NOTABLE PEOPLE IN BRIGHTON
Since its founding in 1858 many notable people have lived in or visited the Town of Brighton. Some of these individuals are listed below. This list is not complete but gives a representative sample of those who have been here.
Compiled by Pat and Tom Willis
Theodore Roosevelt, 1883 
P.T. Barnum 
Whitelaw Reid 
Marjorie Merriweather Post GOVERNMENT SERVICE
| Year | Name, Position | Location |
| 1873 | Teddy Roosevelt (future US President) | Guest at Paul Smith's Hotel |
| 1884 | Grover Cleveland (future US President) | Guest at Paul Smith’s Hotel |
| 1900s | W. Averell Harriman (future NYS Governor) | Cottage at Paul Smith’s Hotel |
| 1914 | Count Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff (German Ambassador to US) | Guest at White Pine Camp |
| 1926 | Calvin Coolidge (US President) | Summer White House, White Pine Camp |
| 1926 | Herbert Hoover (future US President) | Visited Coolidge at White Pine Camp |
| 1926 | Frank Kellogg (US Secretary of State) | Visited Coolidge at White Pine Camp |
| 1926 | Al Smith (NYS Governor) | Visited Coolidge at White Pine Camp |
| 1928 | E. Davies" (US Ambassador to Russia) | Co-owner of Topridge |
| 1950s | Nehru" (Indian Ambassador to US) | Guest at Topridge |
| 1950s | General McAuliff" (WWII hero) | Guest at Topridge |
| 1950s | Admiral Ray Hunter (WWII hero) | Guest at Topridge |
| 1960s | Tom C. Clark (US Supreme Court Justice) | Guest at Topridge |
| 2000 | George Bush (I) (former US President) | Guest at Topridge |
ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
| Year | Name, Position | Location |
| 1858 | Roswell Shurtleff (artist) | Spent summer at Keeses Mills |
| 1858 | Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait (artist) | Guest at Wardner’s Rainbow Inn |
| 1873 | Seneca Ray Stoddard (Adirondack photographer) | Guest, Paul Smith’s Hotel & Rainbow Inn |
| 1880s | P. T. Barnum (showman extraordinary) | Guest at Paul Smith’s Hotel |
| 1908 | Olive Moore (light opera star) | Co-owner of White Pine Camp |
| 1910 | Enrico Caruso (opera star) | Guest at White Pine Camp |
| 1916 | John Burroughs (nature writer) | Camping trip |
| 1918 | Grantland Rice (sports writer) | Guest at McColloms Hotel |
| 1920s | Irving Berlin (song writer) | Guest at Paul Smith’s Hotel |
| 1926 | Paul Whiteman (band leader) | Visited Coolidge at White Pine Camp |
| 1926 | William Morris (theatrical agent) | Visited Coolidge at White Pine Camp |
| 1926 | Irving Bacheller (writer) | Visited Coolidge at White Pine Camp |
| 1936 | Gerald Murphy (artist) | Owned camp on Lower St. Regis Lake |
| 1960s | Dina Merrill (movie actress) | Guest at Topridge |
| 1960s | Cliff Robertson (movie actor) | Guest at Topridge |
| 1960s | Hedda Hopper (gossip columnist) | Guest at Topridge |
| 1960s | Betty Beale (society columnist) | Guest at Topridge |
| 1970s | Carpenter" (journalist & White House press sec.) | Guest at Topridge |
BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS
| Year | Name, Position | Location |
| 1859-1912 | Paul and Lydia Smith (hospitality industry) | Owners of Paul Smith’s Hotel |
| 1873 | Edward L. Trudeau (doctor, medical research) | Guest at Paul Smith’s Hotel |
| 1870’s | Cornelius Vanderbilt (president NY Central RR) | Guest at Paul Smith’s Hotel |
| 1880s | Whitelaw Reid (publisher, New York Herald Tribune) | Owner, Camp Wild Air, Upper St. Regis Lake |
| 1890s | E. H. Harriman (president, Union Pacific RR) | Guest at Paul Smith’s Hotel |
| 1894 | William Rockefeller (VP Standard Oil) | Guest at Paul Smith’s Hotel |
| 1908 | Archibald White (pres. Columbia Gas & Electric) | Owner of White Pine Camp |
| 1908 | William Massarene (architect) | Designer of White Pine Camp |
| 1911 | Addison Mizner (architect) | Designer of White Pine Camp |
| 1916 | Thomas Edison (inventor) | Camping trip |
| 1916 | Harvey Firestone (president Firestone Tire & Rubber Co.) | Camping trip |
| 1920 | Irwin Kirkwood (publisher Kansas City Star) | Owner of White Pine Camp |
| 1923-1972 | Marjorie Merriweather Post (Chairmen, General Foods) | Owner of Topridge |
| 1923 | E.F. Hutton (financier, stockbroker) | Co-owner of Topridge |
| 1926 | Julius Rosenwald (president Sears, Roebuck Co.) | Owner of White Pine Camp |
| 1926 | Edsel Ford (president Ford Motor Co.) | Visited Coolidge at White Pine Camp |
| 1920s | Jack "Legs" Diamond (prohibition era gangster) | Reputed hideaway at Rainbow Lake |
| 1936 | Gerald Murphy (president Mark Cross Co.) | Owned camp on Lower St. Regis Lake |
| 1990s | Harlan Crow (president, Trammel Crow Real Estate Developers | Owner, Camp Topridge |
Brighton Notables" by Pat and Tom Willis, photo of display taken 2/2009. Click on the image to enlarge the display. 
Seneca Ray Stoddard 
Paul and Lydia Smith
Sources: Chernow, Ron. Titan, 1998. Collins, Geraldine. The Brighton Story, 1977. Hampton, Krista. White Pine Camp Docent Handbook, 1995. Rubin, Nancy. American Empress, 1995. Vail, Amanda. Everybody was so young, 1998. Woods, James R. Paul Smith’s College, 1980
Brighton History Days have been held one weekend each summer since 1994, sponsored by the Brighton Architectural Heritage Committee.
