This Week in Saratoga County History Corinth German – American Club Fire
This article originally appeared on the Saratoga County History Roundtable website.
In the early morning hours of July 4, 1919, a fire alarm was sounded in the village of Corinth. Many residents believed it to be some boys celebrating Independence Day a bit early. However, when the International Paper Mill fire whistle sounded everyone knew it was not a prank. The popular German-American Club on Pine Street was ablaze. The local fire companies fought the fire and kept it from spreading to other buildings, but the large clubhouse could not be saved.
The German-American Club was constructed about 1890 on lower Pine Street next to a creek. Many German immigrants had come to Corinth to work in the Hudson River Pulp and Paper Company, (which became part of International Paper Company in 1898), in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Settling along Pine Street near the mill, the Germans created a stock company that provided health insurance for their members as well as establishing the club house. The three-story wooden structure housed an opera hall, bowling alleys, billiard parlor, basketball court as well as rooms to rent. It became the social center of the community – picnics were held on the spacious lawn under the nearby pines. Read more...