Curing in Brighton
"Curing in Brighton" by Pat and Tom Willis, photo of display taken 2/2009. Click on the image to enlarge the display.
CURING IN BRIGHTON
Original Text by Pat and Tom Willis
Since the 1850s, people began thinking of the New York State Adirondack Mountains as an area conducive to good health and healing. In 1855 James Wardner came to Rainbow Lake with consumption, hoping to not only make a good living but also to restore his health. In 1873 the later famous Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau, deathly ill with TB, came to Paul Smith's Hotel in hopes of at least dying in the wilderness he so loved. Neither man died young, but went on to live long and productive lives. Wardner established Rainbow Inn and the doctor established the world famous Trudeau Sanitarium for TB patients in Saranac Lake. Throughout the following decades the curing “industry” flourished in the North Country, especially in Saranac Lake village, but also in areas such as the Town of Brighton.
In 1895 the Sisters of Mercy, led by Sister Mary of Perpetual Help Kiernan, established Gabriels Sanatorium. It began admitting patients in 1897 and continued operating until 1965. In 1910 the Independent Order of Foresters opened the Rainbow Sanatorium in Rainbow Lake, which continued until 1930. On Kushaqua Lake, part of the Rainbow Lake Waterway, just over into the neighboring Town of Franklin, Stony Wold Sanatorium welcomed female TB patients from 1901 to 1955.
Besides those who flocked to the sanatoriums, some patients came to camp, to visit resorts, or to settle and farm here. Some were afflicted with other respiratory conditions such as asthma. Whatever the complaint, the fresh clean air and the healthy life style seemed to promise a cure.
Brighton History Days have been held one weekend each summer since 1994, sponsored by the Brighton Architectural Heritage Committee.
