Why is there a Silver Lake Sea Serpent at Perry Public Library? It's guarding the treasure!
What treasure? Some would say the Stowell-Wiles Art Gallery that contains the Lemuel Wiles Collection of paintings. Others would say it guards the letterbox treasure chest. Both are correct!
First, a little background on the Sliver Lake Sea Serpent:
Business on Silver Lake had been painfully slow in the early summer of 1855. Mr. Walker had an idea about how to change all of that. He owned the Walker Hotel, and to run his hotel, he desperately needed customers.
Night after night in an old tannery along the Silver Lake Outlet, Walker and a few friends met and worked together to make A.B.’s deviously creative idea a reality. Slowly, foot by foot, a sea serpent grew out of a coiled wire, waterproof canvas, paint and the excited energy of a few men with an idea.
Weeks later, on July 13th, Walker and friends saw a boatload of fishermen rowing out into the moonlit night. They decided it was the time to reveal their new creation. From a shanty on the west shore, the conspirators operated the bellows which filled their sunken monster with air (which came through a hose that ran through a gas pipe sunk in the lake). As the head rose gracefully to a height of about eight feet and various other parts rose out of the water to equal heights, the fishermen received the fright of their lives, while Walker and his friends’ received results far beyond their wildest dreams!
It didn’t take long for word to spread about this hideous serpent. The hotels in Silver Lake and Perry were filled to capacity as people poured into the area from across the country to see the Silver Lake Serpent! They came by train, stage, buggy and horseback. Several expeditions were launched, including a whale-man with a harpoon, a crazed society of men armed with guns, and even companies who spent thousands on employees bent on capturing the creature.
Second, a little background on the Stowell-Wiles Art Gallery
The Stowell-Wiles Art Gallery was dedicated in 1935 as an addition to the 1914 Carnegie library. The gallery and its original 18 paintings were the gift of Dr. Charles H. Stowell, nephew of artist Lemuel M. Wiles (1826-1905), a Perry native whose Hudson River school oil paintings depict both local scenes and views of Europe and the Western United States. The collection has grown to 44 paintings, most of which have been restored through an ongoing program funded by grants and individual donations.
Artist Lemuel M. Wiles was born in West Perry, a hamlet about one mile from this gallery. He showed an early interest in sketching, but his parents urged him to become a teacher. He was graduated from the New York State Normal School in Albany in 1847. His career as artist and teacher progressed together. Wiles was a student of J.F. Cropsey and William Hart for short periods, but he was largely self-taught. He was head master of a private school (1852-7) in Buffalo, librarian in Utica (1857-63), and for many years was art director at Ingham University in LeRoy.
Now, WP1 is knee high at the corner of the wooden fence where it meets the black aluminum one that gives your the reference number for the padlocked cache which is is ONLY available during library hours (treasure box in Stowell-Wiles Art Gallery room straight ahead of the doors). Fill in the blanks with titles of the paintings (only bottom 2 rows and all answers should only have one possibility) and use the appropriate letter to reveal the combination.
____________________________ Storm; 1st letter of missing word
____________________________ Valley; last letter of missing word
____________________________ Time; last letter of missing word
____________________________ the Trossachs, Scotland; 1st letter of missing word
____________________________ Snow; 1st letter of missing word
____________________________ Abbey; ONLY 2 word title (no subtitle); last letter of missing word
____________________________ by the Sea; last letter of missing word
Near Home of ____________________________ ; penultimate letter of missing word
____________________________ Dome: 1st letter of missing word
____________________________ Graces: 1st letter of missing word
____________________________ Peconic, Long Island; 1st letter of missing word
Off the Coast of ____________________________ ; last letter of missing word
Bay at ____________________________ Lake; 4th letter of missing word
____________________________ Rock ; penultimate letter of missing word
Cathedral ____________________________ ; last letter of missing word
The Stowell-Wiles Art Gallery room where the paintings are stored is occasionally used for meetings. The great majority of meetings will be listed on the library website. If there is a meeting, please wait until meeting is over or come back another day.
Library hours are:
Monday: 11AM – 8PM
Tuesday: 11AM – 8PM
Wednesday: 11AM – 8PM
Thursday: 11AM – 8PM
Friday: 11AM – 5PM
Saturday: 9AM – 1PM
Closed Sundays and federal holidays
Legend of Silver Lake Sea Serpent
Perry Public Library
Thanks to Jessica De Marte, Library Director, for permission to place this cache!
The stamp and the stamp pad are NOT swag! Neither are the treasure chest or sea serpent! Treasure box has some small portable games in it. The FTF may choose whatever swag they wish as prize for FTF. All others, please trade fairly!
Congratulations to Cayuga Crew for FTF!