History of White Lake
Compiled by Barbara Spring

Prior to the 18th century, the land surrounding White Lake was likely the home of Ice Age Hunters and then the Oneida tribe of the Iroquois. In 1754, after the French and Indian War, the British and the French claimed the White Lake Area. By 1759 the British controlled the area and divided the land into 100 acre square lots. These 100 acre lots were deeded as patronage award patents of 2,000 acres by a complicated procedure that favored speculators who had access to high officials and funds to pay the necessary fees. The speculator needed permission to buy the land from the Indians, a warrant to survey the land, and a warrant to the attorney general from the governor directing that the patent be prepared. 

In 1781 Matthew Adgate, a member of the first Constitutional Convention and a member of the New York State Assembly purchased 45,000 acres of land in the northern part of Oneida County for two shillings six pence per acre. These were divided into 2 patents and issued January 30, 1798: Adgates Western Tract and Adgates Eastern Tract. White Lake is in Adgates Eastern Tract. He divided this tract into Great Lots and sold the White Lake area Great Lots 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 to Miller and Swanton, these became known as the Miller and Swanton Tract Great Lots. Land in the Miller and Swanton Great Lots 8, 9, 10, and 11 were valued at $1.00 per acre. Great Lot 8 was later conveyed to Phillip Studor in 1891.

In 1880, the Department of Canals bought the lake and a narrow strip of land around it for the purpose of erecting a dam to create a state reservoir as a feeder for the Black River Canal.  From 1881 to 1889 White Lake was one of several area lakes that supplied the Black River and Erie Canals with water. The project was abandoned as the flow of water was found to be inadequate.

By 1900 there were seven camps on the lake, several remain today with various amount of renovation. The first of these was built high above the water on the south shore by Samuel Russell an industrialist from Illion, New York.  He purchased all the property along the south shore of the lake. There he built Idlewhile in 1895 and later Shamrock, and he sold all the lots farther to the east to friends and neighbors from Illion. Farther east along the shore he established a tent camp, Camp Darling, on land that he donated to the Boy Scouts in 1917 that became known as Camp Russell.

A few months later in 1895 Edwin Utley built Camp Utley on the east shore.  Also in the same year Captain IRA Clarke built Rocky Lodge near the south western corner. In 1900 farther north along the western shore were Pratt Smith’s Kon-ne-oon-ga Lodge, Frederick Graff’s Pleasant View, and the Utica City Ice Company’s large parcel. 

The White Lake Ice House built on the peninsula between Outlet Bay and Purgatory Bay was in operation from 1911 until 1928.  It was one of the largest ice houses in the United States.  Ice blocks from White Lake and lakes north were stacked between hay and saw dust 32 feet high. The ice was transported by railroad and furnished creameries and the New York Central Railroad. The night of July 3-4, 1928 the ice house was struck by lightning and burned.

White Lake Lodges opened in the early 1900s continues as a vacation destination. The Girls Friendly House on the east side of the main lake  operated from 1909 until 1915 when it moved to 226 acres on the northern end of the lake and operated as a camp for girls until 1970. Since the 1900s many camps have been built along the shore, guide boats have been replaced with motorboats, kayaks and canoes.

The property owners banded together in August of 1981 and formed the Adirondack White Lake Association (AWLA).  The Association continues to function today with the same concerns: to promote and establish sound policies to conserve, protect, monitor and safely regulate the use and enjoyment of White Lake.

A Story from White Lake

A man from Topeka, KS decided to write a book about churches across the country. He started by flying to San Francisco and working east from there. Going to a very large church, he began taking photographs and making notes. He spotted a golden telephone on the vestibule wall and was intrigued by a sign that read, ‘$10,000 a minute”. Seeking out the pastor, he asked about the phone. The pastor answered that the golden phone was, in fact, a direct line to Heaven, and if he paid the price, he could talk directly to God. The man thanked the pastor and resumed his journey.

As he continued to visit churches in Seattle, Chicago, Cleveland, Buffalo, and throughout the United States, he found more phones, with the same sign, and got the same answer from each of the pastors.

Finally, he arrived in White Lake, NY, in the foothills of the Adirondacks, and, upon entering a nearby church, he saw the usual golden telephone; but this time, the sign read "25 cents a minute.” Fascinated, he sought out the pastor. "Reverend,” he said, “I have been all across the country and in each church, I have found this golden telephone and have been told it is a direct line to Heaven and that I could talk to God, but, in the other churches, the cost was $10,000 a minute. Your sign reads 25 cents a minute.   Why is that?” The pastor, smiling, replied,

"Son, you're in White Lake now. This is God's country…it's a local call."

Excerpted from Adirondack White Lake Association 25th Anniversary booklet by Jay Dwyer