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47-433: Wiawaka is a holiday house for women. It has lake front property on Lake George , New York . It is one of the few remaining fully operational vacation/retreat centers which arose out of the women's rights movement in the early part of the twentieth century. Founded in 1903 by Mary Wiltsie Fuller , Wiawaka provided "affordable vacations" for mainly immigrant female textile workers from Troy and Cohoes , New York, who lacked

94-408: A Canadian company. Police said they had never seen a disaster of this magnitude on the lake. The captain survived and cooperated with police. The National Transportation Safety Board investigation of the incident revealed that, although the boat was rated to carry 50 people when it was manufactured in 1966, subsequent alterations to the boat's design had greatly reduced its stability. At the time of

141-659: A Nobel Prize ( Saul Bellow , who won the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction and Nobel Prize in Literature in 1976), at least one Man Booker Prize ( Alan Hollinghurst , 2004) and countless other honors. Yaddo is included in the Union Avenue Historic District . The estate was purchased in 1881 by the financier Spencer Trask and his wife, the writer Katrina Trask . The first mansion on the property burned down in 1891 , and

188-475: A building an artists' colony before receiving artists at Yaddo . The famous artist Georgia O'Keeffe later stayed in this lodge. Katrina gradually handed over her land to her friend Mary Wiltsie Fuller who had a vision of providing retreats from the polluted city to women factory workers from Troy (known then as The Collar City). Using the original structures built by Mr. Crosby, Mary Fuller opened her retreat center in 1903 and named it Wiawaka Holiday House. Wiawaka

235-433: A diverse range of workshops like those held since its founding. These components combined with its historic foundation lay the cornerstones for its mission statement which follows: "Wiawaka is a non-sectarian retreat and educational center dedicated to enriching the lives of women, and helping disadvantaged women, including but not limited to women with disabilities, economically disadvantaged women, victims of domestic abuse,

282-511: A house for himself and his family soon after in 1876 (it was later named Fuller House). The Second Empire style residence is very little altered in its appearance today. In 1890s, Crosbyside was sold to a new owner and declined in the shadow of resorts like the bigger and more luxurious Fort William Henry Hotel. In 1902, Katrina Trask and her husband Spencer Trask acquired the property. Spencer and Katrina Trask built Wakonda Lodge, formerly called "Amitola", in 1905 as their first experiment in

329-468: A tourism destination, resort center, and summer colony . Popular activities in the Lake George area include water sports, camping, amusement parks, hiking, paddling, and factory outlet shopping. One of the nation's oldest gatherings of hot air balloons occurs every September in nearby Queensbury . Lake George is responsible for generating about $ 2 billion annually to the local region. Millionaires' Row

376-405: A very diverse range of workshops are offered, all of which have been opened up to the public (the calendar is easily accessible on their website). Some recent workshop topics have included creative writing, poetry readings with Yaddo poet Joan Murray , holistic healing, yoga, quilting, historical lectures, jewelry making, and tours of the historic property. Not only have workshops been opened up to

423-689: A working women's retreat center as well, known as Wiawaka Holiday House , at the request of Mary Wiltsie Fuller. At least in its early years, Yaddo was funded by profits from the Bowling Green Offices Building in Manhattan, in which Spencer Trask was extensively involved. In 1949 during the McCarthy Era , a news story accurately accused writer Agnes Smedley of spying for the Soviet Union . Smedley had traveled with Mao Zedong to report on

470-504: A younger brother of the later King George III . In September, the French responded by beginning construction of Fort Carillon, later called Fort Ticonderoga , on a point where La Chute enters Lake Champlain. These fortifications controlled the easy water route between Canada and colonial New York . A French army, and their native allies under general Louis-Joseph de Montcalm laid siege to Fort William Henry in 1757 and burned it down after

517-781: Is an artists' community located on a 400-acre (160 ha) estate in Saratoga Springs, New York . Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment." On March 11, 2013 it was designated a National Historic Landmark . It offers residencies to artists working in choreography, film, literature, musical composition, painting, performance art, photography, printmaking, sculpture, and video. Collectively, artists who have worked at Yaddo have won 82 Pulitzer Prizes , 34 MacArthur Fellowships , 70 National Book Awards , 24 National Book Critics Circle Awards , 108 Rome Prizes , 49 Whiting Writers' Awards ,

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564-471: Is bordered on the west by the Tongue Mountain Range and the east by Black Mountain. In all, Lake George is home to over 170 islands, 148 of them state-owned. They range from the car-sized Skipper's Jib to the larger Vicar's and Long Islands. Camping permits are available for most islands. The lake's deepest point is 196 feet (60 m), between Dome Island and Buck Mountain in the southern quarter of

611-598: Is derived from the Abenaki word meaning "The Great Spirit of Woman". Mary proved the existence of the collective "Great Spirit" as she formed a board of women to run and look out for the interests of Wiawaka. Eventually, Wiawaka added workshops covering different skills to add an additional dimension to the guests' vacations. Mary Fuller died in the 1940s, but her vision of providing vacations to hard working women continues today, although women of all socio-economic backgrounds are welcome. Wiawaka also takes pride in continuing to offer

658-592: Is listed by the National Park Service as a "Place Where Women Made History". Its place on the National Register is significant as the National Park Service holds high standards regarding the historic value of sites to which it grants this status. Its Victorian cottages, Adirondack lodge, and House of Trix (built directly over the water) are points of historic architectural interest and are listed on

705-726: Is only to say that it has housed and nourished most of the finest talents in the arts of the past forty-odd years—the immensely fruitful years of Elizabeth Ames's directorship." In May 2005, vandals, using paintball guns, damaged two of the Four Seasons statues, the Poet's Bench, a fountain, and pathways with blue paint. Repairs cost $ 1,400. In 2018, Yaddo elected photographer Peter Kayafas and novelist Janice Y.K. Lee as co-chairs of its board of directors. Yaddo has received large contributions from Spencer Trask & Company and Kevin Kimberlin ,

752-479: Is referred to as the old "garrison ground". This suggests that military activity took place on the site which also is home to sunken bateaux , but no archeological survey has been done at Wiawaka to answer these questions. The first private owner of the lake front property ran the United States Hotel on the site until F. G. Crosby bought the land and building in 1848. Financial difficulties caused him to lease

799-750: Is the nickname of a stretch of Bolton Road (now Lake Shore Drive) on the west side of the lake where millionaires built mansions or resided during the summer months. Such notables as Spencer Trask , Katrina Trask , Edward M. Shepard , George Foster Peabody , Harold Pitcairn , Russell Cornell Leffingwell , Georgia O'Keeffe , Alfred Stieglitz , Marcella Sembrich , Charles Evans Hughes , Harry Kendall Thaw , Adolph Ochs , Louise Homer and Sidney Homer built or resided in palatial summer homes along Millionaires' Row. Although sometimes called "cottages" by their owners, these grand houses typically had dozens of bedrooms and more than 20,000 square feet (1,900 m ) of floor space. Millionaire's Row differed markedly from

846-530: Is within the lands of Ticonderoga, New York , and near the site of Fort Ticonderoga . Ultimately the waters flowing via the 106-mile-long (171 km) Richelieu River drain into the St. Lawrence River downstream and northeast of Montreal, and then into the North Atlantic Ocean Nova Scotia. Lake George is rated Class AA-Special by New York State and is considered drinking water. Despite being one of

893-592: The French Canadian Jesuit missionary Isaac Jogues , the first European to view the lake, named it Lac du Saint-Sacrement (Lake of the Holy Sacrament), and its exit stream, La Chute ("The Fall"). The 1696 proposed war plan of John Nelson referred to the subject as "Lake Mohawk". On August 28, 1755, William Johnson led British colonial forces to occupy the area in the French and Indian War . He renamed

940-476: The British surrender. During the British retreat to Fort Edward they were ambushed and massacred by natives allied to the French, in what would become known as The Massacre at Fort William Henry . On March 13, 1758, an attempted attack on that fort by irregular forces led by Robert Rogers was one of the most daring raids of that war. The unorthodox (to Europeans) tactics of Rogers' Rangers are seen as inspiring

987-591: The Chinese Communist Revolution and, beginning in 1943, had spent five years at Yaddo. Poet Robert Lowell pushed the Board of Directors to oust Yaddo's director, Elizabeth Ames, who was being questioned by the FBI . Ames was eventually exonerated of all charges but learned from the investigation that her assistant Mary Townsend was an FBI informant. Ames remained director until her retirement in 1969, having overseen

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1034-493: The Hudson through the marshes and forests at the southern end of Lake Champlain , led to the British defeat at Saratoga . On May 31, 1791, Thomas Jefferson wrote in a letter to his daughter, "Lake George is without comparison, the most beautiful water I ever saw; formed by a contour of mountains into a basin... finely interspersed with islands, its water limpid as crystal, and the mountain sides covered with rich groves... down to

1081-508: The Internet, and setting up Beck's apartment to make her "own Yaddo". Yaddo is mentioned repeatedly throughout the Theresa Rebeck play Seminar . In the 2018 Netflix comedy-drama Private Life , aspiring writer Sadie (played by Kayli Carter ) gets the opportunity to spend a month at Yaddo to focus on refining her writing skills. It is also repeatedly mentioned and referenced throughout

1128-597: The Trasks then built the current house. Yaddo is a neologism invented by one of the Trask children and was meant to rhyme with "shadow". In 1900, after the premature deaths of the Trasks' four children, Spencer Trask decided to turn the estate into an artists' retreat as a gift to his wife. He did this with the financial assistance of philanthropist George Foster Peabody . The first artists arrived in 1926. The success of Yaddo encouraged Spencer and Katrina later to donate land for

1175-477: The Yaddo community from its creation in 1924. Ames was succeeded by Newman E. Waite who served as president from 1969 until 1977 when Curtis Harnack assumed the position. Literary critic and eventual Yaddo board member Louis Kronenberger wrote in his memoir that to call Yaddo "a mixture of some of the most attractive, enjoyable, generous-minded people and of others who were weird, megalomaniac, intransigent, pugnacious

1222-473: The accident, the boat should have been rated to carry no more than 14 passengers. On February 5, 2007, the captain, Richard Paris, and the company that owned the boat, Shoreline Cruises, were indicted for having only one crew member aboard the boat. More serious charges were not filed because neither the captain nor the owners were aware they were violating safety standards. Situated on the rail line halfway between New York City and Montreal, Lake George attracted

1269-403: The cottages of Millionaires' Row were mansions in the true sense of the word. They were often built on hundreds of acres of pristine lakeside wilderness. With the changing economic climate and the introduction of income tax, the mansions of Millionaires' Row became less sustainable by the 1930s. By the 1950s, with the advent of affordable auto and air travel, Lake George became more attractive to

1316-698: The creation of similar forces in later conflicts—including the United States Army Rangers . Lake George's key position on the Montreal – New York water route made possession of the forts at either end—particularly Ticonderoga—strategically crucial during the American Revolution . Later in the war, British General John Burgoyne 's decision to bypass the easy water route to the Hudson River that Lake George offered and, instead, attempt to reach

1363-431: The economic means to find respite anywhere else. Today, women of all socio-economic backgrounds and from all over North America are able to enjoy the peaceful atmosphere of Wiawaka since it operates as a nonprofit corporation in order to continue the tradition of "affordable vacations" for all women. The earliest reference to the property of Wiawaka is in the tax records of the town of Caldwell (now Lake George ) where it

1410-467: The elderly, and other women in transition, to develop skills and personal resources necessary to meet the challenges they face in life. Wiawaka is steward of the preservation, maintenance and operation of its historic property." In order to give all women the opportunity to go to Wiawaka, room and board is offered on a sliding scale according to income. All three meals are served on site in the same communal dining room that guests have used since 1903. Today,

1457-572: The era's rich and famous by the late 19th and early 20th century. Members of the Roosevelt , van Rensselaer, Vanderbilt , Rockefeller and Whitney families visited its shores. The Fort William Henry Hotel, in what is now Lake George Village, and The Sagamore in Bolton Landing opened at this time to serve tourists. The wealthiest visitors were more likely to stay with their peers at their private country estates. The Silver Bay YMCA on Lake George

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1504-567: The firm's current chairman. Novelist Patricia Highsmith bequeathed her estate, valued at $ 3 million, to the community. Yaddo's gardens are modeled after the classical Italian gardens the Trasks had visited in Europe. The Four Seasons statues were acquired and installed in the garden in 1909. There are many statues and sculptures located within the estate, including a sundial that bears the inscription, "Hours fly, Flowers die, New days, New ways, Pass by, Love stays." While visitors are not admitted to

1551-442: The growing middle class and less so to the "jet set". Most of the mansions of Millionaires' Row were torn down or turned into hotels and restaurants. Among the surviving mansions are Evelley, Halcyon, Sun Castle (Erlowest), Oak Lawn, Wikiosco, Green Harbour, Homeland, Cramer Point, Depe Dene, Cannon Point, Hermstone, Mohican Point, Villa Marie Antoinette's gatehouse, Three Brothers Island, Nirvana, and Wapanak. Yaddo Yaddo

1598-520: The lake as Lake George for King George II . On September 8, 1755 the Battle of Lake George was fought between the forces of Britain and France resulting in a strategic victory for the British and their Iroquois allies. After the battle, Johnson ordered the construction of a military fortification at the southern end of the lake. The fort was named Fort William Henry after the King's grandson Prince William Henry ,

1645-540: The lake using depth sensors that can monitor currents, pH, salinity, and other data, leading the lake to be called, "[t]he smartest lake in the world." There are six known invasive species in Lake George. The Asian clam first found in 2010 is the biggest threat, along with the Eurasian watermilfoil . Other invasive species are the Chinese mystery snail , curly-leaf pondweed , spiny water flea , and zebra mussel . The lake

1692-531: The lake. According to reports from a local newspaper, 20 people (mostly senior citizens) died. Initial reports indicated that the tour group was from Canada, but these reports were later found to be incorrect. It was later determined that the group was from the Trenton, Michigan , area on a week-long fall trip along the East Coast by bus and rail, organized by Trenton's parks and recreation department and arranged through

1739-504: The lake. The northern end of the lake that is located near Ticonderoga is considered the southern end of the Champlain Valley , which includes Lake Champlain , as well as the cities Plattsburgh, New York , and Burlington, Vermont . The Jefferson Project, a collaboration that began in 2014 between IBM, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and the Fund for Lake George, is collecting data from

1786-615: The main mansion or artists' residences, they may visit the gardens. Yaddo has hosted more than 6,000 artists including: Jonathan Ames ' book Wake Up Sir! (2004) is partially set at Yaddo. Dagger of the Mind (1941), a novel by 1930s Yaddo resident Kenneth Fearing , takes place in Demarest Hall, an art colony modeled after Yaddo. In You season 1 , episode 8: "You Got Me Babe", Blythe helps Beck focus on writing and break through writer's block by disconnecting Beck from her cellphone and

1833-577: The more rustic summer "camps" built by other wealthy Adirondack summer residents such as William West Durant and John D. Rockefeller . Unlike the log and timber structures at the camps, the houses of Millionaire's Row were built of stone and masonry in the Tudor Revival , Georgian Revival and Italianate styles . Unlike their contemporaries in Newport and the Hamptons, which were built on tiny pieces of land,

1880-518: The public, but Wiawaka has also started to offer day use passes as well for those who are not overnight guests yet would like to take advantage of the serene property. Many of Wiawaka's guests return year after year to meet friends, attend workshops, volunteer, live the history, and take in the magical peace tranquility, and spirit that is Wiawaka. Wiawaka is listed on the National Register of Historic Places under nine categories of significance and

1927-513: The register. A marker on the shore points out the location of the Wiawaka Bateaux which are also on the National Register of Historic Places. Lake George (lake), New York Lake George drains into Lake Champlain to its north through a short stream, the La Chute River , with many falls and rapids, dropping 226 feet (69 m) in its 3.5-mile (5.6 km) course—virtually all of which

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1974-594: The structure to the Lake George Young Ladies Institute in 1855 but it was shut down after only one year of operation. Next, he enlarged the hotel, changing the name to Crosbyside, and housed several customers from cities who retreated to Lake George for a vacation in the country. With a new wave of tourism, Mr. Crosby was very successful and he soon built several Victorian cottages as lodging for his best and most loyal customers. These are Mayflower Cottage, c. 1873 and Rose Cottage, c. 1873. He also built

2021-545: The surrounding mountains include Black Mountain , Elephant Mountain, Pilot Knob, Prospect Mountain, Shelving Rock, Sleeping Beauty Mountain, Sugarloaf Mountain, and the Tongue Mountain Range . Some of the lake's more famous bays are Basin Bay, Kattskill Bay , Northwest Bay, Oneida Bay, and Silver Bay . The lake is distinguished by "The Narrows", an island-filled narrow section (approximately five miles [8 km] long) that

2068-559: The top ten cleanest lakes in the United States in 2023 and 2024, Lake George is also on New York's 303(d) list of impaired waterbodies. Lake George is located in the southeastern Adirondack State Park and is part of the St. Lawrence watershed. Notable landforms include Anthony's Nose, Deer's Leap, Peggy's Point (a 15-foot [4.6 m] jump into the lake) or (a 30-foot [9.1 m] jump), the Indian Kettles, and Roger's Rock . Some of

2115-640: The water-edge: here and there precipices of rock to checker the scene and save it from monotony." In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Lake George was a common spot sought out by well-known artists, including Martin Johnson Heade , John F. Kensett , E. Charlton Fortune , Frank Vincent DuMond and Georgia O'Keeffe . On October 2, 2005, at 2:55 p.m., the Ethan Allen , a 40-foot (12 m) glass-enclosed tourist boat carrying 47 passengers and operated by Shoreline Cruises, capsized during calm weather on

2162-480: Was constructed in 1900. It has since evolved into a summer family camp, serving several hundred organizations and tourists every summer. Since 1913, on the East Shore of Lake George, YMCA Camp Chingachgook has hosted thousands of guests every summer. Lake George is accessible by car via Interstate 87 and by air from Albany International Airport , which is about 45 miles (72 km) away. Today, Lake George remains

2209-567: Was originally named the Andia-ta-roc-te by local Native Americans. James Fenimore Cooper in his narrative Last of the Mohicans called it the Horican , after a tribe which may have lived there, because he felt the original name was too hard to pronounce. The first European visitor to the area, Samuel de Champlain , noted the lake in his journal on July 3, 1609, but did not name it. In 1646,

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