The Saranac Laboratory Museum's sign and entrance along Church Street in Saranac Lake is seen on Wednesday, Oct. 16. Dr. E.L. Trudeau's home and office, currently under renovation, can be seen behind the steps on the left. The museum will be expanding into that building once construction is complete. (News photo — Chris Gaige)

SARANAC LAKE — While Lake Placid offers no shortage of attractions to fill a trip, I realize many faithful readers, whether residents or longtime visitors, may have checked off a lot of boxes.

You may also be reading this as a newer or less frequent visitor who may be looking to expand your excursion beyond Lake Placid village limits. If you’re any of the above, this week is for you.

On Tuesday, Oct. 15, I had the opportunity to check out the Saranac Laboratory Museum at 89 Church St., Saranac Lake, operated by Historic Saranac Lake. The museum primarily focuses on historical medical research in the area, largely centering around tuberculosis treatment.

If this sounds rather niche for the premier museum dedicated to the history of Saranac Lake, you’re not alone. That was my initial thought, too.

However, it quickly became evident why this is such a large focus. Saranac Lake would not be anything close to what it is today without that research. It is what drove the community’s development throughout the past century and a half.

A display sign that offers a bit of history on the Trudeau Sanatorium is seen on Tuesday, Oct. 15 at the Saranac Laboratory Museum in Saranac Lake. (News photo — Chris Gaige)

This elevated Saranac Lake from a run-of-the-mill Adirondack community — driven by lumber, hunting and outdoor guide work — to the largest village, by population, in the Adirondack Park today. In addition to population growth, this has set the community apart by making it a draw for medical researchers near the top of their field.

The research kicked off in the late 1800s. Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau moved to the area in 1873 after being diagnosed with tuberculosis. The disease was one of the leading causes of death at the time, responsible for roughly one in seven deaths that century in Europe and the United States.

Without an effective medicine, the prevailing medical advice at the time was to get out of crowded urban areas and seek fresh air. The Adirondacks, remote but not arduously far from the East Coast’s major population centers, offered the opportune escape.

Trudeau recovered after arriving in the area. Amazed by the fresh air’s cure, he moved his family to Saranac Lake and in 1884 established a medical treatment facility, the Adirondack Cottage Sanitarium on the slopes of Mount Pisgah, to cure others suffering from tuberculosis. He dedicated the remainder of his professional career to treating the disease, and the museum occupies the laboratory he established in 1894. The Adirondack Cottage Sanitarium’s name was changed to the Trudeau Sanatorium after Trudeau’s death in 1915.

The Trudeau family lived in the area for generations. Trudeau’s son, Francis, continued to lead the sanatorium until it closed in 1954. Francis had a son, Francis Jr. (Frank), who helped found the Trudeau Institute research facility in Saranac Lake in 1964. Frank’s son, Garry, went on to become one of the most famous American cartoonists of our time, best known for his “Doonesbury” strip.

Signs and displays are seen on Tuesday, Oct. 15 at the Saranac Laboratory Museum in Saranac Lake. (News photo — Chris Gaige)

–

Blast from the past

–

During my time at the museum, I spoke with several other visitors. We all had the same overwhelming reaction: Thank goodness for modern medical technology.

Many of the museum’s exhibits are of historic medical equipment that was used for research, treatment, medicine manufacture and storage, as well as a variety of other areas of the field. That stuff was grizzly. As I walked through the museum, I could not even begin to imagine undergoing treatment with that technology.

Artwork seen on Tuesday, Oct. 15 in the Saranac Laboratory Museum help tell the community's story. Left is a painting of researchers working in the building when it was a functioning lab and right is a portrait of Dr. Robert Koch, a German scientist credited as the founder of modern microbiology, whose work inspired Dr. E. L. Trudeau to study tuberculosis. (News photo — Chris Gaige)

I was profoundly appreciative of existing in the century that I do. I was not, however, dismissive of those artifacts. The reason is simple: We would not be where we are today without the pioneering research and — by today’s standards — rudimentary treatment methods that it was built on. While the museum focuses on tuberculosis, this could be said for just about any disease that we have found effective cures for today.

It’s easy to take for granted the technology of today. I’m sure in the next century, people will also look back on us and think with the same sense of distress and pity I felt: “Wow, they really had to live like this?”

Science and medicine certainly has its leaps and bounds. Breakthrough findings can present themselves out of nowhere and with great surprise. But, for the most part, the field is a slow and steady grind forward. Research and following scientific methods and procedures to a tee, to ensure accuracy and reputability in the findings, takes time.

The museum does an excellent job telling the story, or, perhaps stated more precisely, the legacy of how Saranac Lake both directly contributed to and was helped by these advances. Their large collection of all sorts of equipment and research tools hammer it home.

–

Rudimentary research and medical equipment on display at the Saranac Laboratory Museum is seen on Tuesday, Oct. 15 in Saranac Lake. (News photo — Chris Gaige)

Beyond the medicine

–

For those interested in a larger scope, fear not. The museum has plenty of exhibit space dedicated to the region’s wider history.

The museum’s basement — known as the John Black Room — has a “North Country Neighbors” display that gives brief histories of the surrounding communities of Loon Lake, Paul Smiths, Gabriels, Ray Brook, Vermontville and Bloomingdale. The museum also spotlights a long list of individuals living across the area today who are contributing to the area’s distinct culture.

Examples include Christopher Woodward, of Saranac Lake, who crafts and restores Adirondack guideboats — a sort of hybrid between a canoe and a rowboat — using traditional methods, or Catherine Beeson, a violinist who founded Loon Lake Live in the 1990s, a community-based musical performance group.

A sign near the beginning of the Saranac Laboratory Museum's tour is seen on Tuesday, Oct. 15. It explains the origins of curing tuberculosis and provides a bit of history on Trudeau's second home, built in 1894 after an 1893 fire destroyed his first home in Saranac Lake. (News photo — Chris Gaige)

–

More to come

–

Historic Saranac Lake is growing — literally. During my visit, I had the chance to speak with Executive Director Amy Catania, who detailed the museum’s expansion into E. L. Trudeau’s home and medical office, located next door to the laboratory that the museum occupies.

The beautiful building, painted a brilliant red with sharp off-white trim, is an architectural icon within Saranac Lake. Catania explained that construction renovations are expected to finish this December, at which time Historic Saranac Lake will begin to build exhibits. When all is said and done, she said the addition will add approximately 4,000 additional square feet — bringing the then two-campus museum to over 5,500 square feet.

The Saranac Laboratory Museum makes for an excellent stop for those visiting Lake Placid. I don’t have any medical background (barely getting through Advanced Placement Biology in high school, I believe, fails to qualify), and I left incredibly appreciative for the visit. I’m sure this would be even more the case for those involved in the field or working in science more broadly.

The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday. Admission is $7 for adults, $5 for students with identification and free for HSL members and children 12 and under.

More information can be found at historicsaranaclake.org.

An door leading to the Saranac Laboratory Museum's basement is seen on Tuesday, Oct. 15 in Saranac Lake.Seen through the doorway is a cure chair for tuberculosis patients. (News photo — Chris Gaige)

Ruth Negley, a biology professor from Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, and John Rampulla, a managing director at a consulting firm from Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, watch an interpretive video at the Saranac Laboratory Museum on Wednesday, Oct. 16. The two were staying in Lake Placid for the week and made the trip west to learn more about neighboring Saranac Lake’s history. (News photo — Chris Gaige)

An exhibit on Christopher Woodward, of Saranac Lake, and his work to build and restore Adirondack guideboats using traditional methods is seen on Tuesday, Oct. 15 at the Saranac Laboratory Museum in Saranac Lake. (News photo — Chris Gaige)