Hotel St. Regis. Clearly the same photograph as the one at left, hand-tinted and retouched to remove the wires and light. 
Hotel St. Regis, Early 1900s. Henry P. Leis Pianos is visible at left. Address: burned on January 14, 1964
Old Address: 75 Broadway
Year built: 1908
Richard H. JewtrawThe Hotel St. Regis was at the southeast corner of Broadway and Bloomingdale Avenue, opposite the Arlington Hotel. Later, the Alpine Hotel would be built across Broadway from the Arlington. It originally had thirty-seven rooms, and a dining room that seated 28; it was later enlarged to 65 rooms, with 40 baths. 1 It was Saranac Lake's first brick hotel. It burned to the ground in a spectacular 1964 fire.
An excerpt from History is lost to fire, demolition and remodeling, by John J. Duquette, Adirondack Daily Enterprise, November 10, 1990
For a great number of years the St. Regis Hotel was a familiar landmark at the corner of Broadway and Bloomingdale avenues. A substantial building of brick and stone it would appear to be impervious to flame. It was built in 1908 by John Morgan as a four-story building, in 1917 the fifth floor was added, a tribute to its successful operation. Among its features were a water-powered elevator, a billiard room, a taproom, a barber shop, a dining room, and a display room for traveling salesmen. For many years Sean Dyer offered secretarial services at his desk. John English purchased the hotel in the 1920s and ran it for the majority of its existence. It changed hands again in 1959 when Gil Jones acquired the hotel and completely renovated it at a cost of some $90,000.
Early in the morning of Jan. 14, 1963, fire broke out and the walls came tumbling down. It was a disastrous conflagration but, fortunately, no lives were lost. Guests were forced to jump from windows into the firemen's nets. According to old-timers it was the worst fire in 40 years. Another historical building was nothing but a heap of charred rubble.
An excerpt from Saranac Lake hotels and the House of Morgan By John J. Duquette in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, December 11, 1993
In 1908 John Morgan purchased property at the comer of Bloomingdale Avenue and Broadway and proceeded to erect a fireproof hotel of brick and stone. He christened the new four-story building the St. Regis Hotel, and was open for business. As it turned out business was so good a fifth floor was added in 1917. The place featured a main lobby, dining room, bar, billiard mom, barber shop, sample room, and a water-powered elevator. During the early 1920s the hotel was sold to John English and Ed Murnane and after Murnane's death in 1939 English continued to operate the hotel with his grandson, Hugh McLaughlin. The hotel changed hands for the-final time in 1959 when it was purchased by Gilbert Jones who spent $90,000 renovating the structure. Five years later, on Jan. 14, 1964, the hotel went up in flames.
External links: The fire in January 1964 that destroyed the hotel.
Comments
Footnotes
1. "In 1911 Saranac Lake was a hotel town!", Adirondack Daily Enterprise, March 17, 1966
