Born: December 2, 1879
Died: January 1959 in Pasco, Florida
Married: Lillian N. Metcalf
Children: Earl Alvord
Burt Claude Alvord operated the boathouse and cottages of the Algonquin Hotel for many years after the hotel closed. He apparently moved to Saranac Lake in 1909 seeking a cure for his wife's tuberculosis.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, December 30, 1986 (See Algonquin Hotel for the full article.)
Remembering the heyday of the Algonquin Hotel
...Many blamed the coming of the automobile for the decline in popularity of the resorts because families no longer cared to stay in one place for the season. In any event, Harding sold the Hotel in 1920 to William N. Hanes, of Winston-Salem "underwear" fame, who owned a summer camp on the lake adjoining the hotel grounds. The hotel proper soon became a derelict but the boathouse and cottages were leased by Burt Alvord who, together with his son, Earl, ran these amenities for many years. The boathouse was especially popular not only for boat rentals but as a take-off dock for the many owners of state campsites which bordered three quarters of the lake's circumference. After his father's death, Earl continued to run the boat business. He lived in the upstairs over the boathouse in the summer and in one of the cottages during the winter. He was extremely popular with local residents and was fondly known as the "Earl of Algonquin." He was also the area's champion checker player and many a game was played on the upper deck of the old boathouse on a summer's day...
Wyoming Reporter, January 27, 1909
Mrs. and Mrs. Burt Alvord left Monday morning for Saranac Lake for the benefit of Mrs. Alvord's health.
Lake Placid News, May 20, 1949
Here and There
By E.S. Dyer
Burt Alvord is another recent "blower-in" from the South. He told someone the other day that he was going to put a blanket over his car radiator. He was being kidded about being afraid of a "freeze-up" and replied, "you never can tell, the way these mornings have been" – and the next morning there was a frost!
