Long Lake Garage, Long Lake N.Y. 547

Long Lake Garage, Long Lake N.Y. 547

Scene of a gas station on a paved street in a small town in the Adirondack mountains. This image is part of a series made by one of the three Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Company photographers assigned to New England or upstate New York. The glass plates would be sent back to Belfast, Maine, and processed into postcards at the printing plant on High Street. This is the second shot the Eastern photographer has made of the scene; in this one he includes the figure of a man, probably posed for the picture. The man in shirtsleeves and a tie stands just inside the bay, near a car being worked on, looking out at the photographer. His appearance suggests he may be Earl Plumley, the "Proprietor", as noted on the sign on the building's roof. Another automobile is up on a lift outside. Two Socony brand gas pumps stand out front, a motor oil pump nearer the building. A sign on the building's front corner points to the "Ladies Room". The privately owned gas and repair station's roof sign reads, in outsize letters: "Socony is 'Standard' / Motor Oil / Auto Livery / Earl Plumley Proprietor." An AAA sign indicates the establishment's association with the national organization. The town of Long Lake, located in the heart of the Adirondacks, was a scenic vacation destination since the 1860s when the first large hotel was built there. The location on a widening of the Raquette River offered boating and fishing opportunities with views of the High Peaks in the distance. With towns were few and far between, gas stations such as this one would have been sure of good summer business from vacationing motorists as well as local folk by the early 20th century.