24 Front Street
Address: 85 Shepard Avenue
Old Address: 24 Front Street
Other names: W.F. Roberts (1911), William Stearns (1948-1951), LaFlam (1949); DIS.
Year built: 1920 [probably much earlier]
Architect:
Other information: See "Missions Accomplished: Richard McCarthy's Church-Building Spree" by Sally E. Svenson in Adirondack Life, July-August 2004; see also her book, Adirondack Churches: A History of Design and Building, Adirondack Architectural Heritage, 2006.
An early, but undated, map (probably circa 1911 or later) shows number 24 Front Street noted as "Parsonage;" this is presumably the Presbyterian parsonage built by Elliott Shepard for the Reverend Richard C. McCarthy, who founded the Saranac Lake church as well as many other Presbyterian churches in the region.
According to Sally Svenson's article in Adirondack Life, Margaret Vanderbilt Shepard "outfitted a large new parsonage, from carpet to curtains. According to [Mildred] Roland [McCarthy's daughter], the deed to the place was made out in her mother's name and was meant to be a personal gift. It was a gift the reverend would not accept, and the ownership of the parsonage was eventually transferred to the church."
Further, "Mrs. Shepard, somewhat miffed at this misappropriation, presented Mrs. McCarthy with a private gift of six hundred dollars. This money paid for a plot of land in Saranac Lake and built the McCarthy family home, where Mrs. McCarthy lived until her death in 1928." Presumably, this accounts for the former street name McCarthy Terrace.
