Great Camp Sagamore

This weekend we went to a wedding at Great Camp Sagamore in upstate New York. Smack in the middle of the Adirondack Mountains, this former vacation home of the Vanderbilt family is an excellent example of how to camp in style.

Here are some pics…

the main lodge.

After purchasing the camp from its designer, William Durant, in 1901, Vanderbilt promptly ordered flush toilets, a sewer system, and hot and cold running water installed. He added a hydroelectric plant and an outdoor bowling alley, tennis court, and croquet lawn, as well as a 100,000 gallon reservoir, and a working farm.

one of the camp buildings.

Although Vanderbilt went down with the Lusitania in 1915, his widow, Margaret Emerson, and all of the Vanderbilt children and grandchildren returned to the Sagamore faithfully for the next thirty-nine years. Not a bad place to spend your summer vacation…

birds eye view of the camp from our window.

Sagamore Lake- as seen from our canoe

Now that Great Camp Sagamore is a National Landmark, they have frequent tours and all sorts of activities available. The Guilded Age Tour sounds especially fun.

Vintage Water Bottles

Ever since the earliest humans realized that they could carry water in gourds and animal skins, transporting fresh, clean water has been a serious enterprise.  In 218 BCE, Hannibal and his troops recuperated from battle at Source Perrier in France. A hundred years later the Romans were building huge aqueducts to carry fresh water to their cities. Leonardo Da Vinci was fond of water from San Pellegrino,  and Napoleon was known to carry fresh spring water with him at all times.

Many of today’s most famous water companies have been operating for over a hundred years. In 1845, Poland Spring Water Company was founded when tourists wanted to bring home the delicious spring water as a souvenir of their vacation. Perrier was first bottled in 1863 under the rule of Napoleon III, and Deer Park spring water was founded in 1863. President Taft and his wife spent their honeymoon at Deer Park, and as was fashionable then, they “took the waters.”

Pont du Gard, Roman Aqueduct in Southern France.

President Taft and family.

Great Bear was founded in 1888 to transport spring water from New York State to Manhattan’s growing population.

The water bottles were packed in wooden crates and delivered to homes and offices just like they are today.

water delivery.

antique water coolers

We found our Great Bear water bottle at one of our favorite antique stores.

three of our favorites

We also use one as a doorstop.

We buy them whenever we find them- which lately has been less and less frequently. Maybe people are starting to catch on…