Ausable Club facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Ausable Club
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The clubhouse from Noonmark Mountain
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 Location in New York
Location in the United States
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| Location | 137 Ausable Rd., St. Huberts, New York |
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| Area | 7 acres (28,000 m2) |
| Built | 1890 |
| Architect | Wilson Brothers & Company |
| Architectural style | Queen Anne, Stick/Eastlake |
| Website | http://www.ausableclub.org/ |
| NRHP reference No. | 05000683 |
| Added to NRHP | July 06, 2005 |
The Ausable Club in St. Huberts, New York, is a special club and its main building. It's also known as the clubhouse for the Adirondack Mountain Reserve (AMR). This reserve was started in 1887 by William George Neilson. His goal was to protect the beautiful lands around Beede's Hotel from being cut down by lumber companies. The Reserve once owned a lot of the tall mountains in the Adirondack High Peaks area.
The club is also home to the Adirondack Trail Improvement Society, often called A.T.I.S. This group has built and still takes care of many trails that lead to the high peaks. The clubhouse building itself has other names too, like St. Hubert's Inn or Beede House. It's so important that it's listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Many interesting people have been members of the club. These include Harvard president James Conant, a religious leader named Henry Sloane Coffin, and an airplane engineer, Jerome Hunsaker. Famous painter Harold Weston, American leader John J. McCloy, and US Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson were also members. Henry L. Stimson even created a trail up nearby Noonmark Mountain that people still use today!
Some trails on the AMR/Ausable Club lands are open to the public. However, there are some rules to follow. These trails let people reach many of the High Peaks. Some of these peaks include Basin Mountain, Mount Skylight, Mount Marcy, and Mount Haystack. You can also reach Mount Colvin, Nippletop Mountain, Dial Mountain, and the Lower Wolfjaw Mountain and Upper Wolfjaw Mountain. Other peaks are Armstrong Mountain, Gothics, Sawteeth, Saddleback Mountain, Noonmark Mountain, and Round Mountain. Plus, you can visit Rainbow and Beaver Meadow Falls.
Club History
The current clubhouse stands on a large piece of land, about 600 acres. This was once the site of Beede's Hotel, built in 1876. Beede's was one of the first hotels in the Adirondack Park to welcome wealthy people. These visitors wanted to escape busy city life during the summer. This trend started even before the Civil War. It grew much faster thanks to new ways to travel, like steamships and railroads.
Beede's Hotel was known for being simple, not fancy. But it was also famous for its amazing location near Upper and Lower Ausable Lakes and the Ausable River. It also offered great views of Giant and Noonmark Mountains, Sawteeth and Mount Colvin. Guides were available to lead groups up the rocky path of the Ausable River. From there, they could reach simple shelters by the lakes and then the high peaks above.
Saving the Land
In 1886, William G. Neilson, a mining engineer who spent summers there, learned that a lumber company planned to cut down the trees around Beede's. He quickly got a two-month agreement to buy the land. Neilson asked his friends to help buy 25,000 acres, which included the two lakes and nearby mountains.
By December 1886, Neilson and several friends provided money to secure the purchase. In October 1887, twenty-nine people formed a company called the Adirondack Mountain Reserve. Even though the Reserve didn't allow hunting or camping, the land stayed open for public hiking. The AMR kept buying more land, owning about 40,000 acres by 1910. However, some land was sold to New York State in 1923 and 1978. Today, the Reserve owns about 7,000 acres.
The Hotel's Journey
In 1890, Neilson decided to buy Beede's Hotel itself. He presented the idea to the AMR shareholders, who agreed to buy the hotel property. They formed a separate company, the Keene Heights Hotel Company, to run it.
While the sale was happening, the hotel building unfortunately burned down. The company then hired an architectural firm, Wilson Brothers & Company, to design a new building. This new hotel, called St. Hubert's Inn, opened just four months later. It's the building you see today. Neilson also bought another 40-acre property and gave it to the organization.
By 1904, the hotel wasn't making money. This was partly because fewer people were visiting the Park and there were forest fires in 1903. So, the Hotel Company closed. However, the Reserve itself was still doing well. In 1905, the AMR and the Hotel Company joined together. This combined group is now known as the Adirondack Mountain Reserve/Ausable Club.
The Clubhouse Building
The clubhouse is a tall, three-and-a-half-story building made of wooden siding. It has some simple details from the Queen Anne style. The building is made of two long parts that join at an angle. Where they meet, there's a large, three-story porch with eight sides. This porch offers a sheltered spot to enjoy the views all around.
There's also a porch that runs along the entire first floor. Because the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it has been kept in great condition. It looks very much like it did when it was first built, both inside and out.
