1885 beautiful E. Bierstadt photo Mission of the Transfiguration	Colorized postcard of Bierstadt photo	1923  Note new window installed  above entrance
1940s	1950s After the 1933 closing of the steamship company and WWII, many camps were deserted and properties overgrown	1960s Slide taken by Father Carmichael 1957
1970s	2000	Interior
2005		Original fence, narrow unpaved road

In 1881 the Rev. Montgomery H. Throop, priest-in-charge of the Mission Church of the Good Shepherd on Raquette Lake, met with a group of summer residents from Blue Mountain Lake.  They discussed the possibility of establishing an Episcopalian mission in the village.  

The church on St. Hubert's Isle was the only place of worship within 25 miles, and the growing summer population created a need for another summer chapel.

Bishop Frederick Doane of Albany agreed and in 1883 the Mission of the Transfiguration was founded, with visiting clergy taking the services.  Early services were held in the village school and in a private home, but primarily in the parlor of John Holland's Blue Mountain Lake House.  

Holland and his brother-in-law, Dr. Martine (who built the original BML House), later donated land next to Steamboat Landing for a permanent church structure.  On 19 July 1885 the present building was dedicated by Bishop Doane.  

Transfiguration was photographed that same year by Edward Bierstadt of New York City at the request of William West Durant.  This was for a tastefully done advertising brochure, The Adirondacks, Artotype Views Among the Mountains and Lakes of the North Woods.

The Rev. Ralph M. Carmichael served the Church of the Transfiguration for 39 summers, beginning in 1957.  He was appointed Priest-in-Charge in 1959.  From 1995 - 2007 the church was in the capable hands of the Rev. Lyman Farnham and his wife Sue.  The Farnhams, longtime friends of the Carmichaels, have had a summer home in the Adirondacks for many years.

The plans for the building were drawn up by Manley N. Cutter, a New York City architect.  The builder was Thomas Wallace, who also helped in the construction of Echo Camp on Raquette Lake two years earlier.  In 1886 the Meneely bell was donated by Mrs. Levi P. Morton, wife of the future Vice-President under Benjamin Harrison from 1889-1893. 

The harp near the lectern is almost 180 years old.  The Rev. George Ottoway ran a boys' camp on Ottoway Island.  The harp was played by his daughter who brought it by guide boat each Sunday.  The instrument was donated to the church in 1957.

The stained glass windows above the altar and near the organ were donated by Warden Henry Crane of Crane's Point, Blue Mountain Lake.  In the 1860s Dr. Thomas Durant was instrumental in bringing Crane up from NYC to be treasurer of the new Adirondack Railway.  He soon convinced both Crane and John Boyd Thacher, future mayor of Albany, to build camps on Blue Mountain Lake.

During the winter months Mr. Crane was also the warden of the Episcopal church in Mandarin, Florida, the Church of Our Saviour.  Good Shepherd's sister church, started by Harriet Beecher Stowe, was built from the Josiah Cleveland Cady plans for the chapel on Raquette Lake, modified by W.W. Durant.  

Founding members in Florida included the Henry Cranes, the C.P. Huntingtons and the Meads from Philadelphia (perhaps the same Mead family who donated Bluff Island, St. Hubert's Isle, to the Diocese of Albany).  The Florida altar is dedicated to Mrs. Crane.

In 1977 the Church of the Transfiguration was added to the National Register of Historic Places.  

Services are held each Sunday at 10 am from June through September.

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The Rev. F. Lyman "Barney" Farnham

Church of the Transfiguration, Blue Mountain Lake, NY

died 29 August 2007 at the age of 74

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1976 Transfiguration brochure page 1 |  page 2

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2007-12-19 10:24:50