By Patsy McDonald

For many years the residents of the towns of Canaan and New Lebanon enjoyed swimming in Queechy Lake at the “Women’s Beach” at Berkshire Industrial Farm, accessed through the tunnel off Route 22. In the early 1950s the Farm decided to close the beach. Col. William Adams, a member of the Berkshire Farm Board of Directors argued adamantly that some access to the Lake should be provided to the people of Canaan and New Lebanon who do not own property on the lake. After considerable discussion, the Board offered the land it owned on the north end of the lake now known as Adams Point Beach. In 1951, a lease was drawn up with the Towns of Canaan and New Lebanon for a rental of $1.00 a year, renewable every five years. The Queechy Lake Club offered to manage the beach, charging $1.00 a season (July 1 to Labor Day) to associate members (non-landowners) and $5.00 to land-owners of Queechy Lake.

About 200 feet of land was cleared and a group of men from Canaan and New Lebanon helped clear the land, spread gravel and haul lake weed out with a hay rake and tractor. The Town of Canaan provided a recreation program in the morning, including swimming lessons. A sign “Swim at Your Own Risk” was posted on a tree to avoid any liability and a float was cobbled together with lumber and oil drums. Garbage was gathered on Sunday evenings. Mothers would take turns watching the children and a “person in charge” kept track of membership status. Barbara Soule McGrath recalls sharing this job as a teenager with Betsy Hartigan, Suzanne Patnaud and Patty Soule. For 27 years the Queechy Lake Club managed the beach. Then the modern world caught up.

Liability demands forced the beach to close in Spring of 1979. In August of 1979, a group organized by Canaan architect William Golub created a Not for Profit corporation called Adams Point Beach Association, complete with Bylaws and a Board of Directors. The new beach included lifeguards, a rescue boat, a telephone for emergencies, a fence and increased membership dues that would cover the required liability insurance. As time passed sand was trucked in, port-o-potties installed, a shed for equipment and shelter, picnic tables and benches and recently a clothes changing kiosk.

Aside from the additions of sand, sheds, insurance, etc. little has changed and the simple pleasures of Adams Point Beach remain. The walk through the meadow on a hot summer day, the lake breeze that greets you as you enter the shady woodland path, the splashing laughter of children, and the diamond sparkle of this precious jewel of a lake that welcomes you to its cool silky waters still one of the cleanest in New York State. It's all still here, decades later.