Nick Stoner Municipal Golf Course

The Caroga Recreation Park was built on the land previously a part of a thriving community from the mid-1860s to the mid-1880s. Wheelerville, named after Jonathan Wheeler, was the site of a tannery run by Wheeler and his partner William Claflin. The story of the Wheeler Claflin tannery has been told elsewhere.  Barbara McMartin in her Caroga book (32-44) presents an account. Dudley Dennison Fincke has also contributed a webpage to the topic.

It is interesting to look at pictures of the tannery site to see the land and structures that will become a part of the Caroga Recreation Park.

The building encircled in red was the tannery's barn and would become the Nick Stoner Inn while the building encircled in blue was the company store and became the clubhouse and for a while the town hall. It burnt in 2020.  Another photograph taken from what would become the 18th fairway looks north:

The row of structures in the distance were houses for the workers. Two of these structures still exist. What is striking about these pictures is how deforested the land is.

An article in the January 13, 1925 edition of the Amsterdam Evening Recorder reports a gift of land by Cyrus Durey to the Town of Caroga. The article talks about the development of Caroga as a resort community. The article touts the advantages of the Caroga and Canada Lake areas: the natural beauty of the lakes and mountains and the relatively close proximity of populations centers. The development of automobiles and creation of roads made the lakes much more accessible. The article acknowledges the absence of recreational opportunities as a hindrance to its development as a resort. It is reported that Governor Miller had intended to vacation in the area until he learned there was no golf course in the area.

To remedy this situation Cy Durey offered to give the town a 100-acre tract to create a municipal recreation park for the benefit of the town residents and to be an attraction to visitors. The strong public support in subsequent votes endorsing bond issues is an indication of the town's endorsement of Durey's plan. A January, 1925 survey delineates this property.

The gift is finalized with a deed dated July 1, 1925. The description of the lands covered by the deed comprise "78.08 acres of land." All of the land described is on the east side of the highway.  The discrepancy between the 78.08 recorded in the deed and the 100 acres reported in the newspaper accounts is perhaps explained by an additional 23.20 acres of land on the west side of the highway that would form part of the back nine that would be developed in 1930. There would be a later legal dispute over these lands as to whether they were part of the gift or did Durey intend to be compensated for these lands. Durey apparently never finalized his intentions for these additional lands before his death in 1933.

The terms of the 1925 deed require the Town to maintain the lands "exclusively as a golf course and for other recreational purposes." If these terms are not met the land would revert to the property of "Cyrus Durey, his heirs and assigns."

As part of the agreement with the Town, taxpayers were asked to approve a $40,000 bond to cover the cost of the development of the property with "the construction of a golf course and other means of providing recreation." Newspaper accounts laud residents for their strong endorsement of the bond. A Utica Daily Press article from October 12, 1925 reports: "Although towns would hardly be expected to finance an undertaking of this sort, the Caroga people were so impressed by its possibilities for the future that there were only five votes against the resolution authorizing the bond issue."

A commission was established to oversee the development of the Recreation Park. It was lead by Cyrus Durey with Richard Evans and Burt Z. Kasson also as members. During the 1925 season land was cleared for the greens and fairways. Tennis courts were also laid out with backstops erected.

A December 26, 1930 Morning Herald article published a report of the Park Commissioners. It recounts the objective of the original donation to create a public recreation park. The report states:  "Every city and many other municipalities now maintain parks and recreation places, often at great expense. They have become a necessary part of the expense of government. How much more necessary parks are to a town like Caroga, whose only business is the catering to vacationists."

The creation of the golf course was seen as part of a democratizing of the sport with the development of municipal golf courses. The 1930 report speaks to this: "...golf has been the rich man's game confined to expensive country clubs unavailable for men and women of small means. It was felt that if it could be made reasonable in cost as to bring it within the reach of this multitude a most desirable end would be served."

From the outset the creation of the Recreation Park was seen as a boon to the development of Caroga as a resort community. New summer residents were expected to purchase lots and build new cottages and this activity would increase the property values throughout the community. Cy Durey was lauded for his vision as reported in the Evening Recorder article:

It was Mr. Durey who conceived this plan of developing the lake section and his generosity in giving to the town the land necessary to carry out the project cannot be too highly commended. It is concrete evidence that he has the interests of his fellow townsmen at heart and is possessed of a philanthropic turn of mind backed up by deeds instead of words. The people of the town of Caroga in the years to come will have just cause to appreciate in full what has been done for them by Cyrus Durey.

1928 was a pivotal year in the history of the golf course. A March 20 1928 article in the Amsterdam Evening Recorder reports that Fred Allen who had been the pro at Sir William Johnson County Club and Sacandaga was secured as the professional for the Caroga Recreation Park. The article goes on to say: "Securing of a professional golfer to have charge of the new course at Wheelerville ... marks the culmination of a project launched three years ago to provide a recreation park in the town of Caroga...." Allen would serve as pro through the 1929 season to be replaced by Channing Floyd in 1930.

1928 also marked the completion of a nine hole course with the last two holes constructed in 1927. After two years of free golf, in 1928 greens fees and season passes were introduced. The 1929 Commissioners' Report records that 110 season passes were issued in 1928 with 461 daily passes, and 356 weekend and holiday passes. Dot Leavitt's account in the Caroga book states that a season pass in 1928 cost $25 for men and $10 for women.

As a sign of the established status of the course in 1928 the Curt Teich company issued three postcards of the course:

The creation of a clubhouse was a part of the original plans for the Recreation Park. An October 12, 1925 article in the Utica Daily Press reporting the donation of the land for the creation of a golf course speaks of plans for a club house "with suitable locker space and facilities for meals."  The July 3, 1926 Times-Union article states that "the clubhouse is not yet finished but will be in a few weeks."  In October of 1926 the Fort Plain Standard article reports that the clubhouse "will...be ready for occupancy in the near future." The following year the same paper reports that the clubhouse had been open for the public for several weeks. The article later observes that "The club house will have a restaurant and a fine dance floor. It will also have rooms for golfers, dressing rooms, etc." A March 1928 Morning Herald article states "The club house is nearing completion and is expected to be ready during the early part of the season." It is interesting to note that the Teich postcard showing what we know as the Inn identifies it as "Caroga Recreation Club House," and not the "Nicholas Stoner Country Club Club House" which it would become in 1928.

The Nick Stoner monument was the capstone of Cy Durey's desire to give Caroga a sense of civic identity. Eberly Hutchinson, long time Canada Lake resident and State Assemblyman, would write:

It is doubtful whether there would be any memorial of Caroga's ancestral hero other than Simms' pages and Stoner's tombstone had it not been for the interest in local antiquity of the late Cyrus Durey, and his desire to add historic appeal to the natural charms of our region. It was Mr. Durey who rechristened the charming little lakes about four miles north of us, which had always been known as Stink Lakes with the more euphonious name of Stoner. It was Mr. Durey who insisted that the pretty islet in this lake [Canada], long known by vague and varied appellations, should be call Stoner's Island.

Durey would write a biographical sketch about Nick Stoner. He introduces his essay with: "Every large or small community, both of civilized and barbarous men, has its traditionary heroes. The memories of some one person or other, who in his time stood out sharply from his fellows....Among those who do, is Major Nicholas Stoner, a pioneer’s son, a patriot soldier in his youth and middle age, and a lifelong hunter and trapper. "

American towns and cities would commission statues to honor their local heroes. Cy Durey initiated the project to create a memorial to Nick Stoner. He secured from the state Department of Education funds given by the legislature for public memorials as well as money from the Fulton County Board of Supervisors to create a bronze statue of Nick Stoner.  A July, 1929 Morning Herald article mentions the strong endorsement of the project by the community "to pay tribute to their fellow townsman."

The Nick Stoner statue is the work of Joseph P. Pollia. He and his family emigrated from Sicily to the United State in 1896. Pollia grew up in Boston where he attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. He devoted his career as a sculptor to the creation of public monuments and war memorials. One of his most famous statues is the monument to Stonewall Jackson on the battle field of Manassas or Bull Run.

The statue commemorates the pivotal moment in the battle when General Barnard Bee, pointing to the stalwart figure of Jackson astride his horse, shouts, "Look men, there stands Jackson like a stone wall. Rally behind the Virginians." He also created at statue of John Brown in North Elba. He was very prolific as an artist creating monuments in many cities and towns in the northeast including Utica with a statue of General Pulaski near the intersection of Memorial Highway and Oneida Street.

Eberly Hutchinson puts Pollia's work in art historical context:

It is the figure of a stalwart young man, clad in deerskins; quiet, earnest, and resolute as he looks on the mountain wilderness about him. In the pose, in proportions, there is something vaguely reminiscent of classic art, a suggestion of a figure modeled in Phidian days or in that tradition of the Greek reborn in fifteenth century Italy. And if you look longer with an eye familiar with renaissance statues, you will see that, divested of his deer skin raiment, the young man before you is Michael Angelo's David as he stands in the Academia at Florence or in larger replica on the height of San Miniato above the city. I spoke of this resemblance to Pollia and he was pleased by my observation, and we agreed that the mood expressed in David, as he faces, sling in hand, his giant opponent, is properly that of the young pioneer staring on the wilderness which he must conquer.

Hutchinson rightly sees the affinity of the Nick Stoner statue to works of the Classical tradition of Greek art. The reference to "Phidian" is to Phidias who was believed to have been the sculptor responsible for the Parthenon, the epitome of the Greek Classical tradition. The balanced stance with its differentiation between weight bearing and free leg was a hallmark of the Classical period as exemplified by the statue of the Doryphoros of Polykleitos from the middle of the fifth century BCE.

Hutchinson is certainly correct to see the connection between Pollia's statue and the David of Michelangelo. Both have the same weight-shift pose derived from Classical Antiquity and both have the same intensity as they gaze intensely at a challenge. In the case of David, it is the giant Goliath; while for Nick Stoner it is the wilderness that spreads before him. The powerful physiques and hands are strikingly similar:

An August 22, 1929 article in the Morning Herald captures this sense of Nick Stoner as a force of civilization overcoming Indians and the wilderness: "Majestically the old Indian fighter stands with flint-lock in hand overlooking the old Stoner lands where long since the echo of the war whoop and the report of musket have given way to civilization. Imposingly viewing the land where the part of his life was passed, where wild animals abounded and the name of Stoner was as familiar to the redskin as it is to the student of history, the beautiful statue may be viewed by the passing automobilist as a lasting memory to all in emulating the deeds and life of Nicholas Stoner."   This employs a Western cultural code dating back to the classical Greek world of Phidias, who saw themselves as a force of civilization confronting barbarism. Cy Durey with his roads, dams, fire tower, and well-groomed golf course would have identified with this cultural code. In his speech at the dedication, the State Historian Dr. Alexander C. Flick would summarize Nick Stoner's accomplishments in terms that Cy Durey again would have identified with: "A true pioneer, he helped clear the land, to establish local rule by the people, and to build our homes, churches and schools.... His deeds in war, his fearless encounters with the Indians, his prowess as a hunter, his shrewdness as a trapper, his intelligence and homely wit, and his unusual age made him a local hero of note." 

The 1929 Commissioner's Report published in the November 30, 1929 issue of the Morning Herald touts the success of the fledgling golf course.  It documents the growth of interest in the course.  In 1929 there were 163 season passes compared to 110 in 1928. In 1929 there were 798 daily passes an increase over 461 in 1928. Weekend and holiday passes grew from 356 to 741.  Based on this success the decision was made to expand the course to eighteen holes.  On November 18, 1929 a special town meeting was called to approve the decision to expand. With only 4 negative votes the towns people endorsed the plan. The strong endorsement of the Town for the development of the Recreation Park is emphasized. A bond sale in the amount of $4,000 for the purchase of additional land and $14,000 for the laying out of the added holes was scheduled for the following May 15.

The land on the back nine north of the old school, what is now the Caroga Clinic, came from Cy Durey (yellow). The identification of the Durey lands is based on the 1937 survey.  The lands to the south were bought from other Caroga residents (turquoise). Deeds from mid April to mid August of 1930 record the acquisition by the Town of these southern lands. Pieces of land owned by Charles Mead, Elizabeth Richards, and Robert Wandel were required to lay out the additional holes. The total acreage of the back nine is 59.5 acres of which 23.2 acres came from Durey leaving the additional lands comprising 36.3 acres.

An audit done after Howard Morey replaced Guy Durey as supervisor in 1934 revealed that of the $4,000 allocated for the land purchase, only $2,100 was accounted with the purchase of the southern land. It was not clear what happened to the remaining $1,900, not accounted for in the audit. This lead to a dispute about Cy Durey's intentions who had died in January 1933.  The Town contended that Durey intended that the 23.2 acres to be a part of the Durey gift of 1925. These 23.2 acres combined with the 77.8 acres of the front nine totaling close to the 100 acres announced as part of the 1925 gift. While Guy Durey contended that his brother intended to sell the lands to the Town and the Durey estate was owed the $1,900. If this were the case, the Town argued that it was owed the funds that were used in the improvements of the Durey portion of the back nine. This dispute would be resolved in February 1936 with the Town paying the Durey Estate $650 for the additional lands and water rights.

By December 1930, the Commissioners' Report announced : "The work has now been completed and the new course will be ready for play as soon as the growth of grasses on the fairways will permit." A July 1, 1931 Albany Times-Union article reported that the back nine would be open for play on Saturday, July 4.