highlight of the Saranac Lake celebration of July 4, 1892, was the firemen's parade pictured above [left]. The photograph was taken from a point on Main street now the site of Riverside park. The fire team is racing in a direction away from Berkeley Square and is passing the old town hall. Berkeley Square cannot be seen as Main street turns to the right just before the Square.

The wooden town hall of this picture was completely destroyed in 1927 by fire. It was later replaced by the imposing brick structure of today. In 1892 there was no town clock in the town hall tower. Today there is one.

At the left foreground is the residence of Judge Seaver A. Miller. The entire length of Main street has been changed by construction of modern buildings and the extension of the business section to the neighborhood of the town hall. Then, as now, Berkeley Square was the center of the shopping district.

In the background may be seen one of the many surrounding mountains overlooking the village.

---

The wooden buildings of Saranac Lake's earliest commercial district had open porches that were later enclosed. The one-story building with snow on the roof is now the

Post Office Pharmacy|. Beyond it, the facades are still familiar today, though the poles and wires are not. On the right side of the street was Mrs. Lucius Evans Cottage|, later replaced by the store that is now Sears. The sunny open space was the lawn of the Linwood Cottage|, and far right are the open porches of what is now the Adirondack Artists' Guild|. ]]

West side of lower Main Street, undated. Courtesy of

Mary Hotaling| ]]

Main Street, c. 1909; the Post Office Building and the sign for the

Bijou Theatre|, at right, c. 1902 (From |Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks: The North Woods City of Health and Opportunity|, Mid Winter Carnival, 1909. Courtesy of the Adirondack Research Room|, Saranac Lake Free Library|) ]]

, Mid Winter Carnival, 1909. Courtesy of the

Adirondack Research Room|, Saranac Lake Free Library|) ]]

 

Main Street near the Berkeley, looking south, undated, but post-1900

Main Street looking northeast from outside the

Hotel Saranac|; TB Nurse Alberta Kenny Bodah with Edward Livingston Trudeau house and office| and St. Luke's Church| visible at right in background, late 1930s/early 1940s. Photo property of Dan Bodah. ]]

Main Street looking northeast from outside the

Hotel Saranac|; unknown woman with Odd Fellows Hall| at right, St. Luke's Church| visible in background, late 1930s/early 1940s. Photo property of Dan Bodah. ]]

Steel beams being delivered for the construction of the new

Harrietstown Town Hall|, c. 1927. Bricks are stacked behind, and barrels, possibly of rivets, line the sidewalk. From left, the Paul Smiths Building|, Currier Block|, 16 Main Street| and Seaver A. Miller Cottage| can be seen. ]]

Looking east along Main Street, Saranac Lake, from the middle of

Berkeley Square|, this unusual view captures the relationship of the Berkeley Hotel| on the left and the first Saranac Lake High School| on the right. The church tower next door to the school belongs to the original First United Methodist Church|, which occupied a lot that is now the parking lot of the Hotel Saranac. Based on the size of the high school, which would be expanded twice later on, this William L. Distin| photo can be dated between 1890 and 1902. ]]

---

Adirondack Daily Enterprise, August 25, 1954

Our Town

By Eddie Vogt

There Have Been Some Changes Made ...

The last time I sent a telegram I realized that when I first came up here—back in the late thirties —that the Western Union Office was in Berkeley Square, where the C.C. Commo Shop is now. There also was a Postal Telegraph and, if I recall, it was in the store now occupied by Charlotte's Little Shop. Next to that (where Meyer's Drug Store is now) was the Grand Union and farther down Main street (along about where Mike and Sandy are now) was the Albany Market. Across the street (G. Carver Rice) was Walton and Tousley, and where the Ayres Real Estate Agency is now was E. L. Finnegan's Shoe and Clothing Store. (Right?) I don't know what brought this on. I guess towns change like people's faces and there probably are a lot more that I would think of if I could concentrate. Right now I'm trying to remember what stood on the present site of the Thompson Building. Maybe someone can help me out.

---

Similar to the view at left, only taken from up in the

Berkeley|.
|Photograph #06.218 courtesy of the [Research Room]|, Saranac Lake Free Library]]

Looking south down

[Street]| (left) from Berkeley Square; 
|the start of [[14]]| is at right, late 1940s
|Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History,
|Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library.
|The [York Public Library Digital Collections]]]

Hand-tinted postcard

See also: 1997 Streetscapes

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Footnotes

1. For more information on this photograph and caption, see Old Saranac Lake photographs