Averill Park used to be the Town of Sand Lake and therein also Interlachen Park.

The development of Averill Park that led to its present name all began in the 1870s. It can only be guessed when Horatio Averill first had the idea of developing the land around the Hamlet of Sand Lake. But in the late 1860s, he was involved in a new railroad project that proposed a steam railroad be constructed from Albany and Troy, running directly through Sand Lake Village to the Hoosick Tunnel and on to Boston. The Hoosick Tunnel was then under construction, and his hope was to capitalize on this. A stock certificate, dated March 1870 for the Albany, Sand Lake and Stephentown Railway Company for two shares, is made out to Eber W. Carmichael, and is signed by two prominent Sand Lake residents, Albert R Fox , President, and Horatio F Averill, Secretary. The steam railroad was never built, but an electric trolley line was built in 1895.Horatio Averill began purchasing farms and large plots of land in the vicinity of Sand Lake. In 1874, he commissioned Burton Thomas to lay out a subdivision on a 75 acre plot at the south end of the village. The subdivision was named "Interlachen Park." This parcel was located on today's Burden Lake Road and Prospect Avenue.

Around the turn of the century, the many natural lakes and softly rolling hills of the Sand Lake, Averill Park area of upstate New York provided a perfect setting for the popular resort area it would become. Elegant small hotels with Victorian appointed dining rooms catered to the days' carriage trade from nearby Albany & Troy and New York City as well. A well kept golf course and an old fashioned amusement park with its carousel appealed to young and old alike. A lively night life with New York City entertainment flourished along with the entire area. The village is quieter now. The lakes and rolling hills are still as beautiful as ever.


CREDITS: Excerpts:Some Courtesy of Town of Averill