The First United Methodist Church traces its history to 1839, when circuit-preacher Samuel Smith held meetings on various Sundays [in private homes] in Saranac Lake, North Elba, Bloomingdale, Franklin Falls, Union Falls, Merrillsville, Vermontville and West Harrietstown. People came from all over to these meetings — some in boats, some with ox-team and some just plain walking. In 1840 there were about 75 members in the church.
According to the "Harrietstown" chapter of Frederick Joel Seaver's 1918 History of Franklin County, page 391, the first organized effort to build a church occurred about 1876 and was non-sectarian. "This society was called 'The People's Church,' and its trustees were Van Buren Miller, William F. Martin, Orlando Blood, Robert Smith and A. Fitch O'Brien. Though a lot was purchased for a church building, no pastor appears ever to have been employed, and the movement was abandoned in 1880, after the Methodists and Episcopalians had organized. The church lot was reconveyed to the grantor, and it is difficult now [c. 1918] to find anyone in the village who remembers that such an undertaking ever had existence."
 Church of St. Luke, the Beloved Physician - Episcopal, Saranac Lake |
 St. John's in the Wilderness Episcopal Church (seasonal) - Paul Smiths |
 First United Methodist Church, Saranac Lake |
 First Presbyterian Church of Saranac Lake |
The second St. Bernard's Church (burned & replaced) - Catholic, Saranac Lake |
 Seventh Day Adventist Church (new building) - Saranac Lake |
 Saranac Lake Baptist Church, relocated to Broadway |
 St. Regis Presbyterian Church (closed) - Keese Mills |
 Jewish Community Center (closed; torn down) - Saranac Lake |
 Chapel Island (seasonal) - Upper Saranac Lake |
 St. John's in The Wilderness of Lake Clear—Catholic |
 Lake Clear Presbyterian Church |
 Saint Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church (closed), Gabriels |
 Church of the Assumption - Gabriels - Catholic |
Other churches, past and present, not pictured here include:
- Adirondack Alliance Church, active, 72 Canaras Avenue
-
The Bloomingdale Episcopal Church of the Redeemer (closed); later "Sign of the Fish," an antique shop
- Christian Science Church (closed); met in the house at Church and River Streets, but disbanded in recent years
- Gabriels Presbyterian Church
- Harrietstown Presbyterian Church
- High Peaks Church, active, in the former library of the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital at 97 Will Rogers Drive; has expanded to include two of the former nurses dormitories of the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital; formerly called the North Country Christian Center; before moving to 97 Will Rogers Drive, located for several years at the then-defunct Jewish Community Center
- Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity, active, sharing space at the First United Methodist Church
- Old Catholic Church, new, active, sharing space at the Church of St. Luke (Episcopal)
- The new Saranac Lake Baptist Church, active, 490 Broadway
- Saranac Lake Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, active, 5043 Route 3
- Seventh Day Adventist Church, St. Bernard Street
- Society of Friends, or Quakers, active, met for several years at the Ames Cottage at Church and River Streets; as of November 2012, Quaker Meeting is held at the Adirondack Physicians and Surgeons Building on Old Lake Colby Road behind the hospital.
- Unitarian Universalists, active, meeting in the John Black Room of the Saranac Laboratory, Church Street
Former Sanatorium Chapels:
- Baker Chapel at Trudeau Sanatorium, closed
- Chapel at Sanatorium Gabriels, closed
- Stony Wold Hall at Stony Wold Sanatorium, closed
Summer Chapels:
- Chapel Island, Upper Saranac Lake, active
- Church of the Ascension, Saranac Inn, active
- Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, Bloomingdale, closed
- Indian Carry Chapel, Coreys, closed
- St. John's in the Wilderness, Paul Smith's, active
- St. Regis Presbyterian Church, Keeses Mills Road, closed
Catholic Churches:
- Church of the Assumption — Gabriels
- St. Bernard's Church — Saranac Lake
- St. John's in the Wilderness of Lake Clear — Lake Clear, closed, building sold
- St. Paul's Church — Bloomingdale
- Saint Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church — Gabriels, closed, transferred to Paul Smith's College
See also: Adirondack Mission
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, January 17, 1948
In the Churches
Services at St. Paul’s Catholic church, Boomingdale, are:
First Sunday — Mass at 9 and 11 a.m.
Sunday—Mass at 11 a. m.
First Friday—Mass at 7:30 a.m
Confessions every Sunday before Mass and from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m., on Saturday before the first Sunday.
The Rev. Patrick O. Thompson, pastor.
Services at the Methodist church, Bloomingdale, are:
10:00 a. m.—Church school.
11:00 a.m.—Morning Worship, with sermon.
2:00 p. m. — Afternoon worship and church school in Vermontville.
Each evening, 7:30 p.m. Evangalist services with Miss Marjean Bennett as speaker.
The Rev. Milo Barnard, pastor.
Services at the Church of the Assumption, Gabriels, are:
Saturday before the first Sunday, 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. — Confessions.
Sunday Mass at 9 a. m. — Confessions before the Mass.
The Rev. Patrick O. Thompson, pastor.
Services at the Church of St. John’s of the Wilderness, Lake Clear.
Holy Days, 9:00 a. m. — Mass.
Sunday, 9 and ,11 a. m. — Mass.
Rev. E. A. Gallagher, pastor.
Services at the New York State hospital at Ray Brook:
9:00 a.m. — Mass.
Rev. Joseph Blais, chaplain.
Services at St Gabriel’s Church, Paul Smiths are:
Sunday, 9 and 11 a. m. — Mass.
Holy Days, 11 a. m. — Mass.
Rev. E. A. Gallagher, pastor.
Services in the Adirondack Parish of the Presbyterian church Sunday are:
9:00 a. m. in the Lake Clear church.
11:00 a. m. in the Keeses Mills church.
2:30 p. m. in the Harrietstown church.
The Rev. Douglas W. Gray, pastor.
Services in the Adirondack Church of the Nazarene, Vermontville, will be:
10 a. m. — Church school.
11 a. m.—Service by pastor.
7 p.m.—Young People's service.
7:30 p.m.—Evening service with message.
The Rev. Ernest Swarthout, pastor.
