About
Historic Saranac Lake
Historic Saranac Lake recognizes that the museum is located on unceded homeland of the Haudenosaunee people.
We respect the sovereignty and traditions of the Haudenosaunee, and we support their enduring presence here.
Strategic Plan
- Restoring the Saranac Laboratory and opening the building as a museum interpreting Saranac Lake’s unique role in history as a world-famous center for the fresh air treatment of tuberculosis.
- In 2019, embarking on a major museum expansion project, with the acquisition and rehabilitation of the Trudeau building.
- Preserving the Bartók Cabin, with tours provided upon request.
- Operating our innovative outreach project, the Cure Porch on Wheels.
- Leading a growing Oral History Project.
- Advocating for the preservation of Saranac Lake’s unique architecture. HSL has nominated and listed over 230 resources to the National Register of Historic Places. HSL Partnered on and administered the Union Depot preservation project.
- Caring for our museum collection of artifacts, photos and documents pertaining to Saranac Lake’s history as a center for science and patient care.
- Publishing books and pamphlets such as Cure Cottages of Saranac Lake by Phil Gallos, our Downtown Walking Tour brochure, and A Rare Romance in Medicine by Mary Hotaling.
- Sponsoring educational activities such as a summer music series, walking tours, presentations for student groups, lectures, history days, and oral history projects.
- Hosting temporary exhibits in the John Black Room library.
- Maintaining the HSL Wiki site, an innovative online encyclopedia of over 6,000 pages of local history.
Find out more about all of our current projects!
Meet the HSL Staff
Amy Catania
Executive Director
Amy has served as Executive Director of HSL since 2009. She has implemented new projects including school outreach programs and the Cure Porch on Wheels. During her time as Executive Director, she has tripled the staff of the organization, grown the endowment from $10,000 to over $300,000, and launched the campaign for expansion of the museum. Ms. Catania has a Masters in Liberal Studies from Plattsburgh State University and a B.A. in Latin American Studies from Oberlin College. Her interest in local history stemmed from a research project for her masters program on the history of the Latin American patients who cured in Saranac Lake. She lives in a Saranac Lake cure cottage with her husband Roger. Together they have two almost grown children and a dog named Walter.
Chessie Monks-Kelly
Archivist/Curator
Chessie is an archivist with a love for local history. Chessie manages the museum's collections, plans public programming, coordinates social media outreach, and maintains Historic Saranac Lake's two historic buildings. She is passionate about making our community's history accessible to all. She has a Masters degree in Library and Information Science with a concentration in Archives Management. Prior to joining the HSL staff in 2015, Chessie worked on contract projects for the National Park Service with History Associates, Inc. Chessie has lived in Saranac Lake with her husband Andy and their two orange cats since 2013, and they work on fixing up their Park Avenue cure cottage in their spare time.
Emily Banach
Museum Specialist
Emily is a recent graduate of the M.S. in Library and Information Science program at Syracuse University, where she focused her studies on historical materials and worked for the SU Archives. Emily also attended SUNY Binghamton and has a bachelor’s degree in English and Classical Languages. She has lived in Upstate New York her entire life and is excited to learn more about Saranac Lake and its history by working at HSL.
Alex Krach
Programs Coordinator
Alex served as the director of the Grover Center: Museum and Historical Society from 2016 to 2023. He also has experience working as a newspaper journalist. Alex moved to Saranac Lake with his new wife Natalie, and their cat Niko in 2023. When he’s not working, he enjoys engaging in graphic design work, cycling, and photography.
Meet The Board of Directors
Amy Heckethorn-Jones
President
Amy, a resident of Rainbow Lake, has lived in the area for 40 years and recently retired from a 30 year teaching career in the Saranac Lake Central School District. It was as a seventh grade social studies teacher that her affiliation with Historic Saranac Lake began. Some of her fondest career memories were teaching her students to engage with the local history of Saranac Lake and its surrounding hamlets. Now as a board member and volunteer, Amy is eager to contribute to the expansion of Historic Saranac Lake. She envisions the expanded museum as a center of learning where visitors can interact with the human stories that shaped not just our past, but our present and future as well.
Suzanne Roberson
Vice President
A fourth-generation Adirondacker, Suzanne is descended from the Distin and Roberson families of Saranac Lake and is the great-niece of the architect William Distin. Her professional career has been focused as research assistant and archivist for Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Kennedy and in advancement research in institutions of higher education. She has served as an adjunct professor in building conservation at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and is currently providing contractual research services to various clients. Suzanne has earned graduate degrees in library and information science and in building conservation. She currently serves on the board of Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve and on the advisory board of AARCH. Suzanne has been restoring her family home on Kiwassa Road and can be spotted rowing her single racing shell on Lake Flower most mornings when the ice is out.
Koko Bickford
Second Vice President
Koko has spent summers since 1968 on Upper Saranac Lake - initially at her husband, Ed’s family’s camp and more recently at their own home in Back Bay of Upper Saranac. They have 4 married children and 10 grandchildren. Koko taught preschool, worked in development at Noble and Greenough School in Dedham, MA and coordinated the guide programs at The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Koko is on the board of the Upper Saranac Foundation and a trustee of the Church of the Ascension. With her background in education and museums, she is drawn to HSL with her interest in historic preservation and her love for Saranac Lake and desire to celebrate the town’s unique history. Koko and Ed split their time between Saranac Lake and Massachusetts where they are relocating to Plymouth late fall.
Melinda Little
Treasurer
An entrepreneur by background, Melinda is currently focusing her entrepreneurial skills on managing Point Positive, an angel investor group committed to investing in and nurturing promising and scalable start-up companies within the Adirondack Region. She co-founded and is president of the Saranac Lake Community Store, now doing business as the Village Mercantile. Melinda serves on the Board of the Tri-Lakes Humane Society and was elected to the Village of Saranac Lake Board of Trustees in 2018. Melinda lives in a former cure cottage on Helen Hill.
Ann Greene
Secretary
An entrepreneur by background, Melinda is currently focusing her entrepreneurial skills on managing Point Positive, an angel investor group committed to investing in and nurturing promising and scalable start-up companies within the Adirondack Region. She co-founded and is president of the Saranac Lake Community Store, now doing business as the Village Mercantile. Melinda serves on the Board of the Tri-Lakes Humane Society and was elected to the Village of Saranac Lake Board of Trustees in 2018. Melinda lives in a former cure cottage on Helen Hill.
Amy Cheney-Seymour
Pablo Davila
Secretary
A love of architectural preservation brought Pablo to Saranac Lake in 2021. For the last 9 years he has been renovating historic properties at the Jersey Shore with his husband Mike. They are currently restoring several properties in the Highland Park and Helen Hill historic districts. Pablo enjoys researching a home’s history, finding out about previous residents and also the original architecture and evolution of the structures they work on. Pablo holds a BS in Pharmacy from the University of Puerto Rico as well as MS and PhD degrees in Pharmaceutics from the University of Michigan. He works as Vice President of Regulatory and Compliance for a Pharmaceutical company in NJ. Pablo and Mike are very happy to have found this community and have been enjoying getting to know the area, its history, and people. They live on Park Ave where you can find them walking their dogs.
Rebecca Gillard
Secretary
Becky spent summers growing up in Saranac Lake, first at her grandparent’s house on Old Military Road , and for the last 10 years as residents on Upper Saranac Lake. Becky and her husband Patrick have three children and recently their first grandchild Patrick. Becky graduated from Colgate with a fine arts degree and has been a photographer for her professional life. She is drawn to HSL by her love for Saranac Lake and the chance to promote and preserve the town’s unique history. Becky and Patrick split their time between Saranac Lake and Far Hills, New Jersey.
Lisa Lauroesch
Judy Meagher
Judy's father’s family came to Upper Saranac Lake in the late 1800’s as caretakers. Her mother’s family came to Saranac Lake in the mid 1920’s to cure Judy's aunt’s TB and this is where her parents met and married. She has spent most of the summers on the lake and finally made this her permanent home 11 years ago. As a healthcare professional, she continues to consult part-time with large corporations involved in state Medicaid programs. Volunteerism has always been part of her life and she currently sits on several local boards. She is passionate about the history of the Saranac Lake area and believes Historic Saranac Lake is the organization that will preserve our local history.
Betsy Minehan
An occupational therapist by training, Betsy and her family arrived in Saranac Lake in 1976. Encouraged by the mayor at the time, she volunteered with the Downtown Action committee that helped to develop a plan for public parking, expanded sidewalks , signage etc for the village downtown. Out of this group a number agreed that historic preservation could also be a useful development tool for preserving our history and unique architecture . She was also a member of the village planning board that developed a master plan and revised zoning and planning laws . Betsy lives in the Highland Park Historic District.
Nancy Murphy
Jim Sonneborn
Jim has been a resident of the area for over 30 years. He is both a lawyer and entrepreneur having started several businesses and supported many other startups. He has also been and is on the board of directors of several area for profit and not for profit businesses. He is committed to building a sustainable community, respectful of the diversity of interests, cultures and histories of its members. Jim sees the study and appreciation of history as a tool that allows us to find a better future, to better enjoy the present, and have an easier path from the present to the future.
John Wheeler
Born and raised in Saranac Lake, John Wheeler serves as the building superintendent of the Harrietstown Town Hall, and in his spare time, he researches and carefully recreates the historic buildings of Saranac Lake. Historic Saranac Lake worked to create a temporary display of John's models in 2018.