The organization is managed by volunteers and funded by fundraising projects, donations and membership dues. Association members are informed about community activities through Association mailings, newsletters, and of course, this website.

​

There has been an active Sylvia Lake Association since 1919, although the first organizations were separate entities. The first was formed in 1919, at a meeting of property owners. The Gouverneur Northern Tribune (11/19/19) reported that the association's "plans included extensive improvements both on the property at the lake and on the road leading to the grounds. With the completion of the imporvements as planed, the coming season promises to exceed that of 1919 which was one of the most popular ever known in the history of the resort." That resort, of course, was the Sylvia Lake hotel.

​

The second association was organized in the 1930's... the third, in the late 1940's. The three original associations were primarily organized to facilitate access to the hotel and resort. During the 1940's, the association, in cooperation with the owner, Ed Smith, even organized social activities for residents, held at the Sylvia Lake Inn. 

​

The person most responsible for organizing property owners to form our current association by calling the first meeting, was Carleton L. ("Slip") Toomey. The first association meeting was held on March 27, 1968, at the municipal building in Gouverneur. Fifty property owners attended this meeting, where they elected officers and came to tentative agreement on issues they wanted to work on: road improvement, pollution, and water control.