HISTORY OF THE STONER
LAKES
One area that I
have attempted to research is historical information about the
Stoner
Lakes.
I attempted to obtain old census information and other historical
data from the
Caroga
Lake
Museum,
the Town Historian, and even Barbara McMartin. What I have
found out is that there is little information available about the
Stoner
Lakes.
It has proven difficult to find who first built on and inhabited the
lakes and I have not been able to find many pictures either.
The Town Historian informed me that all old census information
pertaining to the
Stoner
Lakes
burned in a fire in 1940. Barbara McMartin knew little either,
but did cite her findings in her book, Caroga, An
Adirondack
Town
Recalls its Past.
The information
included on this page of the website comes mostly from Barbara
McMartin's text. I am very interested in adding additional
information to this page. If anyone has any information and/or
pictures to share, please let me know.
Various books
have indicated that Nick Stoner and another trapper were hunting in
the area and found hundreds of dead fish behind a beaver dam.
The fish had rotted in a recession of the water which resulted in
the lakes initially being named the
Stink
Lakes.
Early surveyors initially named the lakes after themselves and some
early records refer to the lakes as
Vrooman
Lake
and
Deline
Lake.
One early map even indicates that the lakes were called
Beaver
Lakes,
as this was one of Nick Stoner's favorite hunting grounds. Indian
relics found in the area indicate there may have been an Indian camp
there at one time. The lakes were visited regularly by
trappers and hunters but they were the last of the town's lakes to
be settled.
Margaret Waterman
and her husband Emmeron Baker, the forest ranger, first went to
Stoner
Lake
in 1924 and at that time, there was only a small shack on the lake
owned by Henry Gunsel. This gives us
a rough idea when
East
Stoner
Lake
started to become inhabited. I did not find any information about
Henry Gunsel and do not know where his shack was located. The Bakers
moved into a house on
East
Stoner
Lake
in 1925 and ran a store there until 1936. I believe this store was
located on Route 10 somewhat near Larry Smith's camp but I'm not
sure of the exact location. If anyone knows, please let me know and
I'll update this page accordingly. Barbara McMartin references that
there was another store located at
Stoner
Lake
but she does not indicate where or when. Right is a picture of
Emmeron Baker's store and home and it is believed this picture
was taken in 1926.
Emmeron Bake
built
two camps on the north
shore
of
East Stoner
Lake
near the sand beach. Barbara McMartin's book indicates that
they were owned by Leland Graves and George Lessor. Before the
camp road was constructed, access to these camps was by a footbridge
over the outlet of Little Stoner. As the road around East Stoner was
extended, camps filled up the entire shore. Below is a picture
of an early camp but I'm not sure which one. Does anyone know?
Cyrus Durey
(below) was a former U.S. Congressman, Johnstown Postmaster,
presidential appointee as the Internal Revenue Collector under the
Taft and Harding administrations, and the owner of
Durey
Land
and Lumber Company near
Canada
Lake.
He initially owned the land around
West
Stoner
Lake
and after he logged it in 1927, split it into lots and sold them. Durey's
vision was to sell off lots around many lakes in the area and
harvest the timber from the surrounding mountains. He had a large
lumber mill on
Canada
Lake
and split his time between
Albany
and his house on
Pine
Lake.
He died in 1933 at the age of 68. I plan to research and add a page
including much more information about Cyrus Durey, as he was
instrumental in developing
Caroga
Lake
and surrounding areas. The first camp on
West
Stoner
Lake
belonged to Walt LaGrange, a very wealthy man who lost all of his
money in the 1930's. He became a recluse, living in a shack on
Spectacle
Lake
and eventually traded his camp and five acres to a paper company.
Two more cottages were built before 1943 and more were added as the
road extended around the shore.
Early Stoner Lake Camp
Cyrus Durey
HISTORIC STONER LAKE VIDEO
Courtesy of Terry Olmsted
