Eight

Keuka Lake

Keuka Lake, with its unique “Y” shape, is considered by those who visit it to be the most beautiful of the Finger Lakes. Keuka has been important to the people who live on or near it. Most who summer here, or visit, return on a regular basis; many retire to Keuka Lake. Some families have a tradition of gathering “at the lake” and would not consider a reunion held anywhere else. Keuka Lake has a well-deserved reputation for fishing. The men in this early 1950s Bill Potts photograph are shown coming in from a morning of fishing.

The gaff-rigged sailboat in this print from a glass plate is a dry-sailer, judging from the way the sailors are dressed. This was a good way to spend a pleasant Sunday afternoon. Sailing is still very popular on Keuka Lake.

The first regatta of the Keuka Yacht Club’s 1892 season was sailed over the course from the Ark to Crosby and back. The judges were in the private steam yacht Keuka, shown at the extreme left. The Wanita, sailed by H. Allen Wagener, crossed the finish line after more than three hours, just thirty seconds ahead of the Juno, sailed by Captain W.H. Whitfield (see facing page).

The Penn Yan (formerly the Mary Bell), one of the steamers on the lake when this photograph was taken c. 1910, was a favorite of day-trippers who would take the train to one end of the lake, take a steamboat excursion, and return home by train from the other end. The railroad schedules showed both train and boat times.

The Juno was launched in 1892 and carried 8,394 passengers in her twenty-one years, according to the log kept by owner “Skipper” William H. Whitfield. In this c. 1900 photograph, Whitfield (on the right in the front) is hosting a dinner shaded by a canopy hung from the mast. (Photograph courtesy Bonnie Barney.)

The Ark was so-named because the original structure, the cabins from the steamboat Keuka, were towed to this east side location on a scow in 1840. Shown in this 1871 stereoscopic image is Cal Carpenter, owner, on the rail in the foreground. This building was demolished in 1873 and replaced by a larger building (see photograph on p. 92).

W.J. Harris was the photographer who owned this floating studio docked near Indian Pines. He was active on the lake at the turn of the century and is credited with many of the steamboat photographs taken from the water. The long exposures of those day’s films required getting fairly close to one’s subject on a steady platform.

A pile driver moored on the lake provided a great diving platform for these boys on a hot summer day. This photograph was made from the original glass plate. While Harris’s name was not on the plate, this is the type of photograph that would require the floating studio shown on the previous page.

The Holmes is docked at Maple Point in this c. 1900 photograph from the original glass plate. Maple Point was the summer home of George Lapham of Penn Yan. The elegant house on the dock matched the home in architectural style. Many of the passengers on the Holmes no doubt wished they could get off and visit.

Electric Park on Brandy Bay was a popular spot for entertainment in the early 1900s. It was named Electric Park because it was next to the generating station for the P.Y., K.P. & B. Railroad. There were public docks, a dance pavilion, and refreshments in the park. When the railroad was discontinued in 1927, the buildings were burned and cottages were built.

Sulphur springs at the Ark made it a very popular spot for vacations and Sunday outings. In this c. 1900 print, a family is shown beside the lake with the Ark in the background. The building was torn down in 1904 and the area is now known as Bimini Springs.

“Sunbathing” is not an appropriate title for this lakeside photograph. Turn-of-the-century fashions permitted very little sun to reach these six young ladies. The third and fourth boats in line have a chair on the stern seat—a sure sign of a fishing boat.

Camp Arey was a 30-acre camp on a point on the east side of the lake. “The Tree Class” is the title of this c. 1920s photograph. The camp, formerly owned by John D. Rockefeller, included 2,000 feet of lake frontage, a 100-foot waterfall, and 400-plus wooded acres for hiking.

The long exposure required for this c. 1910 photograph made from the original glass plate caused the white clothing to really stand out. This is probably another example of the type of picture that would have been taken from a floating studio. Note that the water comes very close to the porch.

Although many of the men are wearing ribbon badges, we have no idea what the occasion for their gathering was, unless it was to celebrate a great catch. Seth Green, veteran fisherman and United States Fish Commissioner, said in 1881, “I think Lake Keuka unsurpassed by any waters in America as a Fishing Resort.” He is best remembered for his trout-fishing rig.

A Sunday school picnic, complete with water activities on Keuka Lake, was an occasion these kids would look forward to all year. In 1906 they would probably have traveled to the picnic on a steamboat or the trolley, making a big day of it.

A Bogart family reunion at Uncle Dan’s cottage on the bluff was the occasion for this family portrait by Ralph B. Dykins. The author’s aunt, mother, great-grandmother, and grandmother are in a line on the right side of the porch. The photographer’s son, who should know better, is the one who didn’t hold still.

These two girls, Gertrude Vosburg Champlain and Mildred Vosburg Osborne, have caught quite a string of fish! There were no notes with the glass-plate negative to explain what they used for bait or what they hold in their hands. If they are hooks, they would be illegal today.

Front porches have always been great places to pose a family group like this, in part because of the favorable lighting there. The photographer has left the case for his glass plates in the picture.

These two interior scenes of a cottage are taken from the original glass plates. Most interior photographs taken in the days before flash photography are of more formal rooms, whereas these portray the relaxed atmosphere of the lake. As electric lighting did not come to most places on the lake as early as it did in town, the oil lamps are not a good indication of the date. They are assumed to date from World War I.

The dock that these three little girls are under is quite high, probably to accommodate the steamboats. The girls do not appear very sure of themselves in the boat, which probably rocks when they move.

Fred Vosburg shows his wife, Martha, the fish he has caught. The couple is standing in front of their cottage on Central Point. Now all he has to do is convince her that she should clean it as well as cook it.