Chateaugay Lake has been the quiet home and vacation utopia of a slew of famous people and “solid” folk since the 1830s. Getting there, from anywhere, has never been easy, but the peaceful beauty of the lake and surrounding area continues to draw in visitors seeking inspiration and solitude.

The author of “Chateaugay Lake: The Adirondack Resort Era, 1830-1917,” Henry Cassell Ruschmeyer, spent his summers here in the 1950s and 1960s. His love of the lake led him to research and publish its history for a college thesis in 1965. He revised his original work to add photographs and re-published it in 2010. Only 120 pages long, this book is full of fascinating information about visitors to the lake and how world history influenced its resort development and subsequent decline.

A history of Chateaugay Lake must include a physical description for an accurate portrayal. The lake is a 12-mile-long system comprised of two lakes, the Upper and the Lower, and a connecting river, The Narrows. The Upper Lake is southernmost and is more than three times larger than the Lower Lake. The northernmost part of the Lower Lake is approximately six-and-a-half miles from the Canadian border. A drive to Plattsburgh today measures 40-ish miles and to Malone, 17-ish miles. But during the Adirondack Resort Era, it was much more difficult to travel to what many visitors viewed as a mountain paradise.

Ruschmeyer divides the era in three periods. First, the sportsmen and artists began to visit the lakes in 1830-1865. With the assistance of seasonal Adirondack guides they enjoyed fishing, hunting, and painting inspirational scenes. Second, from 1866-1889, business and professional men came with their families, which sparked building larger, more luxurious resorts and lodges. Third, when word of the incredible solitude and isolation of the area spread to the wealthy leisure classes, from 1890-1917 and they came too, often staying for entire summers. Transportation changed dramatically throughout the era: early on, a visitor might take a boat, then a steamer, then a stagecoach to reach the lake. After the railroads were established, travelling was much easier and contributed to the growth of the resort industry. However, once the automobile became more accessible, vacation habits changed by allowing people to become more transient and less willing to stay in one location.

Descendants of the Mayflower, politicians, one U.S. vice president, bishops, film stars, opera singers, dancers, musicians, artists, architects, doctors and lawyers, middle-class folk and people who cater to them have lived and thrived on the lake since the early 1800s. These days, both lakes and the Narrows are busy with leisure boats, jet skis, kayaks and canoes each summer. Some vacationers still come and go, some stay for the short summer, and a few hardy souls live there year-round. For an in-depth history, check out Ruschmeyer’s book which is still available online and in libraries.