Detail from a 1912 Upper Saranac Lake map. Courtesy of Natalie Leduc.Address: New York Route 30, Upper Saranac Lake
Other names: Camp Nepahwin
Year built: 1898
Camp Ne-Pah-Win is shown on the 1912 map of Upper Saranac Lake on the northwestern shore, opposite Green Island. It was built in 1898 by Dr. Samuel W. Lambert, who redeveloped a hospital for women in New York City and, with financial help from J.P. Morgan, started the Columbia Teaching Hospital, later Columbia Medical Center.
The camp's layout is typical of the era. Ne-Pah-Win lodge contains a great room and a dining area with a kitchen to the rear. There are outbuildings for ice, wood, and servants' quarters.
By 1905 the property was acquired by industrialist and philanthropist Cleveland Dodge, and possibly by his grandfather. Dodge had previously purchased a children's camp called Ne-Pah-Win in Bradford County, Pennsylvania for the YMCA around 1905 . Ne-Pah-Win is a native American term for "sleeping lake." Around 1920, Camp Ne-Paw-Win was sold to Robert Bentley, owner of Camp Canaras next door. The two camps were later given to St. Lawrence University, and now form two-thirds of the univesirty's retreat under the name Camp Canaras.
Source:
Larry Koch, Upper Saranac Lake Mailboat, February 2016, "Camp Canaras - Upper Saranac Lake, New York"
