A Day at Eagle Island on Upper Saranac Lake
Sponsor-Level Members Only
Now owned by the Friends of Eagle Island, this Great Camp will be opened exclusively for AARCH supporters for one day this summer.
The multi-building complex is one of the finest examples of “Great Camp” architecture in the world. Its historic significance has been recognized by its listing on the National Register of Historic Places and designation as a National Historic Landmark. The camp was designed in 1899 by William L. Coulter, the first professionally trained resident architect in the Adirondacks, for New York Governor and US Vice President Levi P. Morton. Drawing inspiration from William West Durant’s decentralized Adirondack camp complex designs, Coulter created the camp’s assembly of single-purpose rustic buildings to correspond and relate to the surrounding landscape, all connected by sheltered walkways and expansive verandahs.
The property was given to the Girl Scouts, who operated a summer camp here from 1937 until it closed in 2008. The site was the focus of a major effort to save it by the nonprofit Friends of Eagle Island, who purchased the twenty-acre island in late 2015 with a plan to return it to a place for outdoor education and recreation for youth and families.
We’ll travel by boat for a tour by AARCH board member Howie Kirschenbaum and Mary Hotaling, an expert on William Coulter’s architecture and life. After the tour, we will have the afternoon to canoe, kayak, swim, explore, and relax in this beautiful setting. Light refreshments will be provided.
The tour begins at 10 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m.
FEE: $75 for AARCH sponsor-level members.