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AHistory
History · Saranac Lake

Saranac Lake’s post office opened in 1853, and 59% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 89% of U.S. towns · #280 of 758 in New York. What drives it

62 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 29 old photos and papers, maps from 1902 on, and the census since 1880.

1853first post office
62on the National Register
59%homes built before 1940
29old photos & papers
12famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Saranac Lake’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Saranac Lake began

When was Saranac Lake founded?

1853

The Saranac Lake post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 191 in 18802020 census: 4,887173 years

How historic is Saranac Lake?

A

More historic than 89% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Saranac Lake post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Saranac Lake’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Saranac Lake is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns, #280 of 758 in New York. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Saranac Lake’s overall grade.
Founding era1853, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194059.2% of homes (±5.8) · typical NY town 26.6% · U.S. 8.4%A+National Register62 listings, 275 historic buildings, 554 per 10,000 residents · typical NY town 12.3 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 89%
NewerOlder
New York towns of 2,500+ (758)Ahead of 63%

New York towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New York town has 12.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Saranac Lake’s 554 sits above most of its state (93% of New York towns have fewer) while its 275 historic buildings outnumber those of 95% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Saranac Lake’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Landmarks on the Register62 places on the National Register.A town in old photos29 old photos, postcards and papers, 1875–1909.Old housesHalf of Saranac Lake’s homes were built before 1938.On the map since 19024 editions of the USGS map, 1902 to 1999. Watch Saranac Lake change.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

62 listings protect 275 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
62
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
275
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

By decade

Saranac Lake, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s–1880s6 items
Twelve Adirondack Sketches - Campe Edgar, Lake Saranac by Boston Public Library1875Twelve Adirondack Sketches - Campe Edgar, Lake Sarana…Dickinson Center (Village); St. Regis Falls (Village); Dickinson Center Business Notices.; Dickinson Business Notices.;…1876Dickinson Center (Village); St. Regis Falls (Village)…MapSaranac Lake From The North1880Saranac Lake From The NorthFly Fishing1889Fly FishingFly Fishing1889Fly FishingFly Fishing1889Fly Fishing
1890s7 items
FMIB 43041 Camping on the Lower Saranac1897FMIB 43041 Camping on the Lower SaranacCottage Sanitorium, Saranac Lake, N.Y1898Cottage Sanitorium, Saranac Lake, N.YOn the Road to Bloomingdale, Saranac Lake, Adirondack Mountains, N.Y1898On the Road to Bloomingdale, Saranac Lake, Adirondack…Round Lake, Saranac Lakes, N. Y1898Round Lake, Saranac Lakes, N. YSaranac from Mt. Pisgah, Saranac Lake, N.Y1898Saranac from Mt. Pisgah, Saranac Lake, N.YState Hospital Letter "S", Ray Brook, Saranac Lake, N.Y1898State Hospital Letter "S", Ray Brook, Saranac Lake, N…DocumentTens under birches, Saranac Lake, Adirondacks, N. Y1898Tens under birches, Saranac Lake, Adirondacks, N. Y
1900s16 items
Robt. Louis Stevenson's cottage on Saranac Lake, Adirondacks, N.Y1900Robt. Louis Stevenson's cottage on Saranac Lake, Adir…Saranac Lake from Baker Mountain, Adirondack Mountains1901Saranac Lake from Baker Mountain, Adirondack MountainsAditondack Mountain Camp, Saranac Lakes, N. Y1902Aditondack Mountain Camp, Saranac Lakes, N. YLower Saranac Lake, Adirondack Mountains1902Lower Saranac Lake, Adirondack MountainsLower Saranac Lake, Adirondack Mountains1902Lower Saranac Lake, Adirondack MountainsSaranac Lake, Adirondack Mountains1902Saranac Lake, Adirondack MountainsLower Saranac Lake, Adirondack Mountains1902Lower Saranac Lake, Adirondack MountainsSaranac Lake from Mt. Pisgah, Adirondack Mountains1902Saranac Lake from Mt. Pisgah, Adirondack MountainsRustic Lodge and Indian carry, Upper Saranac Lake, Adirondack Mountains1902Rustic Lodge and Indian carry, Upper Saranac Lake, Ad…Saranac Lake, Broadway, Adirondacks, N.Y1905Saranac Lake, Broadway, Adirondacks, N.YSaranac Lake, central station, Adirondacks, N.Y1905Saranac Lake, central station, Adirondacks, N.YSaranac Lake, Mount Pisgah, Adirondacks, N.Y1905Saranac Lake, Mount Pisgah, Adirondacks, N.YStreet view, looking west1906Street view, looking westChild Memorial Infirmary, Adirondack Cottage Sanatarium1906Child Memorial Infirmary, Adirondack Cottage Sanatari…Chapel and cottages, Adirondack Cottage Sanatarium1906Chapel and cottages, Adirondack Cottage SanatariumFMIB 42044 Adirondack Hatchery Trout-rearing races1909FMIB 42044 Adirondack Hatchery Trout-rearing races
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
The story

How Saranac Lake came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Saranac Lake.

Read it all →

This area was occupied by Iroquoian-speaking peoples for hundreds of years, and by other Indigenous peoples before them. The historic Mohawk people extended their hunting grounds to this area.

The area was first settled by European Americans in 1819, more than three decades after the American Revolutionary War. As the Iroquois, mostly allies of the British, had been forced to cede their land to the United States following the war, millions of acres of New York were opened up to non-Native development in the postwar period.

ChaptersIroquoiEdward Livingston TrudeauRailroad, TelephoneWilliam S. FowlerNational Vaudeville ArtistsWill Rogers Memorial Hospital

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Saranac Lake, 1875 to 1980

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1875In the archiveTwelve Adirondack Sketches - Campe Edgar, Lake Saranac by Boston Public Library
  3. 1880In the archiveSaranac Lake From The North
  4. 1895Born hereAlan Louis Eggers is born here
  5. 1897In the archiveFMIB 43041 Camping on the Lower Saranac
  6. 20th century
  7. 1900In the archiveRobt. Louis Stevenson's cottage on Saranac Lake, Adirondacks, N.Y
  8. 1902On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1912Born hereArt Mollner is born here
  10. 1918Born hereHubert Miller is born here
  11. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 8,020
  12. 1980Born hereBill Demong is born here
On the map

Saranac Lake on the map, 1902 to 1999

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Saranac Lake. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Saranac Lake on the 1902 USGS mapSaranac Lake on the 1955 USGS mapSaranac Lake on the 1978 USGS mapSaranac Lake on the 1999 USGS map1902Saranac sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Saranac Lake.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Twelve Adirondack Sketches - Campe Edgar, Lake Saranac by Boston Public Library
Retake this viewTwelve Adirondack Sketches - Campe Edgar, Lake Saranac by Boston Public Library, 1875

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Saranac Lake’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Saranac Lake, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 8,020

Peaked at 8,020 in 1930; 4,887 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Saranac Lake’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

12 famous people were born in Saranac Lake

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
B
Bill DemongAmerican Nordic combined skier · b. 1980
Art MollnerAmerican basketball player · b. 1912
Hubert MillerAmerican bobsledder · b. 1918
Alan Louis EggersUnited States Army Medal of Honor recipient · b. 1895
A
Andrea KilbourneAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1980
Dylan RatiganJournalist · b. 1972
Help out

Finish Saranac Lake’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewTwelve Adirondack Sketches - Campe Edga…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

St. Armand7 historic placesA+North Elba19 historic placesAHarrietstown46 historic placesA+

Questions about Saranac Lake’s history

What year was Saranac Lake founded?

The Saranac Lake post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Saranac Lake rank for history?

Saranac Lake is more historic than 89% of U.S. towns, #280 of 758 in New York. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Saranac Lake?

59% of Saranac Lake’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.8 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1938.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (17), the Library of Congress (12), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.