History of Lake Placid, New York

Welcome to Lake Placid in the Heart of the High Peaks of the Adirondacks.

Internationally famous, this picturesque Adirondack Mountain Village was first settled in 1809 when an ironworks was started by William McIntyre based on iron ore being discovered nearby.  Although the mine failed in 1815, only six families still occupied the area in 1840.

In 1845, Gerrit Smith arrived in the area and bought a great deal of land and granted large tracts to his slaves, reforming the land law and reflecting his support of Abolitionism.  Hearing of Smith’s exploits, John Brown bought 240 acres from him at a dollar an acre and attempted to cultivate the tough mountain soil.  In 1859 he led a raid that took over the Federal Arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia) and was convicted of treason and hanged.  He is buried at the John Brown Farm State Historic Site which is located behind the Ski Jumps here in Lake Placid.

Melvil Dewey, inventor of the Dewey Decimal System, opened the famous Lake Placid Club in 1895 and thus began the era where the rich and famous were drawn to Lake Placid and the High Peaks region.  The Club was first kept open during the winter of 1905 which greatly added to the development of winter sports in the area.  By 1921 the area boasted a ski jump, speed skating venue and ski association.  In 1929, Dr. Godfrey Dewey, Melvil’s son, was able to convince the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that Lake Placid had the best winter sports facilities in the nation.  As a result the 1932 Winter Olympic Games were held in Lake Placid and the Games again returned to Lake Placid in 1980 with the highlight being the USA Hockey Team’s “Miracle on Ice” victory over a powerful Soviet Union National Team that was heavily favored.  Only three locations have hosted two Winter Olympics; Lake Placid, St. Moritz, Switzerland, and Innsbruck, Austria.

The Adirondack Park was created in 1892 by the State of New York amid concerns for the water and timber resources of the region.  Today the Park is the largest publicly protected area in the contiguous United States, greater in size than Yellowstone, Everglades, Glacier, and Grand Canyon National Park combined.  The boundary of the Park encompasses 6 million acres, nearly half of which belongs to all the people of New York State and is constitutionally protected to remain “Forever Wild” forest preserve.  The High Peaks area of the Adirondacks around Lake Placid boasts forty-six mountains higher than 4,000 feet.  An ultimate honor in the High Peaks is to become an Adirondack Forty-Sixer which means you have hiked to the summit of all these beautiful peaks.

The site that the High Peaks Resort sits on has been a haven for hospitality since a home was built on this site in 1876 by J.Q. McLenathen.  Just before 1900, a man named F.D. Viall bought the property and put an addition on it and started the inn that was called the Homestead.  Thomas F. Roland came from New York City in 1919 and bought the Homestead in 1922, the same year he married his wife Margaret.  She would run the Homestead from his death in 1926 until her death in 1977.  Peter Roland Sr., their son and a graduate of Cornell’s Hotel School, razed the Homestead in 1978 and built the Hilton Lake Placid Resort which opened just prior to the 1980 Winter Olympics and enjoyed great success throughout the years.  Lane Hospitality purchased the hotel in 1998 and in 2008 converted it into the present High Peaks Resort. 

We are honored that you have chosen to be our guests and hope you will return many times to savor all that Lake Placid and the High Peaks region has to offer in all the seasons of the year.