Begun in 1882, Camp Wild Air was the first permanent camp on Upper Saint Regis Lake, in the town of Brighton, Franklin County in New York's Adirondacks.[2] The camp was built by New York Herald Tribune publisher Whitelaw Reid on a 29-acre (12 ha) peninsula accessible only by water. It presently consists of 12 buildings, 10 of which were built before 1931.
Camp Wild Air | |
 The "Bishops Palace" | |
   | |
| Location | Upper Saint Regis Lake, New York 44°24′31″N 74°16′30″W / 44.40861°N 74.27500°W |
|---|---|
| Built | 1882 |
| Architect | William Rutherford Mead |
| MPS | Great Camps of the Adirondacks TR |
| NRHP reference No. | 86002930[1] |
| Added to NRHP | November 7, 1986 |
The camp was originally designed by Reid's niece, Ella Spencer Reid, who also named the camp. It was begun on land that was leased; Mildred Phelps Stokes Hooker (1881–1970), daughter of Anson Phelps Stokes, in her Camp Chronicles, sniffs that "she seems to have built before she owned."[3] The land was purchased by the Reids in 1890.[2] The main lodge of unpeeled cedar logs, called the Living Room, was designed by McKim, Mead and White, and is the only known example of a rustic design from that firm. It was added in 1917 after a fire damaged earlier structures; it features sitting and billiard rooms overlooking the lake.[2] The "Bishop's Palace", a small log octagon set at the water's edge with a massive fireplace and chimney, was named for its occasional use by Episcopalian clerics; there are two other, similar buildings at the camp, all designed by William Rutherford Mead. There is also a guest cottage with eight bedrooms, two boathouses and a recreation hall. The main buildings are connected by stone walkways. Many of the furnishings are original.
The camp is still owned by descendants of the original owners.[2] It was included in a multiple property submission for listing on the National Register of Historic Places and was listed in 1986.[4]
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The "Living Room" -
Billiard Room -
The Boathouse
References
edit- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
- ^ a b c d National Register of Historic Places Registration Nomination Form: Camp Wild Air from NY OPRHP
- ^ Hooker, p. 12
- ^ Gobrecht, Larry E. (July 1986). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Great Camps of the Adirondacks" (pdf). National Park Service.
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Sources
edit- Gilborn, Craig. Adirondack Camps: Homes Away from Home, 1850-1950. Blue Mountain Lake, NY: Adirondack Museum; Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2000.
- Kaiser, Harvey. Great Camps of the Adirondacks. Boston: David R. Godine, 1982.
- Hooker, Mildred Phelps Stokes, Camp Chronicles, Blue Mountain Lake, NY: Adirondack Museum, 1964. ISBN 0-910020-16-7.