This geocache was placed on private property with the permission
of the property caretakers (Randy & Sandra). Please respect the
private property. Te grounds are also used for Ceremonies. If a
wedding or another ceremoney is taking place, please respect the
ceremony.
St. Williams on Long Point is a not-for-profit, non-denominational,
lakeside retreat and cultural center, accessible only by boat on
Raquette Lake, New York.
There are a number of launch sites to start from. Please choose the
Launch site that best fits your needs. I have included three
waypoints. The Golden Beach waypoint may require a day use fee,
since it is a state park.
Raquette Lake can at times have considerable winds and choppy
water. Be sure you are comfortable with your watercraft in these
conditions. Maybe instead of shooting directly across the lake, you
can paddle or ride close to the shoreline.
HISTORY OF ST. Williams on Long Point:
Even before Mercer's ice cream and the W.W. Durant boat, Adirondack
visitors have enjoyed Raquette Lake. The last leg of a two day
journey into the mountains from New York City, it's water ways
provided transportation to the peace, beauty and silence of nature
so attractive to city dwellers of the Industrial Age. Developers,
like William West Durant, saw the financial opportunity in offering
land and vacation homes to these wealthy urbanites, tired of the
noise, crowding and smog of the cities they had themselves created.
So, while building Great Camps like Pine Knot and Sagamore, Durant
was not only establishing summer residences for families like the
Morgans and the Huntingtons, but creating towns for the workers and
families that lived year round in the mountains, maintaining and
running the Great Camps their employers visited only a month or two
out of the year.
In 1889, William West Durant established one such town on Long
Point of Raquette Lake . He built a post office there and a general
store, naming the town Durant , NY . A year later, he responded to
the needs of the Catholics in the area by donating the land, the
materials and the money to build a Catholic Church just down the
shore from the general store. Designed by the J.C. Cady Company of
New York City , the church was completed in 1890 by Hammond and
Mosher, a contracting company in Saratoga Springs . William West
Durant entitled the church St. Williams. The following year, the
Franciscan Friars, Order of Friars Conventual, began administering
to the needs of the parishioners of St. Williams. As transportation
technology advanced and the railroad arrived within the blue line,
the water-locked town of Durant , NY (having changed its name to
Raquette lake soon after its creation) relocated to its present
location, where the railroad spur from New York City ended. Still,
the cedar shakes and shingled church, St. Williams on Long Point,
continued to serve the parish until the end of the 1930s. It was
when the rectory in the town of Raquette Lake burned in 1938 that
the new St. Williams, in town, was built, despite the financial
strains of the Great Depression. The parish, now with two official
churches, saw more frequent use sway towards the St. Williams in
town, the St. Williams on Long Point offering masses mostly during
the summers. Finally, in 1979, with the death of Father Henry
Gibeau, the parish fell under the jurisdiction of St. Anthony's in
Inlet, NY and St. Williams, the first Catholic church in the area,
became a mission church to a parish it had help to establish.
St. Williams on Long Point and the old general store of Durant , NY
(having been deeded together to the Catholic church) were still in
use, functioning as a summer retreat center for Franciscan Friars.
One member of a class retreat in 1974 felt a close connection to
the church, the house and the spiritual, natural and historical
aspects they encompassed. Brother Ed Falsey, serving as director of
St. Williams from 1983, opened and closed the house, bunkhouse and
church for use in the summers by fellow Franciscan Friars. As use
of the camp continued to decline and a deferred maintenance plan
was instituted, Br. Ed remembers climbing under the church at the
beginning of each season to patch broken foundations and loose
piers. For the church's centennial celebration, Br. Ed and Louie
Burke climbed the dome of St. Williams to install a cross built by
Louie Burke and painted yellow to match the trim. The mass
celebrating the church's hundredth anniversary in 1990, was held in
the St. Williams chapel of Raquette Lake, the foundation of the
church on the Point too unsure to accommodate a congregation safely
and the boat docking logs torn loose by winter's ice.
After the centennial, Br. Ed knew a change was in St. Williams
future. The condition of the buildings as well as the withdrawal of
the Franciscan Friars from the diocese (including St. Williams)
hinted at the church's wish to end their relationship with the
property. If the church did so by selling, the probability that the
buyer would see the value in the land, not the historically rich,
but ailing, structures, would be high. If the property was sold,
the bunkhouse, the old general store and the church would likely be
torn down.
Following models like the Covenant House in New York and the
Samaritan Counciling Center, Br. Ed began to develop an idea to
save St. Williams. A non-profit organization aimed at providing a
quiet retreat location for religious, educational and other
non-profit organizations, could maintain and restore the facilities
with a respect for the rich history and natural beauty of the site.
It would mean much restoration, rebuilding and repairs, but Br. Ed
was confident that citizens of Raquette Lake valued their local
history and would work hard to preserve it.
Br. Ed presented the idea to the Catholic church and between the
winter of 1992 and the spring of 1993, St. Williams on Long Point,
Inc. was created. Deeded the church, house, bunkhouse, boathouse
and the land on which they rested, the new non-profit organization
had its work cut out for it. A board had to be formed, officers
elected, a mission statement written, by laws drafted, tax forms
filed, funding earned and a purpose fulfilled even while the church
threatened collapse within another winter. Charter trustees include
Al Bates, Jim Dillon, Earl Evans, Father Marullo, Elizabeth
Forsell, John Van Iderstine, Beatrice Garvin, Joe Pierson and
Lowell Seifter. Sue Norris began attending the board meetings to
become more familiar with the organization she would be appointed
director of in May the following year. Nine days after the start of
1993, officers were elected and the certificate of incorporation
had been filed. With Jim Dillon as president, Joe Pierson as vice
president, Al Bates as treasurer and Lowell Seifter as secretary, a
new era in St. Williams history had begun.