Historical Highlights

Tremont Calendars

In 1958, Ken Tremont started a lumber business in the old depot building of the Troy and New England Railway (see 1961, 1975 and 1976 photos). It served the community for their building needs until 1985, when Tremont moved to a new, larger store and lumber yard. For over 25 years, Tremont Lumber offered calendars featuring historic scenes of the Town of Sand Lake. Those scenes and calendars are reproduced below. [Click on any image to see a larger version.]
1961 \| 1962 \| 1963 \| 1964 \| 1965 \| 1966 \| 1967 \| 1968 \| 1969 \| 1970 \| 1971 \| 1972 \| 1973 1974 \| 1975 \| 1976 \| 1977 \| 1978 \| 1979 \| 1980 \| 1981 \| 1982 \| 1983 \| 1984 \| 1985 \| 1986 \| 1987
1961	The Trolley station for the Troy and New England Railway. Here is shown the station with the boarding houses on either side and the now "motorized" taxis ready to take the passengers to their desired destinations throughout Averill Park, Burden Lake, Sand Lake and Taborton. Both of the houses are still standing. The station was razed in 2004.
1962	Hilke's Averill Park Hotel. This picture can be compared to the two in the SAND LAKE book. On p.53, it was Scram's Collegiate Institute; p.46 shows it when Horatio Averill converted it back into a hotel. It was destroyed by fire in 1921. The Church of the Covenant currently sits on the site.
1963	Travelers' Rest. This picture gives a close-up of the beautiful hotel that stood where Miller's Automotive Services is now (see also "Gas Stations in the Town of Sand Lake"). We get a side view of the hotel on p.43 of the SAND LAKE book. It housed the Averill Park Post Office in the 1920s and was destroyed by fire in 1939.
1964	Burden Lake Hotel, a.k.a. Maple Grove Hotel on Burden Lake. This picture is of the hotel built after the one shown in the SAND LAKE book on p. 73 was torn down. This building had two fires one in 1968 and again in 1986.
1965	I.N. Wright's Drug Store in 1900 -- "Dr. Wright's Drugstore." The Averill Park Pharmacy was run by Dr. I.N. Wright, with a grocery store run by Tom Kennedy in the front section. Frank Sowalsky's Ice Cream Parlor was in the building on the side. An A&P store was there from the mid-1930s to the 1950s. Ben and Doris Gauch had a gift shop and appliance store there from 1952 to 1986. More recently, the building housed Dillenbeck's American Karate and currently is vacant.
1966	The calendar (as well as the sign on the building) identifies this picture as "Lakeview Hotel -- Sand Lake, NY" (not to be confused with the Lake View in Averill Park village). Closer investigation determined it is Hogarty's on Burden Lake Road, on 3rd lake. The building still stands and is an apartment house. In the 1960s, Red Cross swimming lessons were held on the beach.
1967	"Elkhorn Hotel - Now Journey's End before 1928 - West Sand Lake." The hotel, circa 1890, was also known as the Elk Horn Hotel and the Arlington Hotel. It was a trolley stop for the Troy & New England Railway Company. The tracks ran close to what was then the rear door of the hotel. The front door of the hotel was on old Route 43, now Werger Road. Route 43 now runs where the old trolley tracks did; thus, the former rear door of the old Arlington Hotel became the front door of the Journey's End Hotel. The restaurant is vacant at this time.
1968	Crist Crape's Central Hotel. This hotel was built c. 1800 by Clement Sliter and had various owners before it became Crist Crape's Central Hotel. It was located on the southeast corner of Taborton Road and Routes 43 and 66. The Crape family raised much of the meat, poultry and produce to serve to persons traveling from Albany to Boston by stagecoach and from Troy by horse and buggy or trolley. The hotel had a beautiful mahogany bar and a ballroom upstairs, both notable attractions. It was razed in 1957.
1969	McLaren Knitting Mill. Compare this picture to the one in the SAND LAKE book on pp. 24-25 showing McLaren Knitting Mill, Thermo Knitting Mill (now Bonded Concrete) and Cedarhurst. In this picture, the trolley tracks that ran between the mill and Cedarhurst can be clearly seen.
1970	The Brewster House. Begun as a tavern and then enlarged as a hotel, this building had several owners before it was acquired by Fred Brewster and became the Brewster House. In 1897, it burned and was rebuilt. Subsequently, it housed various businesses, including a bus garage for the KLWM Bus Company. The building was demolished in the early 1930s. Several gas stations and A.K. Wolfe's Appliance Store have since occupied this corner; currently, Walgreen's stands on the site of this and several other buildings to the west, including the old post office (see 1972 calendar below).
1971	C.A. Nash Grocery Store. This was the first Nash's Grocery Store (formerly the A.E. Horton Store), on the northeast corner of what is now the intersection of Routes 43 and 66 and Taborton Road. Chester Nash later acquired the A.E. Horton Store (later Nash's and Sand Lake Post Office, Country Token, [Jill's] Hidden Gardens and Park Place Consignment) as shown on p. 80 of the SAND LAKE book in 1911.
1972	Bart Warren's Blacksmith Shop. The blacksmith shop was on Route 150 south, near the Four Corners. From left to right are Dennis Warren, William Mielenz, and Bart Warren. Bart Warren was the father of Joseph Warren Sr., former town clerk and supervisor.
1973	West Sand Lake Post Office. Here we have a closeup of the front of the West Sand Lake Post Office. The picture in the SAND LAKE book on p.11 gives a good view of its location on Albany Street. In 1978, the post office relocated to the 43 Mall.
1974	The First Presbyterian Church of Sand Lake. From 1808 until 1835, Presbyterians worshipped at the meetinghouse that is now Sand Lake Baptist Church. The First Presbyterian Church of Sand Lake was dedicated October 28, 1835. In 1967, it merged with the Averill Park Methodist Church and formed the Church of the Covenant. The Town of Sand Lake purchased the church, remodeled it, added offices, and used it as the Town Hall from 1972 to 1999 (the manse at the left was demolished to provide additional parking). In fall 2003, the structure saw further remodeling to become the Sand Lake Center for the Arts.
1975	Troy and New England Railway. One of two 1975 calendars has a busy picture of the trolley arriving at the station and the horse and buggy taxis and drivers available for the passengers to be transported to the end of their journey.
1975	William Mielenz's Wagonmaker's Shop. The other calendar for 1975 shows Mielenz's carriage shop, which operated from 1874 to 1917 and was located on the southwest corner of the Four Corners in West Sand Lake. It provided "carriages, wagons, carts, sleighs, harnesses, blankets, whips, etc." Proudly displaying one of their sleighs are from left to right, Albert Cipperly, Albert Goewey, William Mielenz, George Eweg and Bart Warren.
1976	Troy & New England Railway. Tthree small pictures at the Troy & New England Railway are featured. The bottom picture, also seen on one of the 1975 calendars (above), shows the horses covered and waiting for the trolley which has just arrived. As soon as they are loaded, the last phase for the passengers getting off the trolley will soon be underway. The upper left photo looks down Orient Avenue and shows a distant view of the trolley coming into the Averill Park station and Clum's Hotel (the white building on the right). The picture in the upper right shows a closeup of Clum's Hotel, which is still standing and is an apartment house.
1977	Brown's Crooked Lake House. This photo is very similar to the earlier one in the SAND LAKE book on p.94 when it was Minahan's Wendell Inn circa 1910. When it was Brown's, Gov. Theodore Roosevelt and his family were frequent guests.
1978	Main Street in Averill Park, Looking East. This 1910s view shows, from left to right, Traveler's Rest Hotel, Jake Warger's Dry Goods Store (which later became [Eastman's] Averill Park Market and Variety Store), George Shriner's Store and the Averill Park Post Office. Which will win the race: the horse-drawn carriage or the "horseless carriage"?
1979	Albert R. Fox -- Mansion at Sand Lake, N. Y. Built circa 1840-1845. More recent research indicates the Mansion was built around 1847. Glass factory owner and, briefly, New York State Senator Albert Fox built what is considered to be one of the finest Greek Revival style residences in Rensselaer County. The Mansion is on both the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places. SEE ALSO our web feature on the Fox Mansion. Note that an historical roadside marker, funded by a William G. Pomeroy Foundation grant, will be erected at the Fox Mansion in 2021.
1980	Glass Lake School District #8. Glass Lake School was on the corner of Glass Lake Road and Routes 43 & 66. It still stands and is the home of Mrs. Terry Rutherford. Behind the house are the boys' and girls' outhouses, now used as storage. SEE ALSO our web feature on town schools prior to 1929.
1981	Sunday Morning after Mass, St. Henry's Church, Averill Park. Spiritual guidance was first given to area German Catholics in private homes in Poestenkill. St. Mary's of the Woods Chapel was built c.1860 in Poestenkill. The original wooden structure of St. Henry's church was dedicated on April 17, 1870, in Averill Park, on land donated by John Aken, a well-known mill owner. In 1977, the building was sold and moved to be reassembled. The brick church was built in 1902 and was renovated in 1982.
1982	The Glass Lake Methodist Episcopal Church. This view from the hill shows the church with Glass Lake in the background. (The house on the right is owned by the Ackner family.) Built c. 1833, the wooden church was ravaged by fire in 1913; after the fire, a new stone building was erected and dedicated on November 15, 1914. In 1940, the congregation merged with that of the Averill Park Methodist Church. This building later became the Perry Funeral Chapel, now the Perry-Komdat Funeral Chapel.
1983	District #1 School, Sheer Road. This school was located west of Burden Lake near the northwest corner of Sheer and Biittig Roads. SEE ALSO our web feature on town schools prior to 1929, as well as the historical marker marking the site of the District School #1.
1984	Community Club House at Faith Mills, built by W.D. Mahony, January 1919, as a recreation building for the mill workers and townspeople. The Community Clubhouse provided after-hours social activities for mill workers and townspeople. It had a movie theater, four bowling lanes, a cafeteria and a large meeting hall with a stage. It was the entertainment center of the town for many years. The building no longer stands.
1985
1986	Lake Pharmacy -- old and new buildings. Page 20 of the SAND LAKE book shows the mural of Burton Thomas's home painted on the side of the new pharmacy (l. in photo) at the Bicentennial. This was the site of his home. Sand Lake Dry Cleaning & Laundromat is now on that site.
1987	Main Street, Averill Park. The 1987 calendar is a view of Main Street, Averill Park looking west from the corner of Routes 43 and (old) 66 and Eastern Union Turnpike towards the current Jiffy Mart; the trees are no more.