Rising House: Dawn of Adirondack Adventure

Town of Chester Library, Municipal Center, Chestertown, NY

Stop by the Town of Chester Library for a free program with Stevie Latham & Donna Lagoy! They will present rare photographs and discuss the history of Rising House, once a well known and popular Adirondack hotel. Though closed for decades Rising House still stands across from the Bull House on Chestertown’s Main Street. 

In the early 1800s, two cabins were built in a clearing in the Adirondack woods. One a humble tavern, was rebuilt and revamped into the splendid three-story Rising House hotel by the end of the century. “Charming”, “well-kept”, and “picturesque”, Chestertown grew up around Rising House and served as a gateway to exciting Adirondack recreation and adventure.

Lagoy and Latham will share researched photographs and stories of the many iterations of the Rising House, from Victorian opulence to a “large and airy” hotel with an art deco bar and ”jitterbug” dance room, and finally back to a rustic tavern with chickens and a bull rooming upstairs. A dusty time capsule sealed in an arrested state of decay. Rising House now looms high over Chestertown, waiting for its next chapter.

Presented by the Town of Chester Library and the Town of Chester Historical Society. Stevie Latham is an artist and photographer; her show of paintings, photographs and mural of the hotel, “Outside Looking In” were exhibited at the Ruplin Gallery at the Town of Chester Library in December 2025. Donna Lagoy is the Town of Chester Historian