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Foundation Years: 1924-1929
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| Convent of Sisters of Mercy, Altamont, NY |
The building was first constructed in the town of Guilderland, NY, in the Helderburg Mountains of east central New York State in 1885 by Colonel W. S. Church, an adventurer and pioneer real estate developer from Binghamton, NY. HE called his rambling, rustic structure Kushaqua, and advertised it extensively to metropolitan vacationers who wanted the scenery and refreshing air of the Helder Hills. The village of Altamont was incorporated in 1890 and is most famous for its yearly fair, established in 1893.
About 20 years later, Colonel Church sold out to a Professor Merrill of Albany, who was a state geologist, The name was changed to the Helderberg Inn. It was for a decade after a rendezvous for legislators of both parties having business at the Capitol in Albany.
The property and house – some seventy acres surrounding a hillside mansion of eighty rooms –were purchased by the La Salette Missionaries in 1924 in the diocese of Albany. The Old Helderberg Inn that had been a summer home for the Sisters of Mercy in recent years. The seminary college was opened in September of 1924 with a class of eight philosophers and eight rhetoricians, with seven or eight Fathers and one lay brother. In 1925 some renovations and repairs were made.
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| The front façade of the Seminary ablaze in 1945. |
The first Scholastics were ordained to the priesthood in the Altamont Seminary Chapel in June of 1929.
Growing Up: 1930s
Students were sent to Europe for post-graduate degrees until 1939 when the onset of World War II eliminated that possibility.
Growing Strong: 1940-1945
Out student population rose and our Shrine and fundraising activities brought more people in contact with our religious community. Our outreach to our foreign missions was spiritual, educational as well as financial.
The Story of the Fire: 1946
A tragic fire destroyed the seminary in October of 1946. All occupants fortunately survived but with only the clothes on their back —17 students, 3 lay brothers and 12 priests.
Dedication and Tour of New Building
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| Our “Frat House,” built in the 1700’s, is now the Altamont Old Stone House Inn bed and breakfast |
After extensive fundraising efforts, the new seminary was dedicated on Sept. 20, 1953. This three-story building was designed to hold a maximum of 150 occupants.
Our Seminarians and the Shrine
In 1965, a new Seminary Aid Building was built across the street, off Leesome Lane. Its purpose was to house the continued fundraising efforts of the La Salettes for their seminarians. This property had been owned by a variety of owners, including the Sewall and the Thatchers. It had been part of a great farm run much earlier. The Sewell Mansion that had graced the hill was obsolete and was destroyed in a controlled burn in the early 1960s.
Over the passage of almost forty years, our “new” seminary has served as a Major Seminary, Novitiate, and Retreat Center, and was eventually closed in 1983.
In 1984 the seminary and its property was sold to Peter Young Housing Corporation, founded by Fr. Peter G. Young, a priest of the Diocese of Albany, which provides alcohol and substance abuse treatment, job training, and?housing, the "Glidepath to Recovery" system:
Included in the sale of the property was the historic old 1773 farmhouse, bordering our property, that was bought by the La Salette Missionaries in 1962 from Irwin A. Conroe, and used to house our seminarians. It was affectionately called the ”Frat House.” It was sold in 1990s and in the fall of 2002, after a year of extensive renovations to the house and the land, was opened as an exclusive bed and breakfast. It was rumored to have been part of the “Underground Railroad,” although no documentation has been found: