Skip to main content
Be prepared with helpful travel tips!
  • See & Do
    • See & Do
    • See all
      • See all
      • Seasons
        • See all
        • Spring
        • Summer
        • Fall
        • Winter
      • Accessibility
      • Arts
      • Attractions
      • Downtown
      • Health & Wellness
      • History
      • Live Music
      • Parks
      • Shopping
      • Stories
      • Weddings
  • Outdoors
    • Outdoors
    • See all
      • See all
      • Hiking
        • See all
        • Nature Walks
      • ADK Guides & Tours
      • Birding
      • Boating
      • Camping
      • Cross-Country Skiing
      • Cycling
      • Downhill Skiing
      • Fishing
      • Golfing
      • Ice Fishing
      • Mountain Biking
      • Paddling
      • Snowmobiling
      • Snowshoeing
  • Eat & Drink
    • Eat & Drink
    • See all
    • Cafés & Coffee Shops
    • Craft Beer & Cocktails
    • Restaurants
  • Events
    • Events
    • See all
    • Adirondack Snowshoe Fest
    • ArtWorks ArtMarkets
    • Can-Am Rugby Tournament
    • Celebrate Paddling ADK
    • First Night Saranac Lake
    • Plein Air Festival
    • Winter Carnival
    • 3rd Thursday Art Walks
  • Stay
    • Stay
    • See all
    • Cabins & Cottages
    • Camping
    • Inns, Lodges, Bed & Breakfasts
    • Resorts, Hotels, Motels
    • Vacation Rentals
  • First Time Visitors
    • First Time Visitors
    • See all
      • See all
      • Accessibility
      • Downtown
      • Getting Here
      • Greater Region
      • Stories
      • Seasons
        • See all
        • Spring
        • Summer
        • Fall
        • Winter
  • Local
    • Local title-header
      • Live Here
        • See all
        • Meet the Locals
        • Real Estate
        • Town of Harrietstown
        • Town of North Elba
        • Town of St. Armand
        • Village of Saranac Lake
      • Do Business Here
        • See all
        • Chamber Job Board
        • Essex County IDA
        • Franklin County Economic Development Co.
        • Professional Services
        • Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce
      • Community Initiatives
        • See all
        • Arts & Culture Master Plan
        • Downtown Revitalization Initiative
        • Saranac Lake Brand
        • Village Community Development Department
What can we help you find?
  • See & Do
      1. See & Do
      2. See all
        1. See all
        2. Seasons
          • See all
          • Spring
          • Summer
          • Fall
          • Winter
        3. Accessibility
        4. Arts
        5. Attractions
        6. Downtown
        7. Health & Wellness
        8. History
        9. Live Music
        10. Parks
        11. Shopping
        12. Stories
        13. Weddings
  • Outdoors
      1. Outdoors
      2. See all
        1. See all
        2. Hiking
          • See all
          • Nature Walks
        3. ADK Guides & Tours
        4. Birding
        5. Boating
        6. Camping
        7. Cross-Country Skiing
        8. Cycling
        9. Downhill Skiing
        10. Fishing
        11. Golfing
        12. Ice Fishing
        13. Mountain Biking
        14. Paddling
        15. Snowmobiling
        16. Snowshoeing
  • Eat & Drink
      1. Eat & Drink
      2. See all
      3. Cafés & Coffee Shops
      4. Craft Beer & Cocktails
      5. Restaurants
  • Events
      1. Events
      2. See all
      3. Adirondack Snowshoe Fest
      4. ArtWorks ArtMarkets
      5. Can-Am Rugby Tournament
      6. Celebrate Paddling ADK
      7. First Night Saranac Lake
      8. Plein Air Festival
      9. Winter Carnival
      10. 3rd Thursday Art Walks
  • Stay
      1. Stay
      2. See all
      3. Cabins & Cottages
      4. Camping
      5. Inns, Lodges, Bed & Breakfasts
      6. Resorts, Hotels, Motels
      7. Vacation Rentals
  • First Time Visitors
      1. First Time Visitors
      2. See all
        1. See all
        2. Accessibility
        3. Downtown
        4. Getting Here
        5. Greater Region
        6. Stories
        7. Seasons
          • See all
          • Spring
          • Summer
          • Fall
          • Winter
  • Local
      1. Local
        1. Live Here
          • See all
          • Meet the Locals
          • Real Estate
          • Town of Harrietstown
          • Town of North Elba
          • Town of St. Armand
          • Village of Saranac Lake
        2. Do Business Here
          • See all
          • Chamber Job Board
          • Essex County IDA
          • Franklin County Economic Development Co.
          • Professional Services
          • Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce
        3. Community Initiatives
          • See all
          • Arts & Culture Master Plan
          • Downtown Revitalization Initiative
          • Saranac Lake Brand
          • Village Community Development Department

Dia de Muertos at Pine Ridge

Watch Video
Be prepared with helpful travel tips!
Jess Collier
October 31, 2016

Mexicans honor their dead relatives and friends during Dia de Muertos by visiting cemeteries, spending time with the souls of the departed and giving them offerings and saying prayers to them.

My mom was a Spanish teacher, and she loved teaching her students about Day of the Dead this time of year, so I grew up hearing all about it. I was captivated by the idea of hanging out in the cemetery to celebrate the deceased, since it’s so different from the way we treat that sort of thing here.

It was with this lovely tradition in mind that I visited Pine Ridge Cemetery this Halloween season to learn about some of the fascinating history of Saranac Lake and connect with the many people who built it. History is always interesting to me, but I always find it to have more of an impact when I’m reminded that the characters of the stories were actually real people.

I visited with a group of local fifth-grade students, who each researched a person buried there, and Amy Catania, executive director of Historic Saranac Lake.  I thought it was so cool that they were taking time out from their normal schedules to honor the people who built this community. 

gravestone
gravestone

The Moodys

The best place to start at Pine Ridge is with the Moodys. That’s because the cemetery started as their farm.

Jacob Smith Moody and his family moved to Saranac Lake in 1819, Saranac Lake’s first settlers. He was a farmer, a trapper, and a guide who moved to the area from New Hampshire, living first in Keene, then aquiring 160 acres in what is now known as Saranac Lake. He built a home for his family, which included seven children, at the corner of what is now Pine Street and Brandy Brook Avenue. He served in the state militia for five days in the War of 1812, and he played the fife in the Battle of Plattsburgh in 1814.

Jacob's wife, Sally Brown Moody, was the first family member known to be buried on their farm after she died in 1852. He remarried three years later, but he joined Sally eight years after that; he was buried next to her. 

Jacob's grave
Jacob's grave

Cortis Moody was the first child born to settlers of Saranac Lake, and he was also buried in the family plot when he died in 1902. In total, there are 112 Moodys with gravestones in the Pine Ridge Cemetery.

 Other graves

There's a good number of other people buried in the "Moody" section of the cemetery, including wealthy land speculator Milo Bushnell Miller; the man who built the first hotel on Lower Saranac Lake, William F. Martin; and Mary Ann Reynolds, who died at 8 in 1843 and has the honor of being in the earliest marked grave in the cemetery. 

Julia Baker Miller, one of the about 62 other Millers besides Milo buried at Pine Ridge, was the first woman superintendent of the Trudeau Sanitorium. After her husband Ensine's death, Julia ended up the owner of a hop farm that covered the side of Mount Pisgah that she subdivided and donated half the land to the village. That land now makes up nine village streets, including Marshall, Catherine, Margaret and Baker streets, all named for her family members. 

Julia Miller
Julia Miller

Tuberculosis 

Outdoor recreation has always been a huge reason people have visited and moved to Saranac Lake, because there are so many cool things to do here outside! But the thing that had the greatest impact on the founding of the village was tuberculosis.

E.L. Trudeau moved here to die in peace of tuberculosis, but instead he got better each time he traveled here from the city. So he decided to help cure others of the tuberculosis by building a sanitorium here and bringing people from the city to "take the cure" in the fresh air of the Adirondacks. People arrived in droves, and found a welcoming community after being shunned for having the disease in other places. 

Historic Saranac Lake, with Amy at the helm, runs the Saranac Laboratory Museum at Trudeau's old lab, where people can learn about the research Trudeau did on TB.

There are tons of graves at the cemetery for people who died from TB, but Amy said historians believe there are also hundreds of unmarked graves from TB victims as well. And because Saranac Lake was supposed to cure TB, it wasn't good for business to let people know how many people were dying of it, so many of the bodies were hidden at the train station before they were shipped home to be buried. 

Adelaide Crapsey was an emerging poet when she succumbed to TB. Though she was not buried at Pine Ridge, she spent much of her time curing in Saranac Lake at a cottage that overlooks the cemetery, and she wrote a poem about it. 

 

adelaide crapsey
adelaide crapsey

There's a whole section of Norwegian sailors who were at sea when the Nazis invaded Norway, so they had to come to Saranac Lake to cure rather than go home to Europe. (The fifth-graders were excited when they found a grave there for a guy named Olaf, presumably because of the character from the animated movie "Frozen" with the same name.) Some of the men married and stayed in Saranac Lake for decades, while some died earlier. 

 

Norwegian sailors
Norwegian sailors

Many of the doctors who helped patients with TB also contracted it themselves, and many of them are buried in Pine Ridge as well.

Other points of interest

There's tons more to see at Pine Ridge and so many other stories to tell. Here are just a few: 

Pine Ridge also has a Hebrew Memorial Cemetery section. There, as part of the Hebrew tradition, visitors pick up a rock with their left hand and place it on the grave they are visiting, to let others know someone has visited and the person buried there has been remembered. One particular gravestone, for a couple who lived here, includes a memorial to a long list of their family members, ages ranging from 9 to 90, who died in the Holocaust. 

A family of runaway slaves that arrived on in the area after taking advantage of the local spur of the Underground Railroad and remained to farm in Bloomingdale also has a gravestone in the cemetery. 

There are also plenty of gravestones that aren't readable anymore, or that are hidden under bushes or trees, or whose stories are not known. All are worth a visit. 

Historic tours

Even though this is a great time of year to be thinking about history and those who tread these grounds before us, history is cool all year round in Saranac Lake. Historic Saranac Lake runs historic tours throughout the year, including tours of downtown, the village's cure cottages, and the Trudeau Sanitorium. Keep an eye on our events page to find out about upcoming tours.   


This week we dig up some ghostly Adirondack tales:

Palace spirit

Popeville ghost town

Ohaunta's table for two

The Black Watch

The hermit of Jasper Day Trail

Arto lives

Unsolved Great Camp mystery

gravestone
gravestone
Jacob's grave
Jacob's grave
Julia Miller
Julia Miller
adelaide crapsey
adelaide crapsey
Norwegian sailors
Norwegian sailors

Related Stories

Snowshoe Your Way to Winter Fun
Fall Flavors
Saranac Lake is Fall-tastic for Kids!
Best Off The Beaten Path Fall Foliage Finds
Lovely Lodging
Decidedly Artful
Black History in Saranac Lake
Sweet Indulgences - Saranac Lake's Coffee Hotspots
Five Ideas for Winter Family Fun
The Time Traveler's Guide to Saranac Lake
Saranac Lake Adventure Travel
Three Fantastic Fall Hikes in Saranac Lake
A Fall Vacation with Hot Sara
Norman Ridge Ride
Fall Fishing in the Adirondacks
Lost Among the Rows
A Trip Around the Adirondack Carousel
A Decidedly Different Fall Day in Saranac Lake
Fall Events
Lake Kushaqua, A Beautiful Place to Rest
Fall Fun in Saranac Lake
Decidedly Different Saranac Lake
It's All Good at the Saranac Lake Skateboard Park
Cycling Loops in Saranac Lake
Finding Fun and Snowfleas at the VIC
The Historic Saranac Experience
Finding Winter Finches — and other Cold-Weather Species
The VIC's Black Pond Loop
A Day on McKenzie Mountain
A Fall Hike up St. Regis Mountain
Fall Paddling in the Adirondacks is Amazing!
More than the center of town
4 Ways to Enjoy Music and More in Saranac Lake
Beat the Heat!
Saranac Lake Trail Running
Fall for Saranac Lake
The creation of an Adirondack gem
Summer Scoop: Five ADK Ice Cream Destinations
Hiking and Birding in Bloomingdale Bog
Two Ways of Exploring the Natural World at the VIC
The VIC: It's Luxury Hiking!
Walking the Walk: 20 years of ArtWalks in Saranac Lake
Get down! The best low-elevation hikes in Saranac Lake
The Great Adirondack Birding Celebration!
Adirondack Fish Hatchery Experience
Three of Saranac Lake's Best Paddling Routes
'Round the Mountain Canoe Race - An Event For All Paddlers
Family Paddling Day: Planned for You
The art of Pink House
Five decidedly different things in downtown Saranac Lake
So Much Snow! And Some Great March Skiing!
Saranac Lake's Walk of Fame
Family Ski at Dewey
Canoodlers and Lawn Chair Ladies
Woods and Waters Trail, a great ski!
New Year, New Finds
From Your Home To Our Home
A Holiday Ski!
First Skis of the Season!
Downtown Holiday Shopping Guide
Calling All Rock Hounds
Feeling Grateful
Paddling Jones Pond in the Fall
A Fall Hike Up Mount Baker
An Evening Paddle on Lake Clear Outlet
The sound of healing
Azure Mountain Adventure
The Great Adirondack Corn Maze
A Fall Paddle on Little Green Pond
A Fall Paddle on the Floodwood Loop
Top Three Loops for Foliage
Five Fab Fall Viewpoints
Fall Migration is in High Gear!
When the twenties roared
Fall Seasons Cold Water Paddling
4 Go-To Paddling Destinations for Fall Foliage
Gorgeous leaves, all access
Be there at the finish!
An Evening Paddle on Middle Pond
Crossbills and Boreal Birds
The hidden fun in Lake Clear
McKenzie Road Bouldering
Not just a walk in the park
Six Nations, First People
Family fun that's free
Our lodging? It's different.
Sprung!
Rebirth of the Hotel Saranac
To get the trout, get the gear
Three hikes to include everyone
Vroom! Daffest Derby creator shares memories
Slow paddle to Oseetah
Get out and art!
Dewey Mountain - Just Wild Enough
2016 Most Popular Blogs
We can dash through the snow
If self-care is naughty, I don't want to be nice
Make Holiday Memories at Moody Farm
Cross Country Skiing in Lake Clear
Enjoying Late Fall Cold Fronts And Their Migrants
Great Fall Birding!
Dia de Muertos at Pine Ridge
A Fall Paddle On Lake Clear Outlet
Don't be afraid of the kayak
The Possibilities Of Fall Birding
A Fall Hike on Baker Mountain
Choose to stay... in the past!
Ampersand: A Family Tradition Realized
Village of Boulders
Fall Events: a blaze of glory!
Zooming Around in the Fall
So many hikes, so little time
Tri to stay dry
Puppy's first mountain climb
Coolest Adirondack Chopped Challenge!
Planting seeds
A Ride That Takes You Off The Beaten Path
Don't miss the summer's coolest events
History Is Cool: The Lab Museum
Hotel Saranac: Then and Now
Tucker Farms - three seasons of goodness
Some assembly required
Wonderful Weddings in Cool Places
Anti-vaxxers lead to Saranac Lake reopening tuberculosis facilities
Five Fun (and obscure) Facts about Saranac Lake!
Saranac Lake Classic: the Cure Chair
Carl Ballantine, comedy magic
Love among the cure cottages
Cross-Country Skiing on the Bloomingdale Bog Trail
Yeah, we're cool - no matter what we're wearing!
Shops with personality plus
Special Dining Options - Gluten Free & Vegan
Gray Jays!
Fun with Ice: Saranac Lake Creativity
2015 Most Popular Blogs
Trotting for Turkeys
Select seven: Family hikes under four hours
Shopping without the stress
Tubing: the sport to please the masses
Timeless Tubing at Mount Pisgah
Adirondacks' Masterpiece
John Brown's Other Bodies
Excellent October Birding!
Five top tips for cooking the hunt
Brighton: Dusk 'til Dawn
Unleash Your Inner Picasso
Paddling and Hiking Around Little Green Pond
Camping in the Cold (Disclaimer: This is NOT a How-To Guide)
A Cool Adirondack Adventure
Daddy Longlegs Love Burlap
Fall Warblers and Other Migrants!
Upcoming Fall Events
Enjoying Late Summer Wildflowers!
Dog Days of Summer aka Beach Time!
Martha Reben: Staring down the Great White Plague
Lake Clear: Our Secret Paradise
How to have fun at the Art Opening
Stevenson Cottage - small outside, a world inside
Paddling in the Adirondacks for the First Time!
Hiking with the Crew up Baker Mountain
Riding the Rails, Adirondack style!
Keeping It Local
A Wonderful Wellness Weekend
July is when things heat up!
Finding Lots of Birds Just by Taking a Simple Walk
Great Birding and Loads of Warblers in Madawaska!
Saranac Inn, golf with a taste of Scotland
Free Water Park Ride In Our Backyard
A Spring Hike Up Baker Mountain
Learning to Love Every Season
In Defense of Mud Season
Skiing in April and on Easter - No Foolin'!
Winter Carnival announces Summer Ice Palace
The Joy of Spring Skiing
Adirondack Cure for Cabin Fever
DIY Adirondack style
Newbie Skier Tackles Titus
Memorable Firsts: Carnival & Cross-Country Skis
Skiing the Fish Pond Trail
Wedding planning with the pros
Two sides of the Trifecta
February Fun and Games in Saranac Lake
Adirondack Traditions, then and now
An Evening Sleigh Ride in the Adirondacks
Four Seasons of High Points
Skiing - and Falling - in a Winter Wonderland
Fly our Adirondack skies
A night on the town in Saranac Lake
Where to find hot beverages
The First Ski of the Season!
Healthy Holidays, Adirondack Style
A picture's worth a thousand words - epic winter events
Eat 'n Meet: a community-minded neighborhood joint
Birding Along Lake Colby
Saranac Lake Remembers the Great War
A Guide to the Great Indoors
Adirondack Firetower Challenge: Climbing the Fire Tower Peaks near and around Saranac Lake
Fall Paddling; Being Ready for the Cold
New fun at Titus Mountain Ski Area
The Blind Owl Band: A true Adirondack band
Norman Bethune, the hero, the artist
An Apt Pair: Ampersand Mountain & Follensby Clear Pond
The biggest Cure Tour of them all
History Comes Alive in Saranac Lake
Learning to Identify Fall Leaves
The Horse Knows The Way
Mount Pisgah getting ready for winter ski season
Paddling and Snorkeling Little Green Pond
A Red Phalarope at Little Clear Pond!
Searching for Fall Warblers and Other Songbirds
Boat Trip Massages: Two Roads to Wellness
Forks, Fests, and Flatwater: 3 Featured Fall events
Paddling Little Clear Pond
3 Short Paddles found in the St. Regis Canoe Area
Paddling Lake Clear Outlet
See artists at work in the mountains
Hiking and Exploring Azure Mountain
An Evening Paddle on Moose Pond
A Great Place to Break Down
The Art Walk is a path to art, music, and fun!
A cure cottage tour, a step back in time
Mid-summer events in Saranac Lake
Adirondack Paddling, Choosing the Right Paddle
Adirondack Paddling - Choosing The Right Boat
Frankenstein Lives! In the old laboratory in the village
Birding at the Spring Pond Bog
“One Particular Island” all to ourselves
Roughing it in style: a tour of White Pine Great Camp
The Great Adirondack Birding Celebration
Spring Paddling on Lake Colby
One Magic Canoe: The Seven Carries Canoe Route
Roadside Gems, Paddling the Saranac Lake Region
5 Hidden Gems for Hiking, Paddling & Trail Running
Art Event or Fun Party? BluSeed blurs the line
Daffest is just around the corner
Our lakes were born for boating
Top 10 Spots for Paddling in Adirondacks
Waterhole Wednesdays Feature Free Music
Winter Foodie Scene
BluSeed Studios planning for busy spring
Spoken Word: Poetry on Stage
Thursday Night Music Jam
Breakfast & History
Night Skiing at Mt. Pisgah
Mid-Winter Events 2014
Top Five Winter Break Activities
Best Ice Fishing Holes
Building the Ice Palace
Tubing Adventures at Mt. Pisgah
Snowshoe Shopping
Lost and Found
The Art of Gifts
Intimate Studio Tour With Sandra Hildreth
Art & Dining
Short & scenic hikes
Something to Gobble About
Less than two weeks to Sparkle Village Craft Fair!
Saranac Lake Art Attraction Nov 22 - Dec 28, 2013
Ducks and Otters at Lake Colby
Discover the Art of Saranac Lake
Muskrats!
Hiking during Hunting Season
Goodman Mountain
Ducks on the Pond
Saving Einstein
Snow up high on McKenzie
You Don't Paddle Into the Wind
Five things you can do in Saranac Lake on Halloween week
Hiking St. Regis Mountain
Holistic Guiding: Immersing Yourself in ADK History & Culture
Fall at the VIC
Panther Trifecta
A Fall Paddle on Jones Pond
A Fall Hike Up Baker Mountain
Sparrows Along Lake Colby
Going to Church
Visitors in My Yard
Painted Landscapes, Clay Demonstrations, and Chickens...all a part of the Artist at Work Studio Tour
A Hike Up Panther Mountain
Where the leaves are on fire with color
Artist at Work Studio Tour this week
The Colors of Late Summer
Fun family events for fall foliage season
Scarface Mountain Adventure
Bloomingdale Bog Birds
Fifth Annual Hobofest: Music, Food and Fun on the Tracks
Late Summer Yard Birds
Stomping out the Saranac 6 – Week 2 – St. Regis Mountain
Hobofest tops the calendar this weekend
FlavorFest at The Wild Center
Hobofest Returns to Saranac Lake
Pianist Eugene Sirotkine performs August 6th concert to benefit Bartok Cabin
Entertaining events will keep you hopping this weekend
From carousels to magic lamps - events to tickle your Spring fancy
Historic Saranac Lake "History Matters" series continues with "Clara's Rib"
Historic Saranac Lake "History Matters" series continues with "The Art of Guideboat Building"
What can we help you find?
Sign up to receive more information.
Enter Email
Do•Stay•Eat•Shop•Events
Work Here•Contact Us•DEI•Media Kit•Privacy Policy
39 Main Street, Saranac Lake, NY 12983
Powered by the Regional Office of
Sustainable Tourism
THERE’S MORE TO EXPLORE
We’ve got the best ideas for things to do on your next Adirondack adventure, and we will deliver them right to your inbox! THANKS FOR SUBSCRIBING! Your next adventure awaits you in your inbox! Tell us more about what interests you, and we can help you plan your next trip.
MANAGE YOUR PREFERENCES