Sylvia Loines Dalton, and the Loines Family

(1885 – 1974)

By all accounts, the women of the Loines family were a force to be reckoned with.
In the early to mid 1900’s, Mary Loines was a wealthy widow, leader in the New York State Suffrage movement, and mother of three then-unmarried daughters, Hilda, Elma, and Sylvia. Their wealth extended to land holdings, including 12,000 of acres on Northwest Bay.
In addition to being good stewards of their land, the Loines’ were active conservationists. They were vocal supporters of creating a Lake George Park, and attended meetings and petitioned to prevent the construction of Rt 9N along the shoreline of Tongue Mountain. In fact, they donated some of their own land in order to provide a more ecologically friendly alternative to the road’s construction, keeping it away from the sensitive shoreline.
Activist and conservationist John Apperson was a close family friend and ally of the Loines’, and provided and received support from the Loines daughters, especially the youngest daughter, Sylvia.
Mary Loines, circa 1935. Photo from the Dalton archives, Adirondack Research Library.
Mary Loines, circa 1935. Photo from the Dalton archives, Adirondack Research Library.
Sylvia Loines, Lake George, circa 1928
Sylvia Loines, Lake George, circa 1928. Photo from the Dalton archives, Adirondack Research Library.
Sylvia Loines was an especially vocal conservation advocate, causing criticism from some, and praise from many others. After local editorials spoke negatively about the Loines family, millionaire George Foster Peabody defended Sylvia, saying, “Miss Loines is one of our most public-spirited citizens and without any selfish instincts at all.”
The Loines’ family legacy of conservation carries on in the work of the LGLC.
The Loines Preserve is a 36-acre preserve along Northwest Bay that was donated to the Eastern New York Nature Conservancy in 1964 by the sisters, and subsequently given to the LGLC in 2004. In 2000 and 2001, the LGLC purchased 1,310 acres that had once been part of the Loines estate; this land is now the Pole Hill Pond Preserve owned by New York State. In 2016, the LGLC purchased the 160-acre Wing Pond tract that adjoins the Pole Hill Pond Preserve.
Tim Barnett, a founder of the LGLC and first director of the Adirondack chapter of The Nature Conservancy, commented that the Wing Pond purchase, “would appear to complete a four decade-long project to protect the Loines holdings.”
“No land conservation effort on Lake George’s west shore has contributed more to the preservation of the lake’s water quality than the acquisition of Loines properties by New York and the land conservancies over the past one hundred years.” ~ Tony Hall, editor and publisher of the Lake George Mirror
Read more: Conservation History: Northwest Bay, Lake George, by Tony Hall, Lake George Mirror, 2017

 

Sylvia Loines Dalton, Lake George, 1960
Sylvia Loines Dalton, Lake George, 1960. Photo from the Dalton archives, Adirondack Research Library.
About Us

Protecting the land that protects the lake since 1988. The Lake George Land Conservancy is an accredited not-for-profit land trust dedicated to working with willing landowners and other partners to protect the world-renowned water quality of Lake George and to permanently preserve the natural, scenic, historical and recreational resources of the Lake George Region.

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