Guide to the William West Durant Collection
1859–1968

©2005

This finding aid was compiled by the Adirondack Museum. The finding aid was converted to EAD by the New York State Archives as part of a virtual research collection that focuses on a pivotal facet of America's environmental history: the Adirondack and Catskill Parks. The project was funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Overview of the Collection

Repository: Adirondack Museum Library

Collection Number: MS 63–258

Creator: Durant, William West

Title: William West Durant Collection

Dates: 1859–1968

Quantity: 3 cu. ft.: 2.8 cu. ft. textual records; ca. 50 photographs; 3 maps; ca. 5 paintings; 1 architectural drawing

Summary: William West Durant was an American architect and entrepreneur. His designs can be found in many of the hotels that accommodated the growing number of visitors to the Adirondack Mountain region of New York State. He designed, built, and decorated many of the first “great camps” in the Adirondacks. This collection consists of correspondence, real estate and financial papers, agreements and legal documents, maps, drawings, and plans, and company form books relating to Durant's business interests and enterprises in the Adirondacks. Additionally, there is correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs of Sagamore Park, and a guest book from Camp Pine Knot, Durant's home in the 1880s.

Sponsor: Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information:

Custodial History: The records were purchased in 1963 from the New Jersey Historical Society. Henry Morgan donated the records in Box 2.

Accruals:

Organization:

Processing: This collection's description was enhanced as a part of the New York State Archives Environmental History Virtual Research Collection Project, 2004. The National Endowment for the Humanities provided funding for this project.

Restrictions on Use: There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of the material.

Restrictions on Access: There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of the material.

Other Available Formats: No other form exists.

Biographical/Historical Note

William West Durant was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1850, the son of Dr. Thomas Clark and Heloise Hannah Timbrel Durant. Durant attended Twickenham School in England and Bonn University in Germany and while living in Europe, Durant traveled extensively. Following his return to the United States, Durant took a position as Supervisor at the Equitable Loan and Trust Company. Durant first came to the Adirondack Mountain region of New York State in 1876 to assist his father in managing the Adirondack Railroad Company. Durant served as secretary and later as president and general manager until the company was absorbed by the Delaware and Hudson Company in 1889. After the merger, Durant continued to sit on the company's board of directors. Later, he worked as a General Land Agent for the Adirondack Company, which was owned by his father. At its peak, the company owned half a million acres in the Adirondack Mountains.

In 1884, Durant married Janet Lathrop Stott and the couple had three children. Following the death of his father in 1885, Durant continued to purchase land in the Adirondacks and began to develop transportation lines and to build homes and resorts. He established the Forest Park and Land Company, of which he was president. Durant built a road between Raquette and Blue Mountain Lakes and established a line of horse–drawn coaches from the terminus of the North Creek Railroad to Blue Mountain Lake. In 1878, he established the Blue Mountain and Raquette Lake Steamboat Line and built several dams to facilitate water travel. He built hotels to accommodate the growing number of visitors to the region and designed, built, and decorated many of the first “great camps” in the Adirondacks. He built Camp Pine Knot in the 1880s, which he took as his home. In 1895, he sold it to Collis P. Huntington. Durant built Camp Uncas for J. P. Morgan, the Sagamore for Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, and also built Camp Kill Kare. He established the Adirondack, Lake George, and Saratoga Telegraph Company as well as the first post office on Long Point, Raquette Lake. He raised funds and donated land to build two churches, the Episcopal Church of the Mission of the Good Shepherd and St. William's Catholic Church. He also built a store on Raquette Lake. In 1900, he built the Marion River City Railroad and oversaw completion of the Raquette Lake Railroad along with fellow investors including Collis Huntington, J. P. Morgan, William Seward Webb, William C. Whitney, John A. Dix, Charles E. Snyder, and Edward M. Burns. Between 1899 and 1900, he built the Eagle's Nest Country Club & Golf Course on Eagle Lake in Hamilton County.

In the early 1900s, due to several poor business deals and difficulties in the settling of his father's estate, Durant lost much of his fortunes. He was divorced from his first wife and married Annie Cotton in 1907. To earn a living, Durant performed title searches for land in the Adirondacks for Charles E. Snyder, a Herkimer, N.Y. attorney and former business partner. Durant died in 1934. In honor of his contributions to the Adirondacks, the lake located between the Village of Indian Lake and Blue Mountain Lake was named for him in 1936.

Content Description

The collection has been intellectually arranged into two series: Business correspondence and records and Personal correspondence and papers; however, it maintains its physical. The collection consists of correspondence; financial papers; legal documents; graphic material; and company form books relating to Durant's business interests and enterprises in the Adirondacks. The records also pertain to real estate holdings and construction projects. Additionally, there is correspondence with J. P. Morgan; historical and genealogical notes; correspondence and biographical information of Thomas Clark Durant; newspaper clippings; and a guest book from Durant's home. The collection also contains records related to Durant's founding of the Raquette Lake Railroad Company. A poem is included, written by Anna Leonowens in Durant's Camp Pine Knot guest book is in Sanskrit. Correspondents include C.P. Huntington, Patrick Moynehan, John L. Barbour, Edward L. Molyneux, and Tyler M. Merwin. A photo album is also included entitled “Sagamore Park in the Adirondacks: Summer Home of William West Durant – from photographs by S.R. Stoddard.”

Related Records

Snyder Law office papers, MS 65–25; Charles E. Snyder papers, MS 65–26; Records of Raquette Lake Post Office, 1889, W.W. D. Postmaster, MS 61–13; and the William West Durant, papers, 1860–1936 at the Adirondack Museum Library; and the Papers of William West Durant, 1864–1935, Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Washington, D.C.

Arrangement

The collection has been intellectually arranged into two series: Business correspondence and records and Personal correspondence and papers. The collection maintains its physical order of which there is no apparent arrangement scheme.

Detailed Description

Series 1: Business correspondence and records

1864–1917

This series forms part of the William West Durant collection and consists of business correspondence; real estate and financial papers; agreements and legal documents; maps; photographs and plans; and company form books relating to Durant's business interests and enterprises in the Adirondacks. These interests and enterprises include the Adirondack Railway Company; Raquette Lake Railroad; Forest Park and Land Company; the Blue Mountain and Raquette Lake Steamboat Line; and the Eagle's Nest Country Club. The records also pertain to real estate holdings and construction projects and also include records related to Durant's founding of the Raquette Lake Railroad Company. Correspondents include J. P. Morgan, C.P. Huntington, Patrick Moynehan, John L. Barbour, Edward L. Molyneux, and Tyler M. Merwin.

Container List

Series 2: Personal correspondence and papers

1863–1957

This series forms part of the William West Durant collection and consists of correspondence, historical and genealogical notes, correspondence and biographical information of Thomas Clark Durant, newspaper clippings, drawings, plans, and a guest book from Durant's home. A poem is included, written by Anna Leonowens in Durant's Camp Pine Knot guest book. The poem is in Sanskrit. This series also includes a photo album entitled “Sagamore Park in the Adirondacks: Summer Home of William West Durant – from photographs by S.R. Stoddard.” The album has tooled leather covers and contains forty black and white photographs of roads to Sagamore; signage; exterior & interior of the main lodge; outbuildings; and the surrounding landscape.

Container List

Related Information

Bibliography, for example

Subjects

Durant, William West, 1850–1934

Huntington, Collis P.

Morgan, J. P.

Railroads

Letters

Webb, W. Seward

Container Lists

Series 1: Business correspondence and records

Series 2: Personal correspondence and papers