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Lucy Carnegie’s Wilderness Estate at North Point

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Lucy Carnegie’s Wilderness Estate at North Point

….A good read for those of us who love Raquette Lake history

Carnegie's North Point

Carnegie’s North Point

“Lucy Coleman Carnegie, the five-foot tall daughter of William and Nancy Coleman (William was a business associate of Andrew Carnegie) had married Andrew Carnegie’s younger brother Tom. Tom is described as a quiet, reserved, gentleman, especially when compared to Andrew whose gregarious, head strong personality was said to mirror Lucy’s more than his own.

In 1881 Tom and Lucy bought twenty-thousand acres on Cumberland Island off the coast of Georgia and began building a fifteen-thousand square foot home that was to become the summer residence for them and their nine children. But before its completion Tom died from pneumonia and Lucy became a very wealthy widow.

Lucy doted on her children and centered her life on family. To encourage their interest in out door activities, she built a complex of recreational facilities that included a stable with stalls for forty horses, bought two yachts (Lucy was the first female member of the New York Yacht Club). In addition, there was a golf course, several tennis courts, a skeet shooting area and woodlands where she loved to hunt with her son Andrew.

No one knows for certain why Lucy decided to build a camp in the Adirondacks, but we do know that her cousin, Mary Clark Stott had a camp on Raquette Lake and that she and her family rented the camp for the summer of 1898. Andrew II was particularly attracted to the area and returned to spend the summer of 1900 with his new bride, Bertha.”    – See more at: http://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2014/04/lucy-carnegies-great-camp-raquette-lake.html