Schroeter's Field

In this undated photo, a woman in Victorian dress is trap shooting. The boy on the right appears to be tossing the targets while others watch safely from the rear. The location is described as Ampersand Avenue Ball Field, apparently the field known as Schroeter's today. Barbara Parnass made this reprint in 1981 from a glass-plate negative in a box labeled "Distin." William L. Distin was a professional photographer. He and George W. Baldwin, an earlier photographer here, became partners. After a few years, Baldwin left to work in Lake Placid, and Distin absorbed his business and acquired at least some of his glass-plate negatives. Some of the photos in Distin collection were likely Baldwin's work; this may be one of them. Adirondack Daily Enterprise, October 13, 2012.

In this photograph, the same marksman fires while lying on her back! Adirondack Daily Enterprise, March 23, 2013.

Schroeter's Field is a five-acre field on the south side of Ampersand Avenue near Forest Home Road, next to the former site of Schroeter's Restaurant. The field is presently owned by Saranac Lake High School and is used for athletic practice and games. In the 1940s and 50s it was used for circuses and carnivals.

For many years this was the site of little league baseball in Saranac Lake, known locally as the Matty League in honor of baseball Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson. Many youths who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s have fond memories of Schroeter's Field with its dugouts and scoreboard.