Piseco Lake Historical Society, Museum and Riley Tavern

Dear Members of the Piseco Lake Historical Society, Please enjoy our final installment of Piseco’s Historic Happenings featuring the Piseco Tannery. The society is currently working with the DEC to construct an interpretive trail to the site in the near future. We will keep the membership informed on the progress of the project. Fred and Cindy Adcock PLHS Piseco's Historic Happenings #8 Sept. 2020 -The Piseco Tannery- Tanning, the process of tr...Continue reading

PLHS Piseco's Historic Happenings #7 Sept. 2020 Old Rudes Place - The Past Still Stands - After leaving his isolated farm at Shaker Place in 1839, Eli Rudes (1802-1879) purchased property along the east shore of Piseco Lake. Rudes and his family survived by hunting, fishing, and farming the fertile flatlands. As Andrew K. Morehouse was developing his landholdings along the northeast reaches of the lake in the early 1840s, a group of sportsme...n from New York City and Troy traveled by stagecoach to Piseco Lake and boarded at Rudes’ homestead. The enthusiastic sports became so enamored with the abundance of fish, they founded the Piseco Lake Trout Club and built a framed clubhouse near Rudes’ home. After removing 6,356 pounds of fish from the lake over a nine-year period and depleating the trout population, the club disbanded and sold their holdings to Eli Rudes. Rudes promptly moved into the old clubhouse and opened it to tourists. He offered room, board, and guiding services, and his guests soon nicknamed the boarding house Walton Hall and De-Au-La-Rudes. In 1857, Eli Rudes’ son, Daniel, took over operation of the boarding house, naming it Old Rudes Place. Daniel Rudes (1827-1910) expanded the structure and also provided guide services at the popular hotel. The business was so successful that in the 1880s, a group of Amsterdam, New York businessmen contemplated running a steamboat service on Piseco Lake for the guests at Rudes’ hotel. Currently, it is unknown if this group was associated with Ceylon Clark who acquired the steam packet, Piseco Pride, in 1883. Daniel Rudes operated the hotel from 1857 to 1890 and then leased the establishment to various entrepreneurs, including William N. Courtney, Fred Morey, William Lamkey, and Thomas Olmstead. Len Anibal later purchased the property, and after operating the hotel for a few years, sold it to Mary Ma Baker in 1939, naming it the Piseco Tavern. In 1947, Reverend Andrew McAllister purchased the business and developed the property into a trailer park. McAllister used the old hotel as a residence and ran the Galilean Bible Seminary from the facility providing accommodations for church retreats. It was at this time that McAllister named the property Bonnie Brae (Gaelic for "Pleasant Hill"). The hotel structure, the oldest surviving building in the Town of Arietta located on Higgins Bay Road in Piseco, still stands today. See more

Dear Members of the Piseco Lake Historical Society, September 10, 2020 As summer is winding down, we hope you are all healthy and safe. We would like to inform the membership of this month’s activities at the Museum:... *There are 99 paid memberships for the PLHS as of September 10, 2020. If you have not yet renewed your membership, please see the attached form. Thank you very much for supporting the society’s efforts to preserve Piseco’s history! *New blinds have been installed on first floor of the Riley House, and the porch ramp and deck have been repaired and stained. *The metal historic sign outside the Riley Tavern has been removed and will be restored during the off-season by Fred Adcock. *A large amount of debris has been removed from behind the Riley Tavern and disposed of by town workers. Thank you to Rick Wildt and Craig Small for arranging the removal. *A small collection of unique glass plate negatives was donated to the historical society. We are in the process of digitizing the images for future display and for our archives. *Please visit our Facebook page for news, forms, photos, and updates for the PLHS at: https://www.facebook.com/PisecoLakeHistoricalSociety *Coming soon! Read about one of the oldest surviving buildings in Piseco in the upcoming installment of Piseco’s Historic Happenings. *Can you identify the people or location of this mystery photo that was donated from a local collection? Thank you very much for supporting the Historical Society of Piseco! Fred and Cindy Adcock, Piseco Lake Historical Society

PLHS Piseco's Historic Happenings #6 Aug 2020 Herbert M. Lloyd and Camp Canyenga This article was inspired by inquiries the Piseco Lake Historical Society has received regarding the relocation and history of Camp Canyenga in Piseco. ...Continue reading

PLHS Piseco's Historic Happenings" #5 Aug 2020 Tim Crowley, Piseco Gummer" Timothy John Crowley was born to poor Irish immigrants around 1858 near Osceola, New York. His parents endured continuous hardships to maintain their small homestead, as his father toiled on nearby farms for scant wages. Tim’s mother died when he was a small boy, and soon after, he was bound out to work for a local dairy farmer until coming of age when he sought employment elsewhere. O...Continue reading

Dear Members of the Piseco Lake Historical Society, We hope you are all enjoying the summer heat wave and staying healthy and safe. Despite the temporary closing of the Piseco Lake Historical Society Museum and the cancellation of our summer meetings due to the current Covid-19 restrictions, we are continuing with building maintenance, display development, and our digital Historic Happenings articles. If you have any questions regarding local history, research mat...ters, etc., please feel free to contact the society via this email address. *There are 96 paid members for the PLHS as of August 2, 2020. If you have not yet renewed your membership, the form is attached. Thank you very much for supporting the society’s efforts to preserve Piseco’s history with your memberships and donations. *The historical society has received a generous donation from The Karen D. Wilson Charitable Fund, and we would like to sincerely thank the Wilson family for this grant in memory of Karen. *Our appreciation goes out to Bob Thomson (Thomson Construction) for the installation of four new windows on the front of the Riley House this week, and to the Town of Arietta for contributing funds for this project. Plans are for the remaining four windows to be completed during the summer of 2021, and the replacement of the Tavern’s cedar roof within the next few years. *The window treatments in both the Riley House and Riley Tavern are being updated this summer, and the porch on the main building will be repaired and stained in the next several weeks. *Please visit our Facebook page for news, forms, photos, and updates for the PLHS at: https://www.facebook.com/PisecoLakeHistoricalSociety *Coming soon! Read about Piseco’s Gummer in the upcoming installment of Piseco’s Historic Happenings! Thank you very much for supporting the Historical Society of Piseco. Take care and hope to see you soon. Fred and Cindy Adcock, Piseco Lake Historical Society