In 1868 a Lake George island reportedly sank following an earthquake and “tremendous upheaval of waters.” It was early January and newspapers around the state and elsewhere published a story similar to this quote from the Buffalo Daily Courier about “the sudden sinking of Recluse Island near Bolton, Lake George.”
Even the well-respected New York Times newspaper ran a front-page account on January 7, 1868 under the bold title—“EARTHQUAKE IN NEW-YORK.”
The New York Times likewise published a related blurb just below the news story that started with the sentence: “The dispatch from Glens Falls, N.Y., about the earthquake at Lake George and sinking of Recluse Island cannot at this hour be traced to a reliable source.” Apparently the initial news story was “without signature” and was “sent by a private party.”
According to the initial news flash that was printed by many newspapers, the island disappeared from a “tremendous upheaval of waters” on the lake. A shock wave from the incident lasted five minutes. Soundings indicated the island, and its cottage sank into 85 feet of water. No lives were reportedly lost.
Within a day or two of the first news account, many of the newspapers that reported the demise of the Lake George island printed a retraction that was like this one published in the Utica Daily Observer: “A Hoax – The telegram about the sinking of Recluse Island seems to have been a hoax.”
Recluse Island is one of over 170 islands in picturesque Lake George. The private island is located west of Dome Island and just to the south of the Sagamore Resort on Green Island in Bolton. One newspaper account states the island got its name during the French and Indian War (1755–1763) when a Jesuit priest was forced to take shelter on the isle.
A Bible, his personal diary, and rosary beads supposedly were later discovered on the undersized island.
A version of this essay first appeared in the Lake George Mirror, America’s oldest resort paper, covering Lake George and its surrounding environs. You can subscribe to the Mirror HERE.
Illustrations, from above: Painting of Recluse Island on Lake George by Robert D. Wilkie, ca. 1875 (Boston Public Library); and a stereograph, “Recluse Island, Lake George” by George S. Irish.
