Steamboat Landing at Westport, NY circa 1907

Perhaps some of my North Country readers recognize this sylvan scene along the Adirondack shore of Lake Champlain?

It is the site of present day Westport Marina in Westport, NY. Seen here in an earlier incarnation as a steamboat landing circa 1907, there are several notable differences with more contemporary photographs of this same waterfront.

Most notable is the veritable absence of buildings. A few are visible, mostly in the distance, but it seems that turn-of-the-century Westport (aka Bessboro) was a much more treed village — at least along the lakeshore — than it is today.

Another absence is the Westport Yacht Club. Standing south of the Westport Marina and separated by present day Ballard Park, this historic yachting landmark (rebuilt in the 1980s after it was destroyed by fire) has been home to several top-tier restaurants in recent decades. A clue might be hidden in the bottom/foreground of this photographs. Notice the crumbling crib dock? I suspect that the Westport Yacht Club may have been constructed on a previous pier (one used for mercantile shipping, perhaps?) and that the photographer may have set up his tripod amid the rocks and logs to capture this evocative image. What do you think?