Rosslyn Redux

Tag: Postcard

  • Essex Railroad Station, circa 1907-8

    Essex Railroad Station, circa 1907-8

    I’m a fan of train travel, so I’m especially joy-filled now that Amtrak service between Manhattan and Montreal has been restored to service. No finer way to travel between New York City and the Adirondack Coast. Actually, let me amend that opinion. There’s plenty of pleasure arriving at the train station in Westport, our closest passenger stop. But can you imagine for a moment being able to board and disembark from Amtrak’s Adirondack just up the road? That’s right, restoring service to the long ago discontinued Essex Railroad Station would indeed be the finest way to locomote between NYC and SX!

    Before inspecting the photographs adorning the vintage postcards above and below, let’s familiarize ourselves with the above mentioned train know by Amtrak as the Adirondack.

    The Adirondack travels from New York City, through the lush wine country of the Hudson Valley, into Montreal. Heading north, you’re scheduled to depart New York’s Moynihan Train Hall in the morning and arrive in Montreal in the evening. Board the southbound train anywhere along the line and arrive in mid-town Manhattan in time to enjoy dinner and nightlife in New York City. (Source: Amtrak)

    While growing up in the Adirondacks — and more recently when Susan and I still volleyed back-and-forth between Manhattan and Westport then Essex) — the Adirondack was my go-to transportation by convenience and preference. Although the timing/schedule can be unpredictable, I’ve consistently opted for Amtrak to shuttle me between New York City and the Adirondack Coast for the better part of half a century. The brief blurb above does little justice to this spectacular journey skirting the Hudson River, Champlain Canal, and Lake Champlain.

    Essex Railroad Station, circa 1907-8​

    Sadly the route was suspended during the pandemic and only resumed service a little over a month ago. Welcome back, Adirondack!

    Amtrak, in conjunction with VIA Rail Canada (VIA Rail), New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) and other federal agencies, is resuming train service between New York City and Montreal via the Adirondack train today, Monday, April 3. This milestone marks the return of all Amtrak and VIA Rail cross border service between the United States and Canada for the first time since 2020 and aligns with the growing demand of train travel in both countries. (Source: Amtrak)

    After roughly three years’ absence, the restored service is long overdue and widely praised.

    “The cultural riches and natural beauty along the Adirondack train route amount to an experience that is unlike anything else in the world, and it highlights the importance of this service – making it easy and fun for travelers to be able to enjoy the unique treasures of the Empire State,” said New York State Department of Transportation Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez. (Source: Amtrak)

    At this point my love for this train route is evident, but I’ve neglected the present postcards (and my hope that possibly, just possibly, one day we’ll again enjoy an Essex Railroad Station!)

    Both of these sepia hued images of yesteryear document the former Essex Railroad Station. Not sure when or how the building was lost, but I’ll update if/when I find out.

    And if you’re the curious sort, as I am, I’ve included the backsides of the postcards. Turning your device sidewise reveals the amusing note on the first card.

  • Camp Cherokee for Boys in Willsboro, New York

    Camp Cherokee for Boys in Willsboro, New York

    Have you ever heard of Camp Cherokee for Boys in Willsboro? If so, I’d love to learn more. So far the details are pretty thin…

    Campfire, Camp Cherokee, Willsboro, NY (postcard, front)
    Campfire, Camp Cherokee for Boys, Willsboro, NY (postcard, front)

    As we roll into the final days of 2022, I’ve been attempting to streamline my end-of-year projects. And while the prospect of simply deleting lingering items on the perennial punch list is tempting, I’m instead shuffling priorities against the incoming year’s timeline. Yes, some oldies have sat long enough that they’ve moldered into irrelevance. Delete! Others, like today’s artifact (an antique postcard for an extinct summer camp), were probably somewhat superfluous since day one (this draftling — an especially brief stub awaiting development — originated on May 18, 2017!), but they continue to intrigue me. Not ready to delete yet. And so I bring to you an unabashedly abbreviated post showcasing a postcard from Camp Cherokee for Boys. Once upon a time this small summer camp existed on Willsboro Point, possibly not too far from Camp-of-the-Pines. Today neither lakeside retreat endures, but I’m hoping that sharing this vintage postcard just might gin up a little more information.

    Crowdsource Kindling

    With an eye to kindling this fledgling crowdsource initiative into existence, I’ll share what little I’ve been able to ascertain thus far.

    According the A Handbook of Summer Camps: An Annual Survey, Volume 3 which was published in 1926 by Porter Sargent, Camp Cherokee for Boys was located “at Willsborough Point” which may simply mean somewhere on Willsboro Point, but also might suggest that it was actually located a the tip of the peninsula?

    This introductory blurb vaguely locates three summer camps located within the vicinity.

    Willsborough is north of Essex. Camp Pok-O-Moonshine is on Long Pond near the foot of Peak Pok-O-Moonshine. Camp Pocahontas is on the shore of Lake Champlain, two miles east of the village. At Willsborough Point is Camp Cherokee. (p. 388, A Handbook of Summer Camps: An Annual Survey, Volume 3)

    Scrolling down a little further to the bottom of page 388 and the top of 389 we can read the following blurb about Camp Cherokee for Boys.

    Here’s a more legible swipe at the blurry image above.

    CAMP CHEROKEE, P. O. Willsborough, N. Y. Alt 110 ft. Harold K. Van Buren, 508 National Bldg., Cleveland, Ohio. For boys 8-14 Enr. 30 Staff 10 Est. Fee $300.
    Cherokee limits its enrollment to thirty boys. Mr. Van Buren is director of Educational Research, National School Club, Cleveland, Ohio, and with him is associated the Rev. Henry S. Whitehead. Ph.D., an Episcopal clergyman who is also a short story writer. Although the camp is conducted under Episcopal auspices, the enrollment is not limited to boys of that faith. A varied program of athletics, aquatics, woodcraft and dramatics is provided. Much attention is paid to trips to the well known Adirondack peaks, as well as a sight seeing trip to Montreal. Tutoring may also be provided without extra charge. (p. 388-9, A Handbook of Summer Camps: An Annual Survey, Volume 3)

    The affiliation between Van Buren and the Cleveland based educational research institution is curiosity inspiring. Hoping to learn a bit more about that, and, of course, about the Messieurs Van Buren and Whitehead. The latter appears in a 1926 publication from the Alumni Council of Columbia University, although the relevant clipping is too small and to be readily legible.

    If your eyes are as strained as mine by attempting to decipher that blurry blob of timeworn text, here’s a more legible transcription.

    Whitehead spends his summers at Lake Champlain. There he is associated with Mr. H. K. Van Buren who is director and proprietor of Camp Cherokee for Boys at Willsboro and together they have worked out constructive new theories on boys’ camps with satisfactory results. (p. 398, Columbia Alumni News, Alumni Council of Columbia University, 1926)

    There’s a bit of curiosity bait in there as well. For example, why would two contemporaneous publications refer to the same town but spell the name differently. One is tempted to assume that the older spelling, Willsborough, was at some point replaced by the newer spelling, Willsboro. Perhaps this was the period of transition? I wonder. And then there’s the rather clinical reference to the two men developing “constructive new theories on boys’ camps with satisfactory results.” I suppose that better-than-satisfactory results might have better assured the longevity of this no longer extant summer camp. Of course, administering an enterprise of this sort with fewer than three dozen clients seems like another ill conceived component. It would be challenging to mathematically ensure viability for this business model for long. But maybe this too is a question of age/time and transition. It’s clear that once upon a time small camps and schools managed to thrive with far smaller populations than they do today. At least for a while…

    In closing, I’m soliciting any/all knowledge of the former Willsboro Point summer camp known as Camp Cherokee for Boys. Thanks in advance!

    Campfire, Camp Cherokee, Willsboro, NY (postcard, back)
    Campfire, Camp Cherokee for Boys, Willsboro, NY (postcard, back)

  • Contemporary Vintage Boathouse

    Vintage boathouse postcard? Or not? (Source: Geo Davis)
    Vintage boathouse postcard? Or not? (Source: Geo Davis)

    Is this a vintage postcard or a recent photograph taken from the ferry dock in Essex, New York?

    If you guessed that the image is contemporary, you’re right. It was taken on 29 May 2017. Born a moody, slightly fuzzy phone shot but reborn a tango dancing, filter-upon-filter-upon-filtered vintage postcard wannabe. Or something…

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  • Sherwood Inn Remembered

    A copy of an vintage Sherwood Inn postcard which I recently received as a gift from a Crater Club neighbor.
    A vintage Sherwood Inn postcard received from a Crater Club neighbor.

     

    Without a doubt, one of the greatest rewards of living at Rosslyn is the parade of people I’ve met (and the stories they tell) simply because this house and boathouse have touched so many over the years.

    [pullquote]”Everyone’s so busy nowadays,” Lila said.[/pullquote]A couple days ago I answered the front door midday. A smiling, well dressed lady introduced yourself. Lila and I had met a couple of winters ago at the Essex Inn, and she reminded me that she had spent many enjoyable afternoons and evenings at the Sherwood Inn a half century or so ago.

    She presented me with a color copy of a Sherwood Inn postcard she had received from a friend long ago. The rear side of the postcard said, “My summer home for June – September 1953. Old looking, eh?” Lila explained that she had been meaning to bring this postcard to me ever since we first met.

    Lila’s Sherwood Inn Memories

    Lila told me stories about the glory days of the Sherwood Inn, a once popular place for a drink and lakeside lodging in the property where I now live. She named several of the friends with whom she’d wiled away pleasant afternoons in the tavern and on the porch, and several were names that were familiar to me.

    Lila also told me about playing tennis at the Crater Club where she still spends the warm part of the year. She lamented the fact that younger generations in her family (and all families perhaps?) seem to spend less and less time relaxing on Lake Champlain during summer vacation. “Everyone’s so busy nowadays,” she explained.

    When she shook my hand to greet me and then again when she left I was amazed with her firm grip.

    “Tennis,” Lila reminded me. “I played lots of tennis for many years.”

    I hope I’ll have another chance to catch up with Lila this fall, another chance to hear about slower times in Essex when friends stopped for drinks at the Sherwood Inn and played endless tennis and vacationed all summer long on Lake Champlain…

  • Rosslyn Boathouse, circa 1907

    Rosslyn Boathouse, circa 1907

    Rosslyn Boathouse, Circa 1907 (Source: vintage postcard with note)
    Rosslyn Boathouse, Circa 1907 (Source: vintage postcard with note)

    It’s time travel Tuesday! Gazing through the time-hazed patina of this vintage postcard I’m unable to resist the seductive pull of bygone days. Whoosh!

    I tumble backward through a sepia wormhole, settling into the first decade of the 20th century. It’s 1907 according to the postal stamp on the rear of this postcard.

    Back of Rosslyn Boathouse Postcard
    Back of Rosslyn Boathouse Postcard

    Eleven decades ago a man rowed a boat past Rosslyn’s boathouse, from north to south, through waves larger than ripples and smaller than white caps. It was a sunny day in mid-to-late summer, judging by the shoreline water level. A photographer, hooded beneath a dark cloth focusing hood, leans over behind his wooden tripod, adjusting pleated leather bellows, focus, framing. And just as the rower slumps slightly, pausing to catch his breath, the shutter clicks and the moment is captured.

    Perhaps this is the photographer who memorialized Rosslyn boathouse more than a century ago?

    Albumen print of a photographer with Conley Folding Camera circa 1900. (Source: Antique and Classic Cameras)
    Albumen print of a photographer with Conley Folding Camera circa 1900. (Source: Antique and Classic Cameras)

    Or this well decorated fellow?

    1907 Rosslyn Boathouse Photographer? (Source: Antique and Classic Cameras)
    1907 Rosslyn boathouse photographer? (Source: Antique and Classic Cameras)

    There’s so much to admire in this photograph-turned-postcard. Rosslyn boathouse stands plumb, level, and proud. Probably almost two decades had elapsed since her construction, but she looks like an unrumpled debutante. In fact, aside from the pier, coal bin, and gangway, Rosslyn boathouse looks almost identical today. Remarkable for a structure perched in the flood zone, ice flow zone, etc.

    I’m also fond of the sailboat drifting just south of Rosslyn boathouse. Raised a sailor, one my greatest joys in recent years has been owning and sailing a 31′ sloop named Errant that spends the summer moored just slightly north of its forebear recorded in this photo.

    Although the pier and the massive coal bin in front of the boathouse are no longer there, they offer a nod to Samuel Keyser‘s stately ship, the Kestrel, for many summers associated with Rosslyn boathouse.

    Kestrel at Rosslyn Boathouse in Essex, NY
    Kestrel at Rosslyn boathouse in Essex, NY

    Other intriguing details in this 1907 photo postcard of Rosslyn boathouse include the large white sign mounted on the shore north of the boathouse (what important message adorned this billboard?); the presence of a bathhouse upslope and north of the boathouse (today known as the Green Frog and located on Whallons Bay); and the slightly smudged marginalia referring to a small white skiff pulled ashore slightly south of the boathouse (what is the back story?).

    This faded photograph kindles nostalgia and wonder, revealing a glimpse into the history of Rosslyn boathouse while dangling further mysteries to compell me deeper into the narrative of our home. Kindred sleuths are welcome!

  • The Ross Mansion, circa 1910

    The Ross Mansion, Essex, New York, circa 1910
    The Ross Mansion, Essex, New York, circa 1910

    I present to you a rather well captured (and equally well preserved) photograph of The Ross Mansion (aka Hickory Hill) circa 1910. It’s always a joy to come across another Essex photo postcard, especially when there’s a direct connection to Rosslyn. In this case, the link is that the Ross Mansion in the photograph above was originally built for, and owned by, William Daniel Ross’s brother, Henry Howard Ross.

    This relationship was clarified for me six years ago by Tilly Close, Henry Howard Ross’s great granddaughter.

    H.H. Ross [Henry Howard Ross] who built Hickory Hill was the son of Daniel Ross (who was married to Gilliland’s daughter Elizabeth). Henry’s brother, William D. Ross… built your home. — Tilly Close (Source: Hickory Hill and Homeport » Rosslyn Redux)

    I touched on this relationship here as well:

    I recently happened on this antique postcard of the Ross Mansion (aka Hickory Hill) which was built by the brother of W.D. Ross, Rosslyn’s original owner in the early 1820s. Hickory Hill still presides handsomely at the intersection of Elm Street and Church Street. (Source: Hickory Hill and Rosslyn » Rosslyn Redux)

    In the case above, “recently” was sometime around May 19, 2011 when I published the post, “Hickory Hill and Rosslyn“.

    And lest I conclude without giving you a glimpse of the pristine back side of the postcard above, here’s the clean but unfortunately information-free reverse of The Ross Mansion postcard at the top of this post.

    Rear side of "The Ross Mansion" postcard
    Rear side of “The Ross Mansion” postcard

    And the description, notable primarily for the approximate publication date.

    • CAPTION:   THE ROSS MANSION, Essex, New York.
    • DATE:   Not dated but circa 1910.
    • SIZE:   3 1/2  x  5  3/8″.  Both sides are shown enlarged in the scans.
    • CONDITION:  This real photo postcard is in good condition with wear at the corners. The reverse is age toned, as expected. (Source: ebay.com)

    If you’ve come across interesting photographs of The Ross Mansion (likely titled Hickory Hill), Rosslyn (aka The Sherwood Inn, Hyde Gate, W.D. Ross Mansion, etc.), or any other vintage/antique Essex, New York artifacts, please let me know. I’d love to see what you’ve found. Thanks.

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  • Butternut Flats on the Boquet River

    Butternut Flats on the Boquet River (Source: vintage postcard)
    Butternut Flats on the Boquet River (Source: vintage postcard)

    This vintage photograph of Butternut Flats was featured on a photograph that I discovered on eBay. Serene. Placid. Mysterious. Who is that boy? What are those wonderful rowboats? Dories? Skiffs? And — most intriguing by far — where along the meandering lengths of the Boquet River is this inviting bend referred to as “Butternut Flats”?

    Here’s all that we learn from the eBay auction description.

    Vintage Photograph: Butternut Flats; Boquet River (Essex County New York) Mounted photograph 7 x 9″ show wear and age foxing/discoloration, affected with moisture but not easy to see in the scanned images shown here, but still a nice old photograph; notice young child next two boat in background. Backside with name “Rosamond Lobdell”. (eBay)

    Having grown up along the Boquet River (see Homeport in Wadhams and Hickory Hill and Homeport) I’m easily intrigued. And slightly vexed that I can’t identify this location! Perhaps you can offer some assistance? All leads welcome.