This wonderfully clear photograph of Saranac Lake in about 1885 was made by George Baldwin. Note that the old Harrietstown Town Hall, built in 1886, is not present. Also missing are the Adirondack Cottage Sanitarium (only Little Red, built in 1884, existed), and the original Saranac Lake High School (1890) on Main Street. Broadway is a well-wooded lane, there is no sign of St. Bernard Street, or Park Avenue, and Helen Hill is bare. The railroad would arrive the following year. It is Saranac Lake on the cusp of explosive growth!
The following Sanborn Maps of the village are dated 1895, about ten years later than the photograph. They are the earliest available. Note that today's Broadway was named Depot Street at the time, for the New York Central Depot located across the tracks from today's Kinney Drugs.
Note: The orientation of the following two maps does not match the ones above. North is approximately at top, above, to the right on the map immediately below, and as indicated on the last map.