Carr Cottage Address: 75 Park Avenue
Old Address: 38 Park Avenue
Year built: c. 1903-1904
The Carr Cottage and Annex, c. 1980 Barbara Parnass photograph collectionOther information: One of the first houses in the Cottage Row Historic District, the Carr Cottage was built on one lot in about 15 acres of farmland that Calvin Brown subdivided to the east and north of Rosemont and Margaret Streets to create 47 "villa sites." Willard and Josephine Raymond built a small cabin on this property and lived there while constructing the larger house. Both Raymonds had died by 1904 and the widowed Emma Carr moved into their new house, which was still substantially unfinished inside, from her home at 104 Main Street, where she first took in patients while her husband was dying of TB.
With the support of Dr. E. L. Trudeau, Mrs. Carr eventually purchased the property and operated a very successful cure cottage there. She moved the original cabin to the rear of the property in 1910 and constructed 40 Park Avenue next door as an annex to expand her curing facilities. In the first few years of the 20th century, when the demand for tubercular patient beds far exceeded the supply, many patients cured in platform tents which provided basic shelter for the complete outdoor cure. The Carr Cottage is known to have had at least five such tents in its yard, and Sarah Chester owned one next door to the north.
This was one of seven cottages in Saranac Lake that had contracts with the Veterans Administration for care of tubercular veterans. According to the 1916 TB Directory, the cottage had room for eight patients, with three cure porches; rates were $11-17 per week.
Both the Carr Cottage and its Annex are considered to be contributing buildings to the Cottage Row Historic District.
