Located along the eastern section of the Finger Lakes in upstate New York, Skaneateles Lake has almost 16 miles of pristine water that stretches across three counties from the village of Skaneateles in the north to Glen Haven in the south.

As early as the 1830s, Skaneateles Lake and small communities along its shores became popular destinations for boating, recreation, and even restorative health because of the purity of the water. During the second half of the 19th century, a proliferation of elegant mansions and summer homes were built along the lake by wealthy businesspeople and tourists who came to the area to enjoy the benefits of lakeside living. Many of these lakefront homes included boathouses to store their locally built boats and to serve as guesthouses and summer retreats. Long considered a premier destination, Around Skaneateles Lake highlights some of the lake's unique cultural and geographic features as well as an assortment of lakefront properties, boathouses, and boats of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Julie Clark DiBagio, a native of Skaneateles, has served as a volunteer and board member at the Skaneateles Historical Society for many years and is passionate about the area's history. C.E. Malmgren has worked and volunteered at both state and local nonprofit historical organizations in upstate New York. Currently, she serves as the director at a town historical society in northern New York. Photographs were acquired primarily from the photographic collections of the Skaneateles Historical Society and from the personal collections of local residents.