This article is from February, but we enjoyed reading about the history of fresh air as a disease-fighting tool. We know all about fresh air up here, and it's interesting to read about how it influenced architecture!
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This Tuberculosis Thursday, we’re celebrating the belated birthday of a baseball great and big-name TB patient, Christy Mathewson! But who was Christy, and why was he such a big name in Saranac Lake? Christy was considered one of the greatest baseball pitchers of all time, and he contracted TB after WWI. He came to Saranac Lake in 1920 to seek the cure, and originally stayed at the Santanoni under the care of Dr. Edward Packard. In 1924, Christy, his wife, and son moved into the house on Park Avenue that is now known as Christy Mathewson Cottage.
Over the years, Christy’s health slowly improved to the point that he became a part owner of the Boston Braves and got involved with charity efforts to support tuberculosis patients and research. Unfortunately, he was involved in a car accident in 1924 that injured his arm, and by the end of the year his health had deteriorated again. He caught a cold that wouldn’t go away while at spring training with the Braves in April of 1925, and returned to Saranac Lake for bed rest. The baseball world was stunned when he passed away on October 7, 1925. His wife remained in the house on Park Avenue until the 1950s, when she returned to Pennsylvania. Christy was one of the first five inductees to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936 along with Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, and Walter Johnson.
![]() Have you visited our friends at the Six Nations Iroquois Cultural Center yet this summer? We really enjoyed this post on the history of the Fadden family, and we encourage you to take a visit to Onchiota to learn from them and their incredible collection. Get out there before the end of August! We can't wait to see their new Cultural Center! Want to get involved as a docent with Historic Saranac Lake and the Saranac Laboratory Museum? Join us for walk-in training hours Wednesdays and Fridays from 10AM to 12PM, August 18 through September 3. Training may also include administrative tasks as interests dictate.
No registration is required, but you can fill out our volunteer form in advance. If you cannot join us during open hours, fill out the above form or contact Mahala Nyberg by email or at 518-891-4606. Today's Tuberculosis Thursday feature is gone but certainly not forgotten! The Alta Vista Lodge was a grand cure cottage on Franklin Ave. in the Helen Hill neighborhood. It originally began as two separate identical houses, and was combined into one large facility around 1924. It was remembered as an exclusive cottage, and it tragically burned to the ground in 1959.
Learn more about the Alta Vista Lodge on our wiki.
IWe're trying to cool off from the August heat by looking at historic Winter Carnival photographs! This hand-colored image shows an ice pyramid in the intersection of Main Street and Broadway in 1920. The Berkeley House is visible behind the pyramid, decorated for Winter Carnival. The hotel would be heavily damaged by fire just 5 years later, and burned down a final time in 1981.
Stay cool -- we feel better already! [Historic Saranac Lake Collection, TCR 273, Courtesy of Audrey Vanderhoof.]
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