The Crooked Lake Hotel in Sand Lake, Rensselaer County, NY – now Old Daley on Crooked Lake – began in the early 19th century as a stagecoach stop, Philip Upham's Tavern, along the plank road from Albany to Points East. The building burned down in 1850 and was rebuilt by James Mosher. In 1881 it was purchased by the Brown family and became Brown's Crooked Lake House.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute used Brown's as a site for summer surveying programs and was “filled to the brim” with up to 80 engineering students for a month. But Brown's most famous guest was Theodore Roosevelt, who, as governor of New York, brought his family to Crooked Lake for the summer and commuted to the Capitol in Albany when necessary.
In a 1969 Times-Union column, Edgar Van Olinda wrote: “It should be noted that [the hotel] was one of the last places the Vice President visited before heading to Washington to become President of the United States following the tragic assassination of President McKinley in Buffalo, NY.”
The Minahan brothers leased what was known as the Wendell Inn in 1905 and purchased it a year later. When Franklin D. Roosevelt was governor, they hosted Eleanor Roosevelt for lunch.
Alpheus Winbert “Al” Coon, Jr. and his wife Theresa purchased Crooked Lake in 1935. Al, ever the engineer, set about modernizing, expanding, renovating and upgrading the place.
A May 1932 Troy Times article reported on a newly added dance palace “built so that a cool breeze from Crooked Lake blows through it at all times, making it one of the most comfortable and attractive places to spend an evening with.” “To enjoy dance.” during the warm summer months.”
The newly renamed Crooked Lake Hotel became a popular venue for the big bands of the day, whose programs were broadcast on radio across the country. including Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Les Brown (and His Band of Renown), Benny Goodman and Guy Lombardo. Newspaper advertisements from the local musicians' union indicated that it was just a union
Orchestras were used. The Rathskeller in the basement was a speakeasy.
Around 1955 a motel was built across the street. A year later, a fire destroyed the garage opposite the hotel. Fortunately, firefighters were able to protect surrounding buildings, including the motel units, from damage; The damage was limited to the garage and some vehicles and equipment inside.
In 1967, a fire broke out in the kitchen during a fundraising dinner; The damage was minor, but one firefighter was slightly injured.
An enclosed pool was added in the early 1960s for year-round swimming. It was removed years later due to significant storm damage. Well into the 1970s, Crooked Lake was a popular restaurant, motel and event venue that hosted vacationing families, weddings, parties and balls.
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were regulars in the early 1960s, traveling by seaplane from New York and secretly settling in the “remote country” hotel.
Crooked Lake was later acquired by Dalmar Tifft and Mark Hammond and later by Paul Vincent before becoming Old Daley's on Crooked Lake in 2010. It has been renovated again and has become a premier venue in the northern part of the state for parties, weddings and restaurants.
Sand Lake Historical Society Gala
Old Daley's on Crooked Lake will host the Sand Lake Historical Society's 50th Anniversary Super Gala on Thursday, May 16, 2024 at 6 p.m. Old Daley's is located at 2339 NY Route 43 in Sand Lake, NY. The event includes a full dinner buffet, bar, desserts, and coffee and tea.
The theme is “Come as We Were” and participants are encouraged to dress as Sand Lake residents (or visitors) from any time in our history. The participants could be a mill worker, a farmer, a gangster, a streetcar conductor, or a vacationer, as they were in high school, as they are in 2024.
Tickets are available online here.
Peter Finn is president of the Sand Lake Historical Society.
Illustrations from above: Minahan's Wendell Inn (Crooked Lake Hotel), 1914; Crooked Lake Hotel in the 1920s or 1930s; and the Crooked Lake Hotel in the 1950s (images courtesy of the Sand Lake Historical Society).
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