Camp Pine Knot
{{Use American English|date=July 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = Camp Pine Knot
| nrhp_type = nhl
| locmapin = New York Adirondack Park#New York#USA
| image = Camp Pine Knot, Metcalf Hall.jpg
| caption = The "W" is for William West Durant
| location = Raquette Lake, NY
| nearest_city =
| coordinates = {{coord|43|49|16.77|N|74|37|34.31|W|type:landmark_region:US-NY|display=inline,title}}
| area =
| built = 1877
| architect = William West Durant
| architecture = Adirondack Great Camp
| added = November 7, 1986{{NRISref|2007a}}
| visitation_num =
| visitation_year =
| mpsub = Great Camps of the Adirondacks TR
| refnum = 86002934
}}
Camp Pine Knot, also known as Huntington Memorial Camp, on Raquette Lake in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State, was built by William West Durant. Begun in 1877, it was the first of the "Adirondack Great Camps" and epitomizes the "Great Camp" architectural style. Elements of that style include log and native stonework construction, decorative rustic items of branches and twigs, and layout as a compound of separated structures. It is located on the southwest tip of Long Point, a two-mile long point extending into Raquette Lake, in the Town of Long Lake in Hamilton County, New York.
The camp consists of some two dozen buildings, including a seven-room "Swiss Cottage," four "Log Cottages" of one to three rooms, two frame cottages of three and five rooms, a "Glass Dining Room," and a five-stall horse barn and wagon shed. Covered walkways connect many of the buildings. There was also the "Barque," a 20 by 60 foot four-room bark cabin built on a log raft, used to escape from the dreaded black fly in the spring; it was fully equipped, with a kitchen, bath, and running water.
History
Pine Knot was started by Durant's father, railroad developer Thomas C. Durant, as a showplace to draw investors to Durant's holdings, but it was William West Durant who would develop it into the remarkable model for Adirondack Great Camps to follow. In 1895, William West Durant sold the camp to wealthy industrialist Collis P. Huntington.
The camp went unused from the start of the 20th century until 1947, when it was sold to the State University of New York at Cortland for 1 dollar, for use as their Outdoor Education center. Due to the soundness of its construction, despite its long disuse, the buildings required little repair. The Barque is being rebuilt.
The camp was included in a multiple property submission for listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986,{{Cite journal|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Great Camps of the Adirondacks Thematic Resources|url={{NRHP url|id=64000555}} |format=pdf|date=July 1986 |first=Larry E. |last=Gobrecht |publisher=National Park Service}} was in fact listed in 1986, and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2004.{{Cite journal|title=National Historic Landmark Nomination: Camp Pine Knot / Huntington Memorial Camp|url={{NHLS url|id=86002934}} |format=pdf|author=William E. Krattinger|date=October 2002|publisher=National Park Service}}
File:William West Durant at Camp Pine Knot.jpg|William West Durant at Camp Pine Knot, 1890, Seneca Ray Stoddard
File:Camp Pine Knot, Raquette Lake, NY.JPG|Durant Cabin, 2009
File:Chalet, Camp Pine Knot, Raquette Lake, NY.JPG|The Chalet, 2009
See also
{{Portal|Architecture|National Register of Historic Places|New York (state)}}
References
{{reflist}}
Sources
- Gilborn, Craig. Durant: Fortunes and Woodland Camps of a Family in the Adirondacks. Utica, NY: North Country Books, 1981.
- Kaiser, Harvey. Great Camps of the Adirondacks. Boston: David R. Godine, 1982.
External links
{{commons category|Camp Pine Knot}}
- [http://www.cortland.edu/outdoor/article.html SUNY Cortland Outdoor Education, "Cortland's Raquette Lake Camp Becomes First National Historic Landmark in SUNY", by Peter D. Koryzno, Winter 2004]
- [http://www.cortland.edu/outdoor/raquette/ch_history.html SUNY Cortland Outdoor Education - History of Camp Huntington (Pine Knot)]
- [http://www.greatcamps.com/tour.htm Camp Pine Knot - The Origin of the Adirondack Great Camp]
- [http://www.sthubertsisle.com/page169.html St. Hubert's Isle - Adirondack Great Camps - Pine Knot, Uncas & Sagamore - Photos]
- [http://www.cortland.edu/outdoor/raquette/ch_photos.html SUNY Cortland - Huntington Camp]
{{National Register of Historic Places in New York}}
Category:Adirondack Great Camps
Category:National Historic Landmarks in New York (state)
Category:1877 establishments in New York (state)
Category:Buildings and structures in Hamilton County, New York
Category:National Register of Historic Places in Hamilton County, New York
Category:Residential buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state)