The Riverside Garage is just left of center, St. Bernard's Church above. The building at the center of the photograph is 20 River Street. c. 1924 
Lake Placid News, May 5, 1916 
Arthur S. Knight, Adirondack Guide, Vacationland in Picture Story and History, Adirondack Resorts Press, Lake George, New York, 1947, p. 276. (Library of Congress)
Address: Presently Riverside Park
Old Address: 11 River Street
Other names: Original location of the Troy Laundry, Cure Cottages, p. 66, Gladd and Leaper
Year built: 1917
Architect: Max Westhoff
The Riverside Garage was operated by George E. Paye. It appears to have operated through the early 1980s.
A smaller building at this site is labelled "Gasoline Garage" on the 1908 Sanborn Map.
Lake Placid News, January 12, 1917
Some very substantial improvements of River street, Saranac Lake, are provided for in the enterprise of William R. Vosburg, the proprietor of the Riverside Garage, who will build a new forty-car garage at 11 River street. The plans for the garage have been drawn by M. H. Westhoff, the architect, and the contract has been awarded to Branch & Callanan.
Malone Farmer, Wednesday, April 6, 1921
A $50,000 CONFLAGRATION
Garage at Saranac Lake Set on Fire by Short Circuit in Automobile
While David Baker, a mechanic employed in the Riverside Garage at Saranac Lake, was working on a car belonging to Frank H. McKee, Saturday afternoon, a short circuit set fire to the car. He attempted to put out the blaze with an extinguisher but without avail, and the fire quickly spread through the main floor of the building. The fire department reached the scene after the flames had gained considrable headway, but fortunately gained control of the blaze before it reached, the second floor where 40 motor cars, valued at approximately $150,000, were stored.
Three cars were burned, as it was, and five others were badly injured. A portion of the machine shop was also wrecked. None of the cars on the upper floor were damaged. The loss is estimated at $50,000. Baker's clothes were ignited while he was fighting the flames before the village fire apparatus arrived. He managed to smother the flames with which he was enveloped before he suffered any injury. Three streams of water were poured into the buildng by the firemen from three sides of the structure. Several large tanks of oxygen were in the machine shop and several barrels of oil, but the flames did not reach the latter and the former did not explode, notwithstanding the intense heat. Though the McKee car was ruined its gasoline tank was not touched.
The cars destroyed or damaged besides the McKee car were one owned by George Stickney, of Ausable Forks; a roadster belonging to Dr. John A. Munroe. a Ford belonging to Anton Gedroiz; a brand new Chandler, a Marmon and two Clevelands owned by Fred Tremble, proprietor of the garage. None of the Tremble car had been used and all were badly blistered. They were new cars for which he is the local agent The new cars were covered by insurance and part of the older ones.
Lake Placid News, June 20, 1930
GARAGE MAN’S ASSAILANT FOUND DEAD IN CELL
Saranac Police Discover Captive Hanging by Belt-Victim of Midnight Shooting in Serious Condition
A ripple from the crime wave that has been deluging the cities spread to the Adirondacks Tuesday night, and as a result James Eagen, an employee of the Riverside garage on River street, Saranac Lake, is in a serious condition at the Saranac Lake general hospital with two bullet wounds in his side, and Stanley B. McDonald, 31, of Orange, N. J., is dead by his own hand after he tied a belt around his neck and hanged himself in the Saranac Lake police station where he was being held in connection with attempted robbery of the garage and the assault upon Eagen.
News of the crime spread through this section of the North Country with lightning rapidity, and it was the chief topic of sidewalk conversation all day Wednesday. At a late hour Wednesday night it was thought that Eagen had a fighting chance for his life, following the brutal assault in which he showed himself a hero by fighting with his assailant and later, when severely wounded, getting the number of the car in which McDonald drove away from the garage. Eagen's presence of mind in getting the number on the license plate was of material assistance to officers in apprehending the fugitive.
Drives Up at Midnight
About one o'clock Wednesday morning, McDonald drove up to the Riverside garage, where Eagen was employed as night watchman, and asked the way to the washroom. When Eagen's back was turned McDonald struck him a powerful blow over the head with an iron [illegible]. Eagen grappled with his assailant, but the latter drew a revolver and fired two shots into Eagen at a distance of only a few inches.
McDonald rushed out to his car but not before Eagen was able to note the license number. This information was given at once to the Saranac police by men who rushed to Eagen's assistance. Eagen was taken at once to the hospital, and State Troopers Revoir and Burke of Troop, state police, speeded over the state highway toward Lake Placid. In the meantime Lake Placid police had been asked to watch the highway for the fugitive. When the troopers reached the camp-grounds beyond Ray Brook they noticed a car that resembled the one in which McDonald was supposed to have ridden away, parked near the roadside. Knowing the desperate character of the man they were after, they approached with leveled revolvers. But they found McDonald asleep, with his revolver clutched in his hand.
Handcuff Man
Clapping the handcuffs on their man, the troopers rushed him to the Saranac Lake hospital, where Eagen despite his weakened condition, identified their captive as the man who had shot him in the garage. McDonald was then locked in the jail. When, a short time later, acting on orders from District Attorney Main of Malone, Policeman Coughlin went to the jail to get McDonald, he found his lifeless body hanging by his belt from the ceiling. McDonald had evidently made a desperate attempt to end his life since he had been forced to draw up his legs in order to have them clear the floor. The dead man was reported to have served in the U. S. Marines and to have been, cited for bravery. It is also reported that he may have been associated with a group of New York gangsters, who possibly had planned to “pull off” something in the North Country in the near future. McDonald had a wife and child living at the camp ground. He is believed to have been in this section of the Adirondacks for some time.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, March 26, 1962,
Out of the Past (from the Adirondack Daily Enterprise March 28, 1912 issue)
Brand-new Flanders roadsters were selling for $835, with a 25 h. p. engine, 104 inch wheelbase and fully equipped with a silk mohair top and dust hood. Or the new Velies were selling for as little as $1,900 for the doctors special at the Riverside Garage at 11 River Street.
The Riverside Garage is at center, Riverside Inn at left, St. Bernard's Church is above, c. 1924
