"Uplands," Adirondack mountain home of the Working Girls' Vacation Society, where girls learn to live the simple and healthful life.
The Circle, volume VIII, No. 1, July-August, 1910, p. 9Hill Crest and the Uplands were  two large houses in the hamlet of Santa Clara, New York, that were operated by the New York Working Girls' Vacation Society for consumptive working girls from the city.  The society operated a number of such houses around the New York area.  Uplands operated only in the summer, and was for less seriously ill girls; Hill Crest operated year-round.

The institution was founded in 1885 by Mrs. William Drummond Herbert, using two houses provided by lumberman George E. Dodge; the work appears to also have been supported by his niece Grace Hoadley Dodge.

Franklin Gazette, September 10, 1897

DONATIONS TO "HILL CREST" AND "UPLANDS," SANTA CLARA, N. Y.

"Hillcrest" at Santa Clara in the Adirondack, where tuberculosis girls are made
well and strong by a diet of good food, plenty of fresh air and leisure.
The Circle, volume VIII, No. 1, July-August, 1910, p. 9.Working Girls' Vacation Society Houses.

Article from The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Sunday, July 21, 1907.  Miss Frances M. Whipple, 1 book.  
Y. P. S. C E., Congregational church Malone, N. Y., 1 box books.  
Mrs. J. Cuyler Shaw, St. Regis Falls N. Y., 1 basket lettuce, 3 sacks flour.  
Max Goodrich and Isaac Hatton, Santa Clara, 35 pounds venison.  
Max Goodrich, Santa Clara, 2 dozen veranda hooks.  
Newell L. Lee, Brandou, 10 quart huckleberries.  
Mrs. C. M. Palmer, 25 books, 1 picture.  
F. N- Fearel, 1 case of 250 eggs, 1 lb butter.  
L. L. Tryon, 20 pound tub of butter  
Miss Mary L. Keys, 22 bound books 27 magazines, 1 set Ladies' Home Journals.  
Mrs. J. E. Newcomb, New York City 1 year's subscription to Outlook  
Saint George's Church, 500 magazines  
Miss Anita C. L. Miller, 1 bracket, 10 books, 1 towel rack.  
Mrs. Wm. S. Lawrence, Moira, 2 doz squash, 7 doz. ears corn, 4 1/2 doz. cucumbers.  
Ogontz School, Ogontz, Pa., 5 pictures  
Mrs. Nicholas M. Pond, New York city, 6 books.  
Mrs. Louis De V. Howard, Ogdensburg, 2 books.  
Mrs. George E. Wentworth, Tarry town, 18 candelabra shades.  
Mrs. Wm. A. Wilmot, New York City 2 picture frames.  
Mrs. Max Goodrich, Santa Clara, 2 quarts milk.  
Mrs. Benj. L. Orcutt, Dickinson Center, 1 bag apples.  
A. B. Conklin, Santa Clara, 40 cords wood.  
Miss E. B. Lincoln, 1 book.  
Mrs. Wm. S. Lawrence, Moira, 1 basket lettuce, beans, squash, cucumbers, 1/2 basket onions, beets, 1 basket turnips, peas beans, 1/2 basket lettuce.  
Mrs. Edward D. Jones, 2 lamps.  
Mrs. Bourne, 1 clock, 1 cup and saucer, 1 vase.  
Mrs. Elliott Clark, 1 picture.  
Mrs. M. D. Dennison, 1 picture.  
Friday Afternoon Sewing Class, thro Miss Edith McArthur, 1 large outside flag, 1 silk flag for hall.  
Mrs. John Lincoln, Malone, 1 book.  

DONATIONS FOR RECEPTION AND BAZAR AUG. 26TH—MILK. Mrs. Pulling, 3 quarts, Mrs. Chlllbourg 10; Mrs. Conklin, 5; Mrs. Dimmock, 6; Mrs. Winters, 10; Mrs. Burlingame, 5 Mrs. Denne, 1; Mrs. Jetty, 2; Mr. Brown, 1; Mrs. Gile, 1 pint cream.

EGGS. Mrs Gile, 1 dozen; Mrs. Winters, 1 Mrs. Dlmmoek, 1; Mrs. Conklin, 1 Mrs. Brings, 1-2; Mrs. Raymond, 1; Mrs. Patton, 1: Mrs. Jetty, 1-2; Mr. John Farmer, 1.

SUGAR.  Mrs. Ezra, 2 pounds; Mrs. Dimmlck 2; Mrs. Briggs, 2; Mrs. Chambers, 5; Mrs. Keef, 5; Mrs. Bruce, 5; Miss Grabbe, 5; Mr. Brown, 5; Mr.Fullerton, 10; Mrs. Cudea, 10.

CASH DONATIONS. Miss Myra Smith, Ogdensburg, N. Y., annual dues, $1; Greene & Austin, Malone, 5; Mary A. Knapp, Ogdensburg, 10; Mrs. D. W. Lawrence, Malone, 5; Mr. Baker Stevens, Malone, 5; Unknown Friends, Ogdensburg, 1; Mrs. Patrick Ducey, Brandon, life membership, 25; Mrs. F. J. Swift, Brandon, 5; L. De V. Hoard, Ogdensburg, 25; Nathaniel Witherell, N. Y. City, 10; Mr. S. C. Trubee, Bridgeport, Conn., 5; John H. King, Malone, 50.

Undated postcard of Hill Crest, from American View Card Makers, Chicago.  Courtesy Aurora Wheeler

Courier and Freeman, May 17, 1899

Courier and Freeman, May 27, 1954Massena Observer, December 20, 1954The Working Girls' Vacation Society has issued a very handsome illustrated work giving a report of its work in all its various fields for 1898, with pictures of its country homes. Among these homes are Hill Crest and Uplands, the winter and summer homes for consumptive working girls at Santa Clara. The report of Miss Grace H. Dodge on the work at Santa Clara is very interesting, from which we glean the following: The privileges of the houses are restricted to unmarried working women in the incipient stages of the disease. During the year 1898, there were 65 girls at Santa Clara, from 15 to 48 years of age, the majority being between 20 and 25. The average stay of each was about 10 weeks. Of this number 50 were earning their own living and helping to support others when obliged to give up and seek the society's aid. The remaining 35 had been ill or unable to secure permanent work." The highest weekly earnings were $12 and the lowest $1.25, the average being $3.33 per week. Employments represented were dressmakers 9, errand girl 1, factory operatives 10, hair dresser 1, house workers 2, librarian 1, milliners 6, matron 1, nurses 4, office employes 6, sales girls 9, seamstresses 9, servant girls 2, students 2, stock girls 2, shopper 1, unknown 19. The improvement in the physical condition of the girls as most gratifying. The League needs annual endowments for beds at Hill Crest the winter home.) Sums have already been pledged to endow four, but the remaining 16 are yet to be endowed. It costs $365 to endow a bed for one year, or the interest on a little more than $6,000.

Ticonderoga Sentinel, June 15, 1905

There are two summer homes for delicate working young women in the Adirondacks at Santa Clara—Hill Crest, and Uplands—given by the late George E. Dodge.

One of the last mentions of either house in area newspapers appeared in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, December 5, 1985.  It appears to list taxes owed.Norwood News, August 6, 1913

WORKING GIRLS GIVEN VACATION IN ADRONDACKS

Hillcrest and Uplands, in Santa Clara Will Take Care of Many of Them—
Fund Now Being Raised.

Santa Clara, July 31.—Franklin county people generally are interested in the work that is being done by the Working Girl's Vacation Society, of New York city, who is this year sending two hundred and fifty girls to their various resting places in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Miss Marion Davis Collamore, secretary of the society said "Two hundred and fifty is the number of girls  we have had to disappoint this year. It is especially sad because they are girls to whom the fortnight of rest would mean renewed health and courage for the winter.

The society which is in its thirteenth year, maintains eleven houses in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, where working girls get a vacation in the Adirondacks, where girls suffering from tuberculosis are given an opportunity to fortify themselves against the ravages of the disease. In most cases they are cured of their ailment. Last year the society furnished vacations to 1,218 girls. Only those who are broken down in health are aided by the society.

The houses in the Adirondacks are located in Santa Clara, as is well known, and are known as the "Hillcrest" and "Uplands." Many of the girls are sent every year, and the people of this town are annually doing all in their power to aid in this great work."

Courier and Freeman, October 22, 1913

A WORKING GIRLS' HOME.

Santa Clara Institution Doing a Great Work.

Not many residents of Northern New York know of the Home for the Working Girls which has been opened for a number of years at Santa Clara, Franklin County. Founded in 1885 by Mrs. William Herbert, formerly Miss Drummond of New York, the home has grown from a small beginning to be a permanent institution.

At the present lime the Association has thirteen houses either owned or managed by itself, where hundreds of girls are sent each summer from the sweltering heat of the greater city to regain renewed health and strength. At most of these houses girls go for two weeks' vacation. When a longer time is needed they come to the houses in Santa Clara, where the time is from five weeks to an entire season, as seems best by the physician in charge. The association also has two beds at its disposal in the Presbyterian hospital, where girls needing either medical or surgical care can go at any time of the year.

The houses at Santa Clara were donated to the society by the late Geo. E. Dodge, who .at one time was connected with the lumber interests there.

Uplands was given in 1895 and Hillcrest in 1897, since which time many improvements have been added to the property, including additions to the buildings, verandahs and walks. Sleeping porches have been donated at a cost of $1000 and two women as a memorial to their mothers have given a small building where domestic science is taught. These women furnish a teacher and pay all running expenses of that work.

The homes are conducted by very capable women, who in the performance of their respective duties have made themselves beloved by the large number of girls who come under their care each year. The present staff consists of Mrs. M. A. Bingham, matron at Hill Crest, who has been with the society for fourteen consecutive seasons, which speaks well for the confidence of the society in her ability and the esteem in which she is held by her superiors as she is by the people of Santa Clara, where she has always been a strength in every movement toward the uplift of the community.

Dr. Alice M. Flood, resident physician and Dr. Martha Madison, assistant, are both graduates of the University of Michigan.  This is only Dr. Flood's second season there, still not alone at the homes but with the families of the village she is recognized as a successful physician. In the hearts of all she holds a warm place, never tiring in giving help to the suffering and promptly responding to every call.

Miss Nellie Holmes Bingham, a graduate of Cornell University, is the matron's assistant in charge of Uplands and Miss Amy Burke, graduate of Teachers College, Columbia University, teacher of domestic science.

During the season of 1912 the society provided vacations for 1276 girls. Of this number 120 were cared for at Hill Crest and Uplands. The expense of running the different homes for the season amounts to $20,000 about one-half of this sum is necessary for the work in Santa Clara, the season being longer there than in the other houses.   Most of the produce and supplies for the house's are purchased of the local dealers and farmers of the surrounding country who are materially benefitted by this addition to their trade.

The officers of the society for the year 1913 are as follows: President, Mrs. William Herbert, the lady who started the work in that small way 30 years ago and ever since the society organized has been its president; Vice President. Mrs. Richard Irwin; Second Vice President, Mrs. Nathaniel Witherel; Third Vice President. Miss Susan D. Griffith; Secretary, Miss Marion Davis Collamore: Assistant Secretary, Miss E. A. Buchanan; Treasurer, Miss Edith Bryce, together with its board of managers made up of twenty-one ladies prominent in the social and the charitable work of the city.

The advisory board consists of the Hon. Jos. H. Choate, Mr. Hamilton W. Mabie, Mr. Henry L. Sprague, Dr. Ernest M. Stires, Dr. M. Allen Starr, Mr. Seth Sprague Ferry.

A number of the wealthy women of the country are now good contributors to the work. Last season the expenses of running the house at Chester, N. Y., where 85 girls enjoyed the vacations, was largely defrayed by Mrs. E. H. Harriman, widow of the late railroad magnate.

The Working Girls' Vacation Society was incorporated on Nov. 4, 1885, and is supported by voluntary contributions, $1 or more is the annual membership; $25 makes the donor a life member. This is added to the permanent fund, the interest of which is used toward the maintenance of the houses. It is the custom when a donation exceeds $25 to place that amount in the permanent fund, making the donor a life member if not one already, and using the balance toward the current expenses. One hundred dollars makes the donor a patron; $250 will support a room at Santa Clara for a season; $1500 will endow a room in perpetuity. Several rooms at the home there are so endowed. The permanent fund which is drawn on for emergency purposes has now reached the encouraging: figures of $50,000. All contributions are sent to the Trea surer, Miss Edith Bryce, 105 East 22d St. New York.

Adirondack News, June 19, 1915

Hill Crest and Uplands, the vacation houses of the New York Working Girls' Vacation Society, have opened for the season, with Mrs. M. A. Bingham in charge.

Malone Farmer, August 1, 1917
Up at Santa Clara and St. Regis Falls last Thursday night there was considerable excitement over the announcement that Rev. A. A. Vazakas, Presbyterian missionary, and Dr. Helen George, physician at the Uplands, Santa Clara, were lost in the woods. Searching parties started out from both places and from Gile Friday a. m. and members of one of the parties finally found the lost pair in an almost impenetrable slash eight miles from Santa Clara in the direction of Everton. Thursday afternoon Rev. Mr. Vazakas and Dr. George started out to climb a nearby mountain at Santa Clara. They lost their bearings and when they did not return for the evening service at the church and night came on there was much alarm for their safety. A severe thunder storm continued through the night. When the missing ones were found they were quite exhausted.

Malone Farmer, September 7, 1921

BRUCE-CRADDOCK. — At the church of the Good Shepherd, Santa Clara. N. Y., Sunday evening, Aug. 18, by Rev. Mr. Cromwell, of Indiana, Mr. Charles A. Bruce, of Casper, Wyoming, and Miss Helen Craddock a summer resident of Santa Clara.

The bride has been a successful teacher In a Syracuse High School for a couple of years, but has had charge summers of teaching domestic science at Hillcrest Vacation House and at Upland Cottage in Santa Clara. She is a young lady of talent and culture. The groom is located with his brother, Ernest E. Bruce, in business at Casper, Wyoming, and is a young man of ability and promise." The happy couple were attended by Mr. John Craddock, brother of the bride, and Miss Claribel E. Bruce, sister of the groom. An Informal reception followed the ceremony at the Vacation House which was handsomely decorated with golden glow. Tiny boxes of wedding cake were distributed to relatives and friends. That same evening the newlyweds departed on a honeymoon tour of Northern New York.

Dinning-room at "Uplands," Santa Clara.  The good fellowship among the girls here makes it seem more like a school than a sanitarium.
The Circle, volume VIII, No. 1, July-August, 1910, p. 9

Massena Observer, February 7, 1949

Santa Clara and Points North - on N. Y. & O.

Like many other Adirondack lumber towns, the tap roots of Santa Clara were laid deep in the forest which surrounded it. Its ultimate survival, however, depended to a great extent on the New York and Ottawa, which was its very life line.

When the railroad was in its heyday, Santa Clara was a boom town with many lumber camps, from which came an endless supply of logs. The railroad shops were located there and the growth of the village, at that time, seemed assured.

When the shops burned, the town suffered a severe blow from which it never fully recovered. More serious yet, was the abandonment of railroad service in 1936. Although but a shadow of its former self, the town still survives, possibly because of its location on the highway and of its two Summer vacation houses,—the "Uplands" and "Hill Crest"...

 

External link:

Add tags