I remember taking walks to Cohasset during my childhood, after dinner, to buy candy from the little store in that charming inn on Fourth Lake. Now, Cohasset has become what so many other of the old, great hotels of the Adirondacks have become - private homes. The old hotel was demolished, killed, really. Now there are a bunch of small and unremarkable houses on the point where the majestic old hotel once stood.An article from the Syracuse newspaper from June 1929:
COHASSET ON FOURTH LAKE, BEAUTY SPOT
Consists of Hotel and Group of Small Cottages
Old Forge, June 1 - High on a wooded knoll overlooking the beautiful south shore of Fourth Lake stands Cohasset. Surrounded by towering pines and birches, the cool depths of the forest are brought to the very verandas. Below the grove surrounding the hotel, a wide sand beach circles the point jutting out into the lake, offering a romp or lounging place where one is enchanted by the sparkle of the crystal water in the sunlight.
Cohasset consists of a main hotel and a number of modern cottages all placed within communicating distance and connected by enticing paths through the woods and along the shore of the lake. The lower floor of the main building is flanked by broad verandas whereon one may find quiet seclusion in a shaded nook or join the happy family of guests bound together through the mutual enjoyment of the inspiring natural beauties.
Cottage life at Cohasset offers an ideal vacation for a family with children or a group wishing to stay by themselves. The buildings are clean and attractive, with big open fireplaces and the conveniences of the main hotel.
Cohasset is reached by two trains daily from Utica and two trains daily from Montreal to Thendara, then taking either a train or a taxicab to Old Forge, which makes connections with the steamboat up the lake. Motorists may go by State road from Utica to Old Forge with a good shore road leading from there to the camp, seven miles distance.
I have precious memories of a vacation at the Cohasset on Fourth Lake. I was hoping the resort was still there so I could have that experience again with my family now. A sailboat race - my dad at the rudder, around a near by island, the box lunch enjoyed while climbing a near by mountain, jumping on a trampoline with my brother. Selecting my juice each morning at breakfast. We even found a dollar bill in the lake in front of our cottage.
ReplyDeleteAhhh, Cohasset! I spent many a
ReplyDeleteyearly vacation there with family.
The ringing of the morning bell by a staffer to get you to rise, the cool of an Adirondack morning and
aroma of pine. The warmth of the
lodge when all were seated for breakfast. Delicious breakfast, lunch and supper. The warmth of a
Adirondack Summer afternoon while
sunning on the diving dock. The cool of evening and then the quiet
of the night with the lapping of the Lake waves heard across the
lawn and through the screens lulling one to sleep. All of this
has been lost to the general public. The generations since the
1970's have no idea of what delight
this was. We who were there can only hold these memories in our hearts which is really a shame!
Imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon this website! I spent so many summers at Cohasset and the McGrath's! When I was old enough I came back and worked there in the office!!! I have some pictures, post cards and a pen and ink drawing of the hotel. I too wanted to take my family there. What a shame. Such a better time in my life!!
ReplyDeleteOur family went to Cohasset every summer from 1970 until it closed in 1978. I could write books on the memories and stories. The last summer we where there was the summer I graduated from high school. It was a sad time for me, "my childhood" was over and so was Cohasset. How I wish I could have just one more summer there to share with my wife and kids all the great times I had. When I visit Old Forge I always make it a point to take a drive down that long driveway just wishing the old lodge was still there. Cohasset was the dimond of Fourth Lake.
ReplyDeleteI often wondered what happened to the property once the hotel was taken down. I went to Cohasset with my parents for two weeks every summer from the time I was three years old until I was eighteen. I have not been back to inlet since. Now I spend a week in bolton landing each summer with my daughter and friends and I always think of Cohasset. I have so many good memories of my time there. It is a shame that it is no longer there for people to enjoy and I agree that many people will not know what they are missing. What every happened to the Marshall family who bought it after the McGrath's sold it?
ReplyDeleteAfter the Marshals sold in 78, I kept in touch with Sherry Marshall (daughter) for a few years. Bob & Jane purchased the Ferns restaurant. Turned it into a mini-golf/T-shirt shop. Kurt (son) fell off of a porch and was paralyzed. He ended up passing away a few years ago. Scott (son) also passed a few years ago. I am not sure if Bob & Jane are still alive.
DeleteAfter the Marshals sold in 78, I kept in touch with Sherry Marshall (daughter) for a few years. Bob & Jane purchased the Ferns restaurant. Turned it into a mini-golf/T-shirt shop. Kurt (son) fell off of a porch and was paralyzed. He ended up passing away a few years ago. Scott (son) also passed a few years ago. I am not sure if Bob & Jane are still alive.
DeleteI love this history of Cohasset. Thanks everyone for posting.
ReplyDeleteIn 2014, it's still a magical spot with the best views of Fourth Lake. Some of the private properties off of Cohasset Point Road, on the lake, are still for rent on ADKbyOwner. There is still the sound of the lake to lull you to sleep on the porch, the cool of an Adirondack morning with a smell of pine, mountains seen out every window, a perfect sunny afternoon sunning on a diving dock and bouncing on a trampoline. Cool evenings and firepits for marshmallows. The lake is just as beautiful as ever.
I, too, have very fond memories of Cohasset. Ken and Ruth McGrath were very close friends of my parents. In fact Ken was Best Man at their wedding in 1942. In 1947 my grandfather,Tom Maher, started working there in the summers as the handyman until the early 1970's. . I spent the summer of 1961 working as a chambermaid there before heading off to college. That summer I fell in love with the Adirondacks. On July 1,1967 my husband gave me a diamond ring and asked me to marry him as we as we enjoyed the moonlight on the dock out in front of the hotel. It truly was and still is a beautiful spot that many were able to enjoy. As I write this I sadly report that Ruth McGrath at the age of 99 passed away in Clearwater, FL. on 12/27/2014.
ReplyDeleteKathleen. We were summer guests from the late 50s to the early 70s. I remember your grandfather well. Always around, always busy. When I heard that Cohasset had been sold to the Marshals (sp?) and then torn down I couldn't believe it. I'm sure you know how we all felt. People say the lake is just as beautiful but we all know it was made even more so by the white hotel on the knoll. Sad to hear about Ruth McGrath. I was only about 10 and I loved my parents but I always secretly wished I could be adopted by her and Ken. Alas, never happened. Will end here because as you know, you could go on forever with what that place meant. Will never be another. Charles Miller
DeleteWe also went every year in September and had a family reunion Bob and Jane Marshall were my uncle and aunt I will never forget the fun we had up there up until they closed and sold the property. But my family moved to Tennessee the year before they closed it down so sad!! I will never forget the times we had
DeleteMy great aunt and uncle, Mary and Ed Herrschaft, went to Cohasset on their honeymoon in 1944. They returned every Summer until sometime in the 1970s. Too bad it's no longer there. - Doris
ReplyDeleteMy Grandparents, Quentin and Grace Schubert, went to Cohasset every year for two weeks. When I was a young lad, my parents and I, as well as my two younger siblings, joined them for 1 week in 1954, and I still remember because we had 8 mm movies. I was 10 at the time. I remember staying in a cottage, that it was cold at night, and that the lake was freezing cold. I remember swimming from the beach to nearby Camp Denmark, a cottage next door on the lake. In 2006 I was on my way to Burlington, VT on my BMW Motorcycle, and I turned onto Cohasset Dr. As I approached the lake shore, I recognized the profile of the hill on the opposite shore. I got a very warm feeling reconnecting with an important childhood memory. MY name is David Good and I am 73 as of this writing.
ReplyDelete