Hague Hotels

The name “Uncas” comes from a character in James Fenimore Cooper's novel The Last of the Mohicans, which Cooper wrote in 1826. The setting of the novel is 1757, right after the French and Indian War and the Battle of Lake George. Writer Frederic F. Van De Water tells a wonderful story of how the Hotel Uncas got its name in Lake Champlain and Lake George, (1946):

“Where the wheezing James Caldwell touched, new hotels were established and summer colonies were born... A stout chloric gentleman who watched the loveliness of Lake George unfold from James Caldwell's deck was challenged by a friend to write a novel against this background. Thus it came about that James Fenimore Cooper published The Last of the Mohicans and stamped the region with a new, romantic impress.”

The James Caldwell had a short life. It was built in Ticonderoga in 1817. Four years later the steamboat burned at the Lake House pier in Caldwell (today's Shepherd Park in Lake George Village). The James Caldwell‘s speed was about four mph or about as fast as a rowboat. So Cooper enjoyed the loveliness of the scenery and pristine waters of Lake George the whole day, because that's how long it took to travel to the lake from end to end. Cooper lived from September 15, 1789 to September 14, 1851. His book was still popular for years after his death and it's easy to imagine that it might have been reading matter in the library for the guests of the Hotel Uncas. 

Cooper lived in the days when there were only two hotels on Lake George, one in Caldwell called the Lake House (at the present day Shepherd Memorial Park in Lake George Village) and the other in Bolton called the Mohican House (Bolton's Mohican House existed 100 years before Hague’s). These hotels were built for the logging industry’s woodsman and those who came to buy their timber. By the mid-1800s, more and more vacation people came to stay, and more and more hotels, cottages, boarding houses, and private mansions began to appear on the shores. “While the log rafts still were floating to the sawmills at Ticonderoga... the first summer people arrived,” according to Van De Water.

By the mid-1800s, railroads brought vacationers to Lake George, making their way from New York City along the Hudson. In 1882, a spur to Caldwell from Glens Falls was built. From then on, the steamboat transportation schedules were coordinated with the Delaware and Hudson railroad lines. The Mohicanand the Lac Du Saint Sacrament still tie up at the very same steamboat piers in Lake George Village where their historic name stakes did more than a century ago.

Hotel Uncas was one of those hotels that had sprung up around Lake George and profited from the summer tourist trade. Hague’s Smith Sexton, who built the hotel circa 1896, saw that there was good money to be earned in hotel keeping. In fact, hotels made greater profits than winter lumbering brought in, according to Van De Water.

Ticonderoga Sentinel, July 2, 1896: “Hotel Uncas, Silver Bay, Smith Sexton proprietor, was formally opened by a ball on Thursday evening of last week. About 30 couples were present. All speak in the highest terms of Smith's ability as a host. Hubert's orchestra furnished the music.”

In 1901, George Marshall bought the Hotel Uncas. However he died shortly thereafter in March of 1906.

Ticonderoga Sentinel: “George F. Marshall, proprietor of the Hotel Uncas at Silver Bay and one of the best known and popular Lake George hotel men, lies unconscious at his hotel from paralysis and his recovery is doubtful. He was stricken at about 1:00 Tuesday afternoon, the shock coming on while he was apparently in his usual good health. He was at work cutting ice around his dock when he told one of his men that he felt peculiar and thought ‘something was going to happen.’ He dropped his ice till and started for the hotel but collapsed on the way... doctors are greatly worried over his condition.”

“Much sympathy is expressed for the bereaved wife and relatives of George Marshall, who died suddenly in his Hotel Uncas on Lake George last week. Mr. Marshall had charge of the Phoenix Hotel at Hague for a number of years and was well and favorably known by people of this place. He was a man who ran his own business, and rarely if ever would serve an intoxicated person over the bar. In this light, he certainly had grand principles and was a man well fitted to conduct the hotel business in the right and only way.”

Marshall's wife, Amy Rising Marshall, took over running the hotel. In 1907, the hotel was rebuilt in order to increase the capacity of the house. 

In the early 1900s, the Hotel Uncas also contained the local post office. There were tennis courts on the front lawn. Badminton and shuffleboard were popular amusements too. The Chief Uncas Motel building still located nearest 9N originally housed a bowling alley with a casino on the second floor. The Lake View cottages were added in 1907. A unique brochure from this era in the shape of a Native American warrior's head states that “Hebrew Patronage Not Solicited.” 

In 1910, Mr. Lucas and Mr. Lancaster took over for a couple of seasons. In October of 1910, John D Wish, secretary of the LGA Fish and Game reported a complaint of sewage overflow of a cesspool against the Hotel Uncas. 

An annex was built in 1911. It was called Uncas Hall and it had eight guest rooms. 

In 1912, the property was sold to Dr. James Burt of NY.

Ticonderoga Sentinel April 12, 1921: “The popular Lake George summer resort Hotel Uncas has been sold by its owner Dr. Burt of New York to Hawkeye Inn, Inc., recently organized, and the inn has been renamed Hawkeye Inn. The officials and directors of the corporation, all connected with the Silver Bay Association, are President P. B. Wood of Ticonderoga; Vice President W. D. Murray of New York; Secretary Helen S. Holbrook of Silver Bay; Treasurer C. C. Michner of Silver Bay; and Director J. F. McTyier from New York. The hotel, occupying a site of exceptional beauty, is a commodious, attractive structure and, with an annex and cottages, can accommodate a large number of guests. It is open from June 10 to October 1 and bookings that have been made indicate a successful reason for the new management. Extensive repairs and improvements, among them equipping the dining room, including tables, linen, dishes, silver, and glassware, are underway in order that the hotel may be in readiness for the reception of guests on the opening day.”

Something ,must have happened with this arrangement because the ownership reverted to Mrs. Josephine Burt at some point. In 1929, her safe was robbed of money and valuables, according to the Ticonderoga Sentinel.

In 1930, the Lake George Mirror reported that the “summer season at Hawkeye is steadily keeping pace with various activities. Speedboat parties have attracted considerable interest and rides in these fast boats are enjoyed by those who like real sport of dashing over the waters of the lake at a high speed. Bowling tournaments are another source of amusement for the guests.” Later that year, Josephine Burt sold the Hawkeye Inn to Lake George Hotel Corp Inc. It was renamed the Hotel Uncas again. However, in 1934 the Hotel Angus was sold at a tax sale for $283.13 of unpaid taxes, according to the Ticonderoga Sentinel. Then, in 1935, the hotel went back to Josephine Burt.

In 1938, the Hotel Uncas was operated by a group of Silver Bay summer residents who formed a syndicate known as the Watch Island Company: Lester Marcellis of Plainfield, NJ; Walter and Ernest Fullam of Princeton, NJ; and John R. Powelson of Montclair, NJ. Later that year Burt sold the Hotel Uncas to the Watch Island Company.

In 1940, Indian relics were uncovered at the Hotel Uncas, according to the Ticonderoga Sentinel: “Some bones and a complete skeleton well preserved though buried but 14 inches were found by workmen digging in two widely separated places on Lake George the past week. One of the excavations which revealed the museum pieces was on the Hotel Uncas property at Silver Bay, the other in the garrison ground section of Fort George Park across the Beach Drive from the head of the lake. Workmen at the Uncas unearthed an Indian fireplace and kitchen implements carved from stone as well as some bones.”

In 1948, the Hotel Uncas hosted a conference of the American Society of X-ray and Electron Diffusion. Also in that year, the hotel was sold to Mr. Brown of New York City. 

Ticonderoga Sentinel August 25, 1948: Arthur Brown, formerly of Shawnee Country Club and Buckwood Inn, Shawnee-on-the-Delaware, PA; the Bath and Tennis Club, Daytona Beach, Fla.; and The Park Avenue Restaurant, New York City, who has been famously known for his Sunday night buffet suppers, announces the opening of his new Chief Uncas Inn and Cocktail Lounge on Lake George at Silver Bay Sunday night July 25.”

In the 1950s, the third floor of the hotel was removed by the Browns.

In 1967, the Martucci family bought the resort from Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Brown. At that point, it was called Silver Bay Lodge. In an interview, Kay Martucci said that when they finally found this property, after having looked for a group of cabins for over 10 years, the opportunity to purchase it came unexpectedly. So she immediately enrolled in courses studying culinary arts and learned how to run a commercial kitchen in a hurry. She said, “I completed a two year course in three months.” By the summer of 1968, the Martuccis opened their resort and ran it only in the summer. In 1979, after their sons Mark and David graduated from high school, they moved to Hague full-time and opened it year round. In the winters, the family has hosted ice diving since the 1980s.

The Martuccis added villas in 1989. The long steamboat dock no longer exists; it was destroyed by ice many years ago. Buoys mark the spots where the underwater cribs still exist. Mark Martucci dreams of restoring the dock one day.

The original natural stone fireplace still divides the main dining room from the pub. From the front, the hallway leads upstairs or out through the back door to the beach. The lower level of the Hotel Uncas once housed its popular library. The Martucci family preserved the fine book collection from that original library. Here is a sweet letter written from Hotel Uncas on the hotel stationery (noting A. B. Martin as the manager):

July 27, 1908

My dear friend, 

Your letter arrived on Sunday just after we had returned from church at Sabbath Day Point. We were on time and behaved ourselves.

Since last I wrote to you, we've had some great old times. Silver Bay is quite a frequent walk and when we go we lay in a supply of not only sundays but also ice cream cones

One morning we walked down to Sabbath Day Point. And on the way home we were walking on rocks along the shore. I suddenly found one of them rather slippery and sat down in the water. Of course, the rest enjoyed it immensely but at my expense. I don't know whether Florence was afraid she was missing something or not but the first thing I knew, she had done the same thing, only as usual she had to giggle a while before she got up. We were a site I can tell you and were glad that our room was near the back door.

In the afternoon I decided to take a bath in a regular bathing suit and it was “quite a little” or “some” more convenient. Perhaps the next time you come to Lake George you will have pointed out to you as places of interest—Durand’s Rock and Packer’s Slide. 

A small party of us went down to Paradise Bay. Isn't it simply lovely there? I guess I told you about that on postals, didn't I? We had lots of sport on the morning of that same day. We rode up to Slim Point (it was our first experience on the lake) and it was pretty rough, little white caps you know. It felt dandy to go up over the swells. Well, on the way back we very kindly let Flitz & Estelle get in their boat first and then as kindly proceeded to throw stones at them to splash them gently. While collecting a fresh supply of ammunition they got quite a start ahead of us. But we rowed with all our might and finally succeeded in passing them and reaching dock first. For a while they were afraid to come in but at last their appetites got the better of them, so we rewarded their courage in venturing to shore by a fresh volley of rocky bombs. As a consequence a few people had to dress for dinner. You cautioned me about quarrelling with Flitz. It would make you feel very discouraged I'm afraid if you saw the continual feud existing between us four. Perhaps, you will be surprised to find out that in these stunts, Belle & I are arrayed against Estelle and Flitz. Now you can't help but admit that we have two small ones are very brave to choose sides against the larger ones. Wait till I narrate another of our disasters. Estelle, according to our judgment, sat up too late writing letters at night. One evening, she was calmly sitting on my trunk with a dress suit case on her lap for a desk when Belle deemed it advisable to extinguish the light. Then, after depositing her writing materials the best she could, poor Estelle had to scramble all around hunting for matches which we had hidden under my pillow. We at last took pity on her blundering efforts to find them and gave them to her. She only rewarded us by throwing a picture of ice water at us. We were totally unprepared for it, for she had put the light out and all was quiet when suddenly we heard a queer noise as though something fell. It proved to be part of the pitcher of water, which missed its mark. However, the second time she succeeded very nicely by drenching us thoroughly. Needless to say it put a considerable damper on our hilarious mood. The people here tell us we sound as though we were having good times.

Saturday night we just finished one of our performances, in which I was an Indian chief and a red blanket with Belle’s feather boa on as the headdress, and were quietly settling down, when out on the porch we heard a Swede talking to the wife of the manager. He was a man who worked around the place here. He was feeling too good on account of taking something stronger than what Castles keeps. But to make things clear, I'll have to tell you that all the waitresses went on a strike Saturday evening and wouldn't serve suffer supper. So the two boys who furnish the music evenings and Mr. and Mrs. Martin had to substitute. Well, that was bad enough but it seems he (the Swede) was first intoxicated enough to think that he wasn't going to get any pay and he began to talk in rather strong language to Mrs. Martin, when three or four of the boys tried to get him to go to the barn where he sleeps. They very nicely took him up the yard a ways when he decided he wanted to sing instead of going any further. He began to sing about two lines of “Harrigan” in broken English, when it quite suddenly changed to a “A bicycle built for two.” Now, our room is just off the back porch and we could see the entire performance. To make matters worse we couldn't find the key to our door and naturally couldn't lock it. Well, I don't know how hard the boys tried to quiet him but he seems to get worse and worse. He got in the part of the barn where the where the chef slept, broke every pane of glass in the place, smashed all the furniture and all the time alternating his furious singing and swearing. O, it was simply terrible and a couple of the girls were nearly scared to death. Bella said she was terribly nervous and couldn't stand it, was going to move the very next day, etc. but I took notice she kept her head at the window all the time.

Well, the Swede’s next act was to cut the chef with a knife and then the chef's wife gave a most unearthly yell and all the striking waitresses joined in the chorus. Then began another kind of row--it sounded as though a revolver was being shot. Instead of that he began to shake up beer bottles and after they fizzed, he opened them and aimed them to let the corks hit his opponents. All this lasted for about an hour & in the meantime they had telephoned to Captain Sheldon to arrest him. Finally about 1:30 he began to chase another Swede who ran up on our porch and picked up a chair to throw at him when His Drunkenness fell all the way up the steps and the Captain arrived upon the scene. They tied him up with about 10 yards of rope, walked him through the house out to the lodge and at 2:00 AM he was taken up to Hague to spend a quiet night.

It certainly was all very exciting. The waitress’ strike lasted until this morning when they were shipped back to Albany.

You asked me what my opinion of Lake George is. I can't pretend to describe it. It's simply great--exceeds even my best dreams of it.

We have been having dandy weather--only Saturday we had a little rain in the morning.

This morning we walked to Hague and back. At least Florence and I did, but Belle & Estelle stayed at the Trout House for dinner and then we stopped for them on our way to Fort Ti this afternoon. Enjoyed the trip very much, got back about eight but they gave us some supper so we are still very happy.

The girls are now hollering at me to stop writing and I'm afraid if I let them go to the room alone, they will play some jokes on me, so I guess I'll quit. You surely will be tired after reading such a lengthy epistle but if you are not, you'd better answer it in installments and don't wait for me to write another.

Sincerely, 

Effie

Researched by Christine M. Ianson with Anne Johns, 2010