Harry Hull, undated. Historic Saranac Lake Collection,
TCR# 385. Courtesy of Kathy Hull.Born: 1888
Died: 1958
Married: Florence Hull
Children: Marjorie Hull, Katherine Hull
Harry Hull was the village engineer when many village streets were paved in brick. He built the Christy Mathewson Cottage on Park Avenue, though he apparently never lived there.
Hull was born in 1888 in Lebanon Springs, New York, a health resort near Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He first came to Saranac Lake from Syracuse at age 19 to cure at the Adirondack Cottage Sanitarium. After a year or so, he returned to Syracuse, married Florence Hull, and went to work as a civil engineer in the construction of the New York State Barge Canal. In Buffalo in 1912, within weeks of completing his assignment on the canal, he suffered a relapse, and returned to Saranac Lake with his wife and young daughter, Marjorie. They stayed first in a large tent and then in a house at 18 Lake Street (no longer standing). After several years, Harry Hull regained his health. He did not go back to Syracuse.
Instead, he bought the large and well known Riddle Cottage at 68 Franklin Avenue. The family lived in it, and his wife ran it as a boarding cottage and continued to maintain the very good reputation begun by the Riddles and carried on later by Camilla Hayes Hudson, sister of Dr. John N. Hayes. Meanwhile, Harry became the Village Engineer, and it was under his guidance that Saranac Lake's major streets were paved with the yellow brick that still shows in places where the blacktop wears through. He also was chief engineer on the Whiteface Mountain Memorial Highway project and did a great deal of surveying in the area. Though in later years he spent winters in Florida, he remained a Saranac Lake resident until his death in 1958.
Adapted from an original text by Philip L. Gallos
Harry Hull, undated. Historic Saranac Lake Collection, TCR # 385. Courtesy of Kathy Hull.Harry Hull was instrumental in the development of Rainbow Lake, where Marjorie Hull spent most summers throughout her life.
The Hulls had a second daughter, Katherine, who was born sometime around 1914. In 1936, when she was 22 years old, she disappeared while visiting her grandmother in Lebanon Springs, New York. Her remains were discovered in the woods near Lebanon Springs in December of 1943.
The Harry and Florence P. Hull and Katherine E. Hull Endowed Scholarship at Clarkson University was established by the estate of Margery Hull in memory of her father, mother and sister. The scholarship supports engineering education, the profession of Harry Hull.
"Name Harry Hull Village Engineer: Village Board Makes Appointment at Tuesday Night Meeting - No Other Business"
At its meeting Tuesday night, the Village Board appointed Harry Hull, civil engineer and surveyor, as Village Engineer, to serve during the pleasure of the board. The appointment fills the vacancy made by the death of the late H. E. Fraleigh. Mr. Hull was granted the use of the engineer's office in the village building.
Mr. Hull has been a resident of Saranac Lake for about two years, coming here from Buffalo where he was engineer and superintendent of construction of the foundation work for the new Lehigh Valley Station. Before that he was engineer for Contracts 63 and 65 of the Barge Canal, which aggregated nearly $6,000,000. He was for six years engineer for a syndicate which built some 400 miles of trolley line in the neighborhood of Syracuse.
Mr. Hull, in making application for the appointment, gave several references. The Board had Village Clerk Miller write to two of these and received replies highly recommending the applicant and declaring him thoroughly familiar with his profession.
No other except routine business was transacted.
Harry Hull, undated. Historic Saranac Lake Collection, TCR #385. Courtesy of Kathy Hull.
"Harry and Margery," undated. Historic Saranac Lake Collection, TCR #385. Courtesy of Kathy Hull.
"Christy Mathewson Cottage," undated. Historic Saranac Lake Collection, TCR #385. Courtesy of Kathy Hull.
"Hull Cottage," about 1914-1915. Historic Saranac Lake Collection, TCR #385. Courtesy of Kathy Hull.
"Harry Hull in winter," about 1914. Historic Saranac Lake Collection, TCR #385. Courtesy of Kathy Hull.
Christy Mathewson Cottage, undated. Historic Saranac Lake Collection, TCR #385. Courtesy of Kathy Hull
"Harry Hull outside the Christy Mathewson Cottage," undated. Historic Saranac Lake Collection, TCR #385. Courtesy of Kathy Hull.
"Harry Hull looking at Lake Placid from the top of Whiteface Mt.," undated. Historic Saranac Lake Collection, TCR #385. Courtesy of Kathy Hull.
