The history of a generational community nestled on the shores of Lake Champlain near Port Douglass and Keeseville
According to local lore, Clifford Easton first laid eyes on Corlear Bay on Lake Champlain near Port Douglass and Keeseville, while being chased by a farmer after stealing a goose. It was around the turn of the 20th century, and Easton was returning on a canoe trip that had taken him up the Hudson through Lake George, Lake Champlain, the Richelieu, and Saint Lawrence all the way to Quebec City.
During an Adirondack Architectural Heritage (AARCH) tour in the summer of 2024, Jackie Blake, a cottage owner at the Corlear Bay Club, explained how Easton and a friend “were 22, hungry, and had spent all their money. They got as far as Port Kent and saw a goose in a farmer’s yard, so they stole the goose and the farmer chased them. They came around Trembleau Point in their canoe to evade the farmer, and Cliff Easton was so impressed with the beautiful beaches and the beautiful spot, he said, ‘I am going to come back and build something here.’”
From outlaw to resident
By the end of the decade, Easton and his brother-in-law, Gordon Evans, purchased the property for what would become the Corlear Bay Club.
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Easton’s 1958 New York Times’s obituary makes no mention of his exploits with the goose. But it does confirm his reputation as an “explorer” by highlighting his participation on the 2,000-mile, canoe and dog-sled “Wallace Expedition” to Labrador, chronicled in a book.
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The Easton and Evans families were originally members of the nearby Crater Club in Essex, but when John Bird Burnham, the developer of the Crater Club (and former editor of Forest and Stream) decided to install electricity, they decided to part ways for a more “rustic simplicity.” Corlear Bay also passed on a clubhouse and central dining area.
A complex of rustic cabins
The year 1914 saw construction of five of the 29 cabins, rented for the whole or half season. Small open structures with a stone fireplace and a Dutch door, each was given a number and a name. A kitchen area had a wood stove, and hot water came from boiling.
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Most did not have bathrooms, and the old outhouses now serve as storage sheds. Deliveries brought ice three times a day from two ice houses, along with milk once a day. Food came three times a week from a grocery in Keeseville.
“The camps all had baskets in the back of a porch. They would deliver the food and take your list for the next delivery.”
After World War II, Easton tried to sell the complex as a whole, but eventually subdivided to regular renters. They wrote a constitution and bylaws to cover the jointly owned common areas such as the tennis court, beaches, and post office (now the former Port Douglass depot). Electrification arrived by 1949.
The Corlear Bay Club has become a generational community with most properties handed down within families.
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A family tradition
Jackie Blake’s parents first came in 1952 when she was 6. Now she shares the camp with children, grandchildren and a great-grandchild.
The group from AARCH toured several buildings beginning with Camp 12, Pine Point. Built in 1924 and one of the last, Tom Mills’s grandmother purchased it in 1949.
“Supposedly she took off her engagement ring and gave it to the Townsend family (the previous owners),” Mills said. “Though my grandfather swears there was a little bit of money involved.”
Pine Point still has much of the original furniture and wicker. “Nothing has changed since I was a little boy.”
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Mills’s mother was a concert pianist and would occasionally perform for the community. “She sat at that piano, and there’d be chairs everywhere with all the windows open and people standing outside.”
Mills’s cottage also contains a number of trophies. “You can see all the little tournaments that Corlear Bay does.”
Tennis is especially competitive, but a number of contests are part of Corlear Bay traditions, such as the annual Egg Toss with the prize of a bird’s nest.
“Last summer we had 100 people, 50 teams,” Blake said. “But not all the eggs are cooked, so you never quite know what you’re throwing.”
Patty Meeker has been “coming since before I was born.” Her grandfather bought Inwood in 1946 for $2,400. During the AARCH tour, Meeker explained how, during the 1950s and ’60s, working fathers would “get their families settled and take the train back to New York City.”
The train returned the fathers for weekends and vacations at the local stop, Port Douglass, until passenger service ended in 1971. Amtrack introduced the Adirondack from Albany to Montreal in 1974, but the convenience was gone.
Corlear Bay today
Concerned that the historic depot was falling into disrepair, Corlear Bay residents, under the leadership of club member Lansing Reynolds, purchased the building and moved it the two miles to its current location in 1973. It serves as the post office.
Meeker also pointed out that “before there were phones, we would communicate by children.”
Doug and Joan Smith’s Crow Ledge was built in 1925. “Easton and Evans advertised this cottage for $345 for the season,” Doug said. “The season ran from June 15 to Sept. 15, but part of the advertisement was that if you wanted to come earlier or stay longer, you could do so without extra charge.”
The Smiths enlarged the cabin in the mid-2000s after one of their sons complained about his cramped sleeping quarters. Doug indicated where the tight, narrow bedroom used to be.
“After spending about a week there, my son, who by then was about my size, said, ‘That’s it. That’s the last summer I’m ever coming up here unless you do something.’”
Joan added, “The master bedroom had a double bed in it. You could take two steps and you’d be in bed. That’s how tiny it was.”
Adirondack Architectural Heritage (AARCH) is a nonprofit historic preservation organization for the Adirondacks and North Country. In addition to tours of historic interest throughout the region, they offer technical preservation assistance to historic property owners and historic preservation advocates. More information about AARCH can be found at AARCH.org.
Photo featured at top: The Port Douglass depot moved to the Corlear Bay Club in 1972. It now serves as the post office. Photo by Tom French.
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