Paul Smith's Hotel, circa 1892

Paul Smith's Hotel, formally known as the Saint Regis House, was founded in 1859 in the town of Brighton, New York as one of the first wilderness resorts in Adirondacks by Apollos (Paul) Smith. In its day it was the most fashionable of the many great Adirondack hotels, patronized by American presidents Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt and Calvin Coolidge, celebrities like P.T. Barnum, and the power elite of the latter half of the 19th century, such as Whitelaw Reid. Smith died in 1912, but the hotel continued under his son, Phelps, until it burned down in 1930. 1859 is a common year starting on Saturday. ... There are two towns named Brighton in New York State. ... Some factual claims in this article need to be verified. ... Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837 – June 24, 1908) was the 22nd (1885–1889) and 24th (1893–1897) President of the United States, and the only President to serve two non-consecutive terms. ... Jump to: navigation, search Theodore Roosevelt (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919) was the 26th (1901–09) President of the United States of America. ... Jump to: navigation, search John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. ... Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891), American showman who is best remembered for his entertaining hoaxes and for founding the circus that eventually became Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Whitelaw Reid (October 27, 1837 - December 15, 1912) was a U.S. politician and newspaper editor. ...

For years the hotel was kept intentionally primitive, offering neither bellboys nor indoor bathrooms. It started as a seventeen room inn, though by the start of the 20th century it would grow to 255 rooms with a boathouse with quarters for sixty guides, stables, casino, bowling alley, and a wire to the New York Stock Exchange. It also had woodworking, blacksmith, and electrical shops, a sawmill and a store. Stagecoaches delivered guest to the hotel until 1912, when a short electric railroad connected it to the nearest main line. Jump to: navigation, search New York Stock Exchange (June 2003) The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is the largest stock exchange in the world, although its trading volume was exceeded by that of NASDAQ (historic comparison graph {pdf}) during the 1990s. ...

Smith was a Vermonter who had been a boatman on Lake Champlain; later he ran a small hotel on nearby Loon Lake. In the town of Brighton Smith bought fifty acres on the Lower Saint Regis Lake for three hundred dollars and built a primitive hotel. He was an excellent host, a charming story teller with a quick wit, and he was known for treating everyone the same. He was also a shrewd businessman, and his wife, Lydia, was good at managing the details of the operation. Smith's real estate transactions were legendary— in one transaction, he bought thirteen thousand acres for twenty thousand dollars, and then sold five acres of it for the same price. At one point he owned thirty thousand acres. When he sold land, it was generally to his wealthy clientele, many of whom built "Great Camps" on the nearby lakes, using lumber from Smith's mill. Jump to: navigation, search State nickname: The Green Mountain State Other U.S. States Capital Montpelier Largest city Burlington Governor Jim Douglas (R) Senators Patrick Leahy (D) Jim Jeffords (I) Official languages None Area 24,923 km² (43th)  - Land 23,974 km²  - Water 949 km² (3. ... Landsat photo Lake Champlain, named for the French explorer Samuel de Champlain, who encountered it 1609, is a large lake in North America, mostly within the borders of the United States (states of Vermont and New York) but partially situated across the US-Canada border in Quebec. ...

Paul Smith's College was built on the site of the hotel, funded by the estate of Smith's son Phelps, who died in 1937. Paul Smiths College is a private college located in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1937 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Sources

• Jerome, Christine Adirondack Passage: Cruise of Canoe Sairy Gamp, HarperCollins, 1994.

External links

• History of the Town of Brighton
• Paul Smith's College historic photos