The Lake House
Walter Dobbins bought the Southwick Hotel (today's Southwick Inn) in 1884. Authorities arrested him on at least two occasions for illegal liquor sales.
Walter fell severely ill sometime around 1887-8. His recovery was slow, possibly prompting him to sell the Southwick Hotel to Henry Smith in February 1888. The $5,400 sale included the hotel, farm, outbuildings, and furnishings. Walter fully recovered and bought the Lake House, at Southwick Ponds, later that same year.
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| The Lake House |
The Lake House was located on Lake Road (today's Congamond Road), across from Saunders Boat Livery, about where the now-closed Franklin House is today. It was about a two-minute walk from the Congamond Station, eliminating the need to hire a carriage.
The Lake House dates back to the late 1800s and was a charming and popular venue for its grand clambakes and other family-friendly events in its grove, which had a dance floor.
However, the Lake House underwent a dramatic transformation. It was initially open to the public on a seasonal basis, usually until October. In the winter, it became a flophouse for ice cutters due to a housing shortage for transient workers from the nearby Berkshire Ice Company. Notorious for illegal alcohol, authorities constantly raided it. It became such a site of disgrace that the selectmen and residents were eager to have it shuttered, with some even advocating for its demolition.
The most notable raid took place in late 1903, at which time authorities arrested Walter's wife and William Saunders, an employee who worked there. The raiding party seized so much illegal alcohol that they said it was "all two horses could draw." (William Saunders and Mrs. Dobbins were also arrested when authorities raided the Lake House in 1892 and 1896.)
To maintain the raid's secrecy, selectmen sought the assistance of outside authorities from Springfield, Agawam, Palmer, and Westfield. They aimed to prevent Constable Babb, a friend of Saunders, from discovering the raid. Babb, who not only turned a blind eye to the illegal activities at the Lake House but was also a frequent visitor, added a layer of tension and drama to the situation.
At her court appearance, Mrs. Dobbins pleaded guilty to maintaining a liquor nuisance, and the judge fined her $50. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts called Constable Babb a trial witness in the Saunders' case, which took place one week later (it needs to be clarified if he complied). Saunders was found guilty on all five counts. He was fined $250 and sentenced to seven months in jail. He appealed.
In the months following the raid, the Lake House announced it would be closed for the summer of 1904 due to Mrs. Dobbins's "illness," but it is believed that the selectmen revoked Walter's innkeeper's license.
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| The Lake House |
What should have been a place of pleasure and fun had its fair share of tragedies; some self-inflicted, some undiagnosed.
On the morning of January 28, 1904, several Berkshire Ice Company laborers got into a drunken row. That evening, one of the laborers, a poorly clad young man, about 30, who had been drinking quite heavily all day, was found dead in his room in the Lake House. There was no evidence of foul play, but the medical examiner thought it best to perform an autopsy; the results showed the man had heart trouble, believed to be induced by alcoholism.
Then there was George Reinhold. He left Springfield on August 30, 1913, to enjoy Labor Day weekend fishing at Congamond Lake with a friend. The pair checked into the Lake House, and the following night, George retired around 11:30. Sadly, his friend found him dead in his bed at about 5:30 a.m. on Labor Day. The medical examiner arrived on the scene and determined that George died due to heart disease. (After his funeral service on the 3rd, George's family had his body taken by train to New Hampshire for burial.)
Guests were not the only ones dying.
A Lake House employee named Peter Lobban was driving down a hill near Southwick Ponds on May 13, 1901, when his horses got startled, throwing him from his carriage and into a tree. The horses took off, leaving badly injured Peter behind. Some people brought him to the Lake House, where a doctor examined him and determined that he had three broken ribs, possibly a broken spine, too. He died roughly three hours later.
Another employee, John Kapre, a Polish immigrant who worked as a hostler at the Lake House, left work on the night of August 7, 1907, and rowed out on South Pond around 10:00 p.m. to fish for bullheads near the Berkshire Ice Company's namesake ice house. Later that evening, someone found his unoccupied boat with its lantern in the bow still lit. When the sun came up, a small search party consisting of a selectman and three members of the Saunders family formed.
They found Kapre's body around 8:45 a.m. with a rope wrapped around his leg; the other end was attached to an anchor, leading them to believe that he committed suicide. But after further thought, they came to the conclusion that the rope probably got tangled around his leg while he was throwing the anchor into the water, and he got pulled overboard and drowned - at least, that's what they went with anyway. Assistant Medical Examiner E. S. Smith traveled to Southwick that afternoon to view the body. (Three days later - some boys found a badly decomposed body floating near an ice house in Middle Pond.)
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| The Lake House (left) (Note: The Berkshire Ice Company's Crystal Ice House in the background) |
The owners of the Lake House did not fare better.
Walter Dobbins died inside the Lake House on February 10, 1907. That year, John K. Borthwick leased and operated the Lake House with his wife. (Rates of the newly remodeled Lake House under Borthwick started at $1.50 per day, and dinner cost fifty cents.)
When John woke in his living quarters at the Lake House on New Year's Day, 1914, he dressed as he
would on any typical business day and then walked down to the kitchen. While lighting a fire in the stove, he dropped dead of heart disease; his wife found his body after hearing him fall. (Borthwick's family operated the Lake House after John's passing.)
The Lake House experienced a resurgence. A new dance pavilion called the Dance Palace was added in 1923. Its grand opening was held on July 4. Admission was 40 cents. The opening acts were the Six Kratochtil Bros. and the Cathedral Chimes. The Dance Palace attracted record crowds, the most seen in years, but it was short-lived.
Fire tore through the Lake House on a freezing, windy night in January 1925. As the flames raced from the basement to the roof, the hallways filled with smoke, cutting off several exits. Twenty-six people (ice cutters and their families) were forced from their beds, escaping into zero-degree weather with only the bedclothes they were wearing. Those sleeping on the third floor got out with the help of some Lake House employees.
Shortly after midnight on the 15th, Southwick's historic Lake House was nothing more than a pile of debris, with only its chimneys standing. The Lake House's dance pavilion remained untouched, and it, along with the grove and bathhouses, opened for the summer season, albeit only two days a week. (Fire destroyed the Lake House's dance pavilion at about 1:00 a.m. on November 18, 1928.)
Edited Out/Author's Additional Research Notes
Search party: Selectman C. A. Griffin, Charles H. Saunders, W. A. Saunders, and T. Saunders.
Walter Dobbins was well-known for his clambakes (and his illegal liquor).
The demise of those connected to the Lake House was not just limited to the waters of Congamond.
Mrs. Dobbins retracted her not-guilty plea and pleaded guilty (1903 raid). Another notable raid was 1906.
Sometime after John Borthwick's death, his daughter Anna "Emma" Desmond owned and operated the Lake House with her husband, Roy. The Borthwicks had a son and three daughters <- clarification is needed. Anna's daughter married Frederick Rowe, the superintendent of the Berkshire Ice Company. In 1907, John Borthwick telephoned authorities in Westfield informing them that his son-in-law, Ronald Desmond, stole $90. Ronald was arrested, but John denied ever making such a claim and that he wanted Ronald arrested for stealing his children. In retaliation, Ronald filed an $800 tort action against John. (Ronald may have been Roy - clarification needed)
Plans were made in late 1915 for the Lake House and Berkshire Ice to get electricity. One of Borthwick's daughters opened a barbershop in the Lake House in 1914.
Feds raided the Lake House and Saunders Boat and Canoe Livery in 1920 but came up empty-handed. (John Saunders was irate about the fruitless raid's impact on his boat livery.)
At one time, Congamond Lake was extremely popular. Thanks to the new railroad, thousands of pleasure-seekers from all over New England and New York flocked to its waters to escape the summer heat. The railroad added additional passenger cars to accommodate the growing number of people heading to Southwick Ponds, as it was then known, for the weekend. As the tourists arrived, so did new businesses. Congamond, especially the south end, had so much to offer: restaurants, hotels, bathing beaches, picnic groves, amusements, casinos, some of the best fishing, water shows, parties, boating, and pavilions. There were ballrooms and dance halls where you could dance the night away to some of the best Big Bands and orchestras of the period. (Already covered in another story.)
Authorities believed the fire that claimed the Lake House started in the poolroom.
Some sources say the dance pavilion was built after the Lake House burned, but this does not appear correct.
Ruth Cushman was visiting her son-in-law William Saunders (father of William Saunders in the story) at Otis on Oct. 26, 1856, when her horse got frightened from a loose harness. The horse ran furiously, throwing her out of the wagon and onto some stones, killing her almost instantly. William Saunders died in 1900. He is buried in Southwick Cemetery with his wife, Emeline Cushman who died in 1899. Ruth's son, Arthur J. Cushman, was sent to the Northampton Lunatic Asylum in 1868.
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