Werle Town House 
Looking down Church Street toward Main Street, c. 1900. From left: Dr. Trudeau's house, 104 Main Street, 108 Main Street, 2 Church Street when it was 110 Main Street (before the tower was removed and the building moved), St. Luke's Church. Courtesy of Trudeau Institute. 
The Werle Town House before it was remodeled; the connector to the Werle Cottage has just been removed (c. 1990s). This is the same side of the building shown in the photograph at right.
Old Address: 2 Church Street, originally 110 Main Street, before it was moved down the hill on the new Church Street Extension.
Other names: Together with the Werle Cottage, which it originally stood beside, they were referred to as the Werle Cottages. Also the Conklin Cottage (1912) DIS
Year built: c. 1880
One of two cure cottages operated together as the Werle Cottages; for more on the operation of the two, see the article Werle Cottages by Phil Gallos.
The land on which the cottages stood belonged to farmer George Washer and his wife Emily Washer, as early as 1875. In 1890, the cottage was built by Emma B. Hague, wife of Pelham Hague of Pittsfield, Massachussetts.
In September, 1900, the house was sold to Jane Conklin, who became an early, successful sanatorium proprietor.
In August, 1923, the property was acquired by two women who had become friends while curing at the Meagher Cottage, Aletta Werle, known as "Miss Werle" and Jane Schneiderwind, known as "Miss Jane". Two years later, they leased 110 Main Street, buying it outright in May, 1929. Although Jane Schneidwind was the business manager of the operation, the two cottages were advertised as "The Werle Cottages."
Aletta Werle handled the kitchen, and the food was considered to be excellent, and the cottages well-run. Originally, both cottages were boarding cottages, but after the move, 110 Main became a nursing cottage, and 2 Church became an annex, for ambulatory patients who would walk to take their meals at the other cottage.
In 1931, the house was moved partway down the hill and turned 90 degrees to allow for the extension of Church Street directly through the location where the house had stood. The house has been extensively modified from its original design, some of the work almost certainly coinciding with the move.
In 1943, the friends lost both buildings in foreclosure, for reasons unknown. Both have subsequently been converted to apartments.
Sources:
- Philip L. Gallos, Cure Cottages of Saranac Lake, Historic Saranac Lake, 1985, pp. 89-93. ISBN 0-9615159-0-2
- National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
Comments
2013-04-15 15:59:47 There is an error above "In September, 1990, the house was sold to Jane Conklin, who became an early, successful sanatorium proprietor." Mrs. Conklin is my great-grandmother and she died around 1935. It is possible that the correct date is 1890, but I don't know that for certain. If anyone in town has information on Mrs Jane Hoag Conklin or her husband, John Conklin, I am trying to determine their "roots." —janemagrady
- Thank you! It should be (and now is) 1900. I would love to have more information on Jane Conklin— if you come up with more, please email me at [email protected]. I will see what I can come up with— check back here periodically. If we find more we'll put it here or on a linked page. — Marc Wanner
- Well, we've got her obit— see Jane Conklin. Nothing on John J., other than that he died shortly after they arrived in Saranac Lake.
