North Country At Work

Putting in a new septic tank at The Woodruff Motel. In the hole is Tom Kennelly, who co-owned the motel. September 1980. Keene, NY. Photo courtesy of Sue Abbott Jones.

The Woodruff Motel sign. Summer of 1981. Keene, NY. Photo courtesy of Sue Abbott Jones. The Woodruff Motel was built in 1946 by the Woodruff Motel. Sue Abbott Jones, her (former) husband Tom Kennelly, and his extended family ran the motel from 1975 into the early 1990s.

Colleen Smith behind the bar in the Adirondack Hotel tap room. Long Lake. Spring of 2019. Photo taken by Andy Flynn. Listen and read Colleen’s full story here. 

Lilias Wrisley Bartlett ran a boarding house in her home in Lewis from the late 1930s to the early 1950s.  Lilias did all the cooking and cleaning, while her husband Frank tended the farm. The house is still there today, across from Barber’s Pond in Lewis. Here Linda Jackson, Lilias’ granddaughter, shares her stories of […]

A postcard of the River View Cottage, which was a boarding house for tourists. The cottage was owned by George & Elsie Brown, and managed by Elsie. Between 1910 and 1940. Alexandria Bay, NY. Courtesy of Barbara Brown.

The main house, store and office at Pinehurst, a hotel in Alexandria Bay. Milk, cold cuts, bread, and canned goods were sold from the main house because there weren’t any stores near the hotel at the time. 1950s or 1960s. Alexandria Bay, NY. Courtesey of Bob Vrooman. Listen to Bob Vrooman talk about his time working at […]

The exterior of the Iroquois Hotel, with people posing on the first and second floors and in the car out front. Circa 1910. Tupper Lake, NY. Photo courtesy of the Goff-Nelson Memorial Library.

Exterior of the Allen House, a hotel in the community of Beaver River. Circa 1905-1915.

Exterior of the Alaska Silver Fox Farms. In the 1930s, pelts of the silver fox became quite popular for coats, and fox farms sprang up to raise foxes for their fur. There was another large farm in Lake Placid. The Rainbow Falls Tea room is visible on left. Circa 1930s. Ausable Chasm, NY.

Guides at Paul Smith’s Hotel on Upper Saint Regis Lake, standing near the boathouse. Copied from the NY State Conservation Magazine. Circa 1890. Paul Smiths, NY.