Lake Meacham Hotel, undated
Courtesy of the Adirondack ExperienceAddress:
Other names:
Year built: 1898, burned, rebuilt 1899
Other information: The Meacham Lake Hotel was located at the north end of Meacham Lake from the late 1890s until 1921, when it burned.
Lake Meacham Hotel, c. 1900, from a brochure
Courtesy of the Adirondack Experience
Malone Palladium, March 24, 1898
1893 Forest Commission Report p. 352At a meeting of the directors of the Meacham Lake Hotel Co.,held last week, the following officers were elected: President and general manager, M. E. McCLARY; vice-president, H. A. MILLER; secretary, J. H. KING; treasurer and assistant manager, a Mr. HOWARD. Mr. McCLARY will devote all necessary time to the hotel's general management and he is fortunate in having engaged so capital a young man for local manager as Mr. HOWARD. Mrs. J. H. Putnam, daughter of the late M. A. Dustin, of Dickinson who had a thorough understanding of hotel wants, has been engaged as houskeeper. The hotel opens May 1st, and the new company starts in with every indication of success.
Malone Gazette, February 3, 1899
At a meeting of the Meacham Lake Hotel Company held Friday evening the following officers were re-elected: M. E. McClary president and manager; H. A. Miller, vice-president; J. H. King, secretary; S. M. Howard, treasurer. It is expected that the fine new hotel, which is being built to replace the one destroyed by fire last fall, will be ready for occupancy by May 1st, under the same management as last year.
Adirondack News, October 20, 1900
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.
Vice-president H. A. Miller, of the Meacham Lake Hotel Co., says that there is no foundation to the rumor that the Meacham Lake property is likely to be sold to the Rockefellers. No offer has been made for the property for a long time and no request has been made for one, as the company is not anxious to sell.
Adirondack News, September 27, 1902
IRON ORE AT MEACHAM LAKE.
We take the following from the Malone "Palladium:" Since our announcement last week regarding the Lake Meacham hotel property, Iron ore has been discovered on the place, and Mr. Kellas and his partners are enthusiastic as to the possibilities in store. Iron in great abundance has been found near the dam on St. Regis river about two miles from the hotel. Some of the ore was been projecting out of the ground, and as surveyors have often had trouble with their instruments, it seems a wonder that the ore has not been discovered until this late day. The company paid $96,000 for the hotel property, and Mr. Kellas is now confident that the ore mine is worth much more than the price paid for the entire property.
Several blasts have been put in during the past week, over an area covering three acres and about to 30 tons of ore have been dislodged. We have seen samples of it and the ore is solid iron, no rock or other matter. An expert who has looked the field over says that the quality is remarkably good, and the quantity must be unlimited as all the ore thus far unearthed was found near the surface none of it more than eight feet down. Men are now at work, taking out the ore, and it is expected that 200 or 300 tons will be mined this fall.
This new discovery may affect the plan of putting in a trolley line, as it may be determined that a steam road would be more desirable. Weidmann Bros, already have a railroad running in from near Madawaska, on the N. Y. & O. railroad, and if it were extended about five miles it would reach the ore bed. One thing is certain; an outlet of some kind, in one direction or the other, will be constructed in the near future. Mr. Kellas says that the ore business will not affect the plans to enlarge the hotel, for the company proposes to conduct a hotel on a large scale.
The towns of Duane and Malone will reap many benefits from so large a hotel and from the ore business. If the ore business proves a success, it will give employment to hundreds of men.
Malone Farmer, April 5, 1905
S. M. Howard, manager of the Meacham Lake hotel, has engaged Miss Belle Miller, of Chicopee Falls, as telegraph operator and bookkeeper for the coming season. Miss Miller has been with the J. Stevens Arms & Tool Co., of Chicopee Falls, for four years and therefore comes with highest recommendations. Preparations are being made to have the hotel open and ready for guests May 1st.
Malone Farmer, January 23, 1907
George W. Cushman, of Hopkinton, N. Y., who formerly conducted successfully the Cushman House in this village for many years and [was] at one time proprietor of the Lake Placid House, has [been] engaged as manager of the Meacham Lake Hotel for the ensuing year and has already entered his new duties, being now at Lake Meacham putting in his stock of ice, wood and barn supplies for the coming season. He [is] expected to remain there about two weeks at the present time, and in the spring Mr. and Mrs. Cushman will assume charge, retaining their residence Hopkinton, where they have a pleasant home and which is almost as near to Lake Meacham as Malone. Both Mr. and Mrs. Cushman have had long experience in hotel work and will be popular and efficient managers. Mr. S, M. Howard, who retires, has proved a capable and popular landlord. It is probable that Mrs. Plumb will remain in the position she held at Meacham for a number of years.
Malone Farmer, October 7, 1914.
The Meacham Lake Hotel is to be renovated and remodeled before another season and made one of the most attractive hotels in the Adirondacks. The improvements will include the installation of 21 baths.
Malone Palladium, May 11, 1921
[The beginning of this article on the fire that consumed the hotel is illegible.]
…the wind happened to have been in the northeast, otherwise nothing could have saved them from the flying firebrands, as there was no fire protection except water brought in buckets from the lake and not many about to handle them. The northeast wind blew the fire out toward the lake, away from the other structures, and those present, by carrying water, were able to save the Denny cottage nearest the main building, from which none of the contents were saved except a quantity of bedding which had been stored for the winter and had not been placed in the rooms.
The fire caught in the roof from the burning out of the kitchen chimney. Salt was thrown on the fire in the stove, which smothered the burning soot, and Mr. Stevens, the new manager, looked the roof all over and the attic inside but there was no trouble to be seen. A little later, however, the blaze was discovered, and so much of the roof was involved that without fire-fighting apparatus the building was doomed. Evidently sparks started a blaze in a corner next to a dormer window where it could not be seen. Help came from McCollom's and the Hogle, Fisher and Skinner camps in response to telephone calls, and the men gave much assistance in saving the other buildings.
The loss is estimated at more than $75,000 at the present cost of building, on which there was but $37,200, insurance. L. M. Kellas, of the firm of Kellas & Kellas, who represent the Meacham Lake Hotel Co. was out of town on the day of the fire but visited the scene on Friday and told Mr. Stevens to keep open the cottages and look after them until the company has determined upon its future plans. It has since been decided to keep the cottages open to care for fishermen and vacationists this summer. Only eight guests were registered at the time of the fire and all were out fishing when the fire broke out.
The structure destroyed was a handsome one, inside and out, and was built in the winter of 1898-99 under the supervision of S. M. Howard, of Malone who was manager of the property at that time. Work was begun on it in December and it was ready for opening in May. It contained about 30 sleeping rooms and had recently been, much improved by the installation of modern plumbing and other conveniences. The building was a frame structure which took the place of a series of buildings of peeled and varnished logs and frame construction, built by the late A. R. Fuller, which had previously burned.
