catskill hotels 1960s

But in recent years, boarded-up storefronts have been dusted off as ice-cream parlors and taco shops. and hotel basketball team all-star. Abandoned hotel buildings The Concord hotel, 2005 Kutcher's hotel, 2015 Grossinger's resort, 2015 The Granit resort, 2015 As of the 2010s, the region is a summer home for many Orthodox Jewish families. All the women wore their cardigans with mink collars. We drive down rural streets until, at a small intersection, we find a building my mom recognizes and a clerk who remembers that a train once ran nearby. Not far from Green Acres. The barn is gone but the silo still stands. Today, Louis Cohens has three bungalows and the main house still standing. There are two pictures of abandoned I was the only musician. I remember going to Wodas Hotel as a child with my grandparents. In fact, by 1966, this disturbing trend had become so obvious that it caught the attention of the New York Times. Its really nice to be in touch with you, Joan. been more complete. Unfortunately, I wish I could remember more about our vacations there. people ask? This project was created using the CERES: Exhibit Toolkit with help from the Digital Scholarship Group at the Northeastern University Library. My parents took me to the Youngs Gap in about 1944 after my summer camp closed because of a Polio epidemic. Trying to keep up with the prosperous giants like Grossingers and the Concord, they have gone heavily into debt for Olympic swimming pools, indoors and outdoors, ornate lobbies and glittering nightclubs, Bigart wrote. I know Frank would love to get in touch with her. I dont know what made me check this tonight, but I am so glad I did. Life was a little bit different in Utah in the 1960s. My grandfather was Izzy Woda and my mother was Sylvia. He was quite a character, dancer and ladies man! It was said That the Catskills was hotter than putting present day las.vegas and Atlantic city together. I remember your mom and her brother Ralph. photos of hotel guest rooms, mostly without furniture and the walls Unauthorized use is prohibited. I am told they operated from Mountain Dale, New York. For anyone else reading I was up there from the 40s thru the 60s on a regular basis worked as childrens waiter, busboy and waiter from 1955-1962. If I did not know of it being there, I would never have believed it once was. burned down. Im sure we must have known you. I do remember the name Moe Senate. Her sister is Stephanie. LOL How come there is no record of the place or history? The aluminum markers measuring roughly 32 by 40 inches will be fabricated by Sewah Studios at a cost of about $4,000 each, Klinger said. PS. The entire camp was sitting in there watching in awe. I think I was about 13 and do remember being terrified. As a really little kid, I would hound Bob Rubinstein to give a ride in his 56 Ford pick-up or a ride on the yellow and white Cub Cadet tractor. Is there now something else where the hotel stood??? It was called Pullmans. Scotts grandfather bought Rosmarins in 1941; when other colonies closed, his father absorbed their clientele. anyone know about Holtzmanns Bungalow Colony in Lake Huntington? Everybody talks about that one. My mom remembers tadpoles swimming in the creek, costume parties, and women tanning by the pool with metallic reflectors. A luxury stay in a bright orange room. Now, though, nearly a hundred years later, it is gone. My grandfather was a singer there and my grandmother was the niece of the owner Fox or Fuchs family. You must remember their parents, Bob and Doris Belkin, who taught ballroom dancing. My father perfomed (sang) every now and then on stage. The end had actually come the previous year when the hotels owners were forced to sell to a group of orthodox Jews who changed the entire complexion of the place. Nothing replaced the ones that have decomposed, either. Hi Joan, Im afraid I dont remember your dad, but Im sure that if my mother was alive, she would. I visit the grounds frequently and still remember fond memories of the Bourbins and Rubensteins, especially Jeff Rubenstein. So interesting! Hi Joan. We usually take a trip to the Catskills for a couple of days when I visit. wild, colorful graffiti decorating the walls and the barren concrete Photo: The New Roxy Hotel was one of several Sullivan County resorts that closed during the 1966 season, signaling an end to the regions Golden Age of Torusim. Borscht, a beet-based soup popular with Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants, was a colloquialism for "Jewish". Not to mention that I learned how to drive the Farmall and cut grass courtesy of Milton Makowsky. In the summer of 60, Hitchcocks Psycho debuted in a theater in Liberty and the whole group of adults went. Do you remember them? and is there any write up on the place available? It was freedom., Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic SocietyCopyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. This 21st-century revival is unfolding at places like Scribners Catskill Lodge, a repurposed 1960s motor inn. Maybe if there was a man speaking Yiddish behind the counter.. After decades of activity and notable guests, it closed in 1986. it, as if someone had just made a call. Catskills memorabilia more postcards, ticket stubs, sports I tried very hard to find the location when I was upstate about three years ago, but had no luck. as Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Sid Caesar, Danny Kaye, Alan King, Shecky She added a small building with a little stage at one end for theatricals and it was called the Casino for all the card playing. What if we could clean them out? Has anyone considered a book or driving tour of where all of these hotels were and what is there now? minority. And a tennis court and eventually a building called the Annex, which had more bedrooms. Please share more memories. of the abandoned hotels because she is a local resident and knows a But it was already torn down n was a home . For one thing, a fire at the Prospect Inn in Parksville on August 11, 1965 resulted in the death of five people, and caused a clamor to tighten up fire codes for resorts, many of which could not afford to make the necessary improvements. One of the largest Borscht Belt resorts, it was a kosher establishment that catered primarily to Jewish clients from New York City. I was a lifeguard at the famous Concord Again, Linda, thank you so much for responding to my post. Aunt Lena baked cookies in the shape of card suits. It was old at the time. I believe the Rosenberg family owned both as well as the laurel hotel & country club. He was the lifeguard and his Mother, Edna ran the camp. [40] Most were in Sullivan county and Ulster county. I definitely remember Mike I think he showed us a frog dissection near the pool! Their names were Belle Fox (grandmother) and Maurice Silverman. If I was in Parksville I wouldnt even begin to know where to look for it. The Kaaterskill. Meanwhile, at the Catskills large hotels, entertainment was paramount. It might help two or three hotels, but thats it, and recently By the late 1960s, most of the large hotels in and around the community had been shuttered. My parents were co-owners with the Blumbergs of Green Acres for four years. It was Heaven!! Bats and agaves make tequila possibleand theyre both at risk, This empress was the most dangerous woman in Rome. May was a tough old bird, hard working and a great cook. This is the story of an area of 250 square miles, approximately an hour and a half drive northwest of New York City, which over the course of last century became a resort phenomenon unlike any other. My Grandparents names are Minnie and Izzy Mankes. I have some fond memories. Enjoy the seasonal outdoor pool and perks like free self parking and free WiFi. 943 S Orem Blvd, Orem, UT 84058. Once one of the most coveted getaways of the 1950s and 60s, the Granit Hotel and Country Club lasted until its decline in the 1980s. It was at Camp Weelock that I watched the Apollo 11 mans first mans landing on the moon. I would be happy to connect with Burt. It had many bungalows for camp activities an upper ball field and a lake for fishing. The New Hope Community, which is a residential facility for the developmentally disabled is now operating on the site of the New Roxy. their fabulous nightclubs, began to die when the jet airplane started Catskills, or brought their fame with them. There was as may as 50 of us at a time for a week or long weekends. Would you say 1951-1953 was the rise and 1957-1960 the demise? the late 1980s, it was on life support and by the mid-1990s in the A series of fires and building demolitions left the grand history of Fleischmanns to be largely documented by postcards, photographs and the fond memories of those who had experienced this period of good fortune. route 17, to spend the week or even the summer there (most of the ronnie dropped me at the liberty bus station, the day after labor day, and about a month or so later, he was gone. Hi Linda, What a lovely surprise to hear from you. 7.2/5 (32 reviews) "This is a wonderful property. pool. 12/20/2020 02:19:30 pm. I have a terrific picture of your grandfather Moe with my mother and father Sylvia and Ben Bartels at the Gap. leslie i loved minnie and izzy, they were great people. I recently took a trip back home and revisited many things from my childhoodone being our apartment in Alley Pond. Does anyone have information about the Rainbow Lodge? I was fortunate to have stayed at 3 bungalow colonies in Accord. Has anyone heard of Woolfes Bell-Aire Country Club in Parksville? At Grossingerswhich had its own airstrip and is said to have inspired the movie Dirty Dancingthe grand ballroom was littered with old menus, and a glass-enclosed indoor pool was marked with graffiti. Hi Richard. Do you possibly remember my dad, Lee Goodsmith? basketball phenom Wilt Chamberlain, all 7 of him, was a bellboy A scene from The Golden Era of the Catskills. Photographs by ERIC BARD, CORBIS VIA GETTY IMAGES. Looking for respite from city life, New Yorkers would head to theBorscht Belt to sunbathe, swim, dance, and dine during the summer months, and the resort area soon became known as a Jewish vacationland. A bygone time that I am glad to have been a part of and wish my children could have experienced. Always nice to communicate with someone who has some of the same memories of a time that has been practically erased. Were they the same Rosenbergs that owned the Ulster Lake House. The ruins of the Catskills, the Finally, Scott opens the doors to the casino, where Saturday nights have been celebrated for decades. In 1969 I became a staff member at The Commodore & started in the Kids dining room & wound up as a busboy in the Main. Attendance dwindled as foreign travel became easier and hotel bans on Jews disappeared in the sixties. The bungalow colonies were the first to go under, followed by the smaller hotels.. Hotel history. Even so, the photo exhibit by The Concord Resort Hotel (pronounced KAHN-cord, (/ k k r d /)) was a resort in the Borscht Belt of the Catskills, known for its large resort industry in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.Located in Kiamesha Lake, New York, United States, the Concord was the largest resort in the region and was also one of the last to finally close in 1998, long after the others closed. People have looted My great grandparents moved a Ellenville in the 20s and my whole family grew up there. Bob would deliver milk and eggs to our apt in Queens in the late 60s after the season ended. For many Jewish New Yorkers, the Borscht Belt served as a haven when they were banned from many of the citys hotels in the 1920s. I have been metal detecting the site that was once the Youngs Gap in Parksville Ny, and i found a WW2 Good Conduct Medal up by the old ski lift area and it is engraved on the back with the name Frank Spector I have been looking everywhere trying to find him or the family so i could return this precious piece of family history! do you remember furans corners candy store and luncheonette, i loved that place, and also diacos pizza in white lake. cemetery. And somewhere there is an Sunday article with Ma Holder and my mother playing the part of her secretary. It was in Livingston Manor. Not according to biology or history. One night he made me sing Getting to Know You with him. In some ways, the Jewish Catskills has come full circle. Since it opened in 2016, Scribners has come to epitomize the Catskills of the Instagram era, with its barrel sauna, color-coordinated bookshelves, and smores packets in each room. Year Built 1998. Summers at the areas bungalow colonies meant sleeping in tiny cottages and spending the days in a pool or lake and the clubhouse. The roughly 5,000-year-old human remains were found in graves from the Yamnaya culture, and the discovery may partially explain their rapid expansion throughout Europe. When I would go to my calm place, I would wander down to the lake and to the left where the stream flowed to the damn, there was a really big rock where I would just sit for hours. Very interesting writing what happened to Geronimo. For real adventure, wed walk along the railroad track watching out for a train that never showed up. Sad to have driven by the ruins a few years ago. I was intrigued by the Liberty House comment as I have a faint recollection of it from the Liberty history archives please take a look at the following site for picture: https://www.townofliberty.org/about/history/, Does anyone remember the holiday hotel in loch Sheldrake. I had a wonderful summer learning to play golf and remember the owner of the hotel would challenge any one to play golf and he would only use one club. Now I have the name of the road for the next trip. You will be disappointed), but one place is frequently mentioned as a holdout of the free-spirited summers of the 1950s: Rosmarins Cottages. Was a school for special needs kids last time I heard Our family and extended uncles, aunts, and cousins stayed at Shustons Resort. Do you know the exact location? She went from affluent to financially challenged. Plymouth Rock Oh, I did my best daydreaming there! The stories that I heard are that he met my grandmother at the New Roxy as her uncle owned the place. The hotel is on the right as you drive down the beautiful road. My brother Steve and I spent all of our summers there, from the early 50s until it was sold in 1966. Your email address will not be published. I had forgotten I had written this last year. A rancid smell of decaying food filtered down the carpeted corridors from the kitchen. That was when millions of Americans stayed at the hundreds of bungalow colonies and hotels in the area. I would love to get in touch with StephanieI have a photo of the two of us all dressed up that I would love to send her. The Makowsky Family will always have a special place in my heart. My biggest regret is that my kids were unable to experience the joy I did, as it was all gone. Catskills-meets-Chamonix at Little Cat Lodge, which has an excellent restaurant and interiors inspired by 1960s ski culture in the Berkshires as well as the Alps. It was probably in the thirties. Hi, Ellen. Founded in 1960 in Provo, Utah, Revere Health has grown to include 30 medical specialties in over 100 . Her name name was Ghaika (Helen). Youll find her there on Facebook. The spirit of these old-school Catskills resorts is alive and well at the 1960s-era Catskill Mountain Lodge, despite new ownership. Hi Linda this is Jeff Biller and my whole family including my brother Leslie Biller and sister Barbara Biller spent many summers at the lake Plaza and remember you and Stevie your parents and grandparents . My grandfather was a singer there and my grandmothers uncle owned the place. Anyway, thanks for your comments, Neil. Get rates. doors were locked and weeds started to grow as high as the windows. Unfortunately, I dont live in NY but do make trips to visit a childhood friend who lives in New Jersey. I was very friendly with their daughter, Stephanie. Thats how the Borscht Belt The Catskills is a place nestled almost permanently in the popular imagination. I attended Camp Weelock, Camelot and Capri. Those were the days! Frequented by athletes, entertainers, and wealthy businesses, this resort fittingly adopted the slogan Grossingers Has Everything for the Kind of Person Who Likes to Come to Grossingers. However, the resort today lies in ruin. I was friends with Mike geier. Are you and he related? For Lease $8.75/SF/YR. Does anyone remember the Spring Lake hotel in Liberty New York. they never actually cleaned up the decaying buildings and nightclubs. I recall going with my parents and sisters for Rosh Hashanah one year. walls covered with peoples names and graffiti. Hi my grandparents met at the New Roxy in the early 1940s as my mother was born in 1945. I know that the era of oid is gone but Im hoping that the Catskills will still be a popular vacation choice for many people for years to come! My father had been in another line of business propane, sold out and then helped the Blumbergs convert The New Roxy into Green Acres after the original Green Acres in Lake Huntington burned down from a lightning strike. In recent years, guests were aging and business had slowedthen the pandemic hit. I was in the Catskills last year and drove up and down roads in Parksville, but could not find where the hotel had been located. Belt, the Catskill mountain hotel night clubs that were famous Thats not unusual. In 1967, the Youngs Gap in Parksville, once one of the countys largest and most innovative hotels, closed, and by 1968 the Times was reporting that a number of smaller hotels, unable to keep pace with the large establishments and their newer, plush accommodations, had begun taking in campers. My family had great times there. By the end of the forties, May was in debt not sure if she didnt know how to handle it but I tend to think that as the war ended the economics of going to the Catskills was changing and she had taken out loans for those improvements to the property. Stanley Turkel. If you could check with Allison to see if Stephanie would mind me contacting her, I would be very grateful! They then eloped as her parents forbade her to marry a singer! The Pines Hotel in South Fallsburg, New York was built in 1933 and was a popular destination for those who enjoyed winter sports, as it had its own ice skating rink and was a favorite spot for. I did In woodridge but Im also considered Fallsburg . I remember the dog house with the beagles that would chase you adjacent to the main house. I have family photos that show the buildings, and I confirmed that was the place many years ago by comparing to a photo that was once on line, however, i can no longer find anything about the history of the place. You are so right-I really miss the Concord..and all the entertainers now gone with the wind as they say. Summers in the Catskills came to a halt when my grandmother, Sabina, was diagnosed with cancer. I spent the next 5 years at the Paramount. These institutions shaped American Jewish culture, enabling Jews to become more American while at the same time introducing the American public to immigrant Jewish culture. the front door to the exhibit room. from just about all U.S. hotels in the 1920s, so hundreds of them Please email me at osaintilien55@gmail.com I would gratefully appreciate it. Bob and Edna were my parents best friends I was a junior counselor at Weelock around 1972. Filed Under: History, Hudson Valley - Catskills Tagged With: Architecture, Catskills, Cultural History, Historic Preservation, Jewish History, Performing Arts, Sullivan County, Tourism. Little America, Salt Lake City. Prosper Rd as it was called then. Milt Makossky was a good man. Property Type Office. Do you know what happened to the Kranas Family (Shirley is the daughter) who owned the Leroy Hotel in Loch Sheldrake? nirvana, a fantasy off route 17 two hours from the New York City, However, the films success was unable to influence tourists as the resort closed its doors in 1986, a year before the films release. I was a jr. counselor in 67 and 68 at weelock. We went to Wodas with my grandparents (Zaldin) and some of their extended family (Schneider, Robinson, Groupsmith (?)). Please contact for anything. A new phenomenon by the 1960s was that the Catskills didnt just appeal to the mostly Jewish clientele but to many other people around the country and worldwide. The groundbreaking promise of cellular housekeeping. entertainment worlds decaying treasure chest, have been brought to The 'extreme cruelty' around the global trade in frog legs, What does cancer smell like? He is my grandfathers grandson (father Ben and his mom was Shirley). I had some relatives who owned hotels in the mountains. But oops that wasnt happening after awhile. Today, I believe the Edgewood House is a church camp, the store is part of a ghost town and the railroad is no more. Very similar story! Laurels Hotel and Country Club, Sackett Lake, Monticello, N.Y. that up. If your sister was Carol, then our bass player used to date her, I think. gone. I am sure there were others, but I also found home movies of my family at a Bungalow in 1951. You can write to her there. Hopefully, that will happen in the not too distant futuretime is running fast and running out! With a pool, dance floor, and lounge there was much to do here during the heyday of the Catskills. Others tried to rebuild and ran My grandmother had a very large family and it seemed that there was always some other family members there. These resorts were a popular vacation spot for New York City Jews . Louis Cohens Orchard Colony (in the last years of its life-it was run down), Bob-Eds (The Rubinstein Family were wonderful people. We also would go into the hamlet where a general store was a wonderland of cool things and pinball machines had all the mesmerizing attraction of todays video games. centers, orthodox Jewish colonies and drug rehab centers. Abe Rosenthal, manager of the Waldemere, specifically blamed the hotels financial problems on the new fireproof building costing $2 million built after a fire three years before had killed three guests. Fallsburg, N.Y. Last time I was upstate was in 2018, and I drove up and down the roads in Parksville, but couldnt find the lake, or anything that looked familiar. out of money. Grossinger's Catskill Resort Liberty, New York Actor Charlton Heston and his wife of nine years, actress Lydia Clarke, enjoy some time off during a ski weekend at Grossinger's in 1952. I remember it was on a lake and I think the hotel was the end of that particular road, but not sure. Would love to hear any scraps of history or memories! Launch Slideshow 11 PHOTOS Dotted across Sullivan. That doesnt mean that all the hotels were impacted equally, some continued to grow well into the 1970s and even a few beyond that, but by the mid-1970s, as many as 500 hotels had already closed down since the heyday in the mid-1950s. She got into all Across the road was the luncheonette. Hi, Yeah Resorts World Casino replaced the Concord. my wife joan and i live in manhattan, and south florida. a musicians music stand from the orchestra sitting crooked in the decaying. It was a great summer. All gone today. I worked on summer at the Green Acres as a daycamp counselor. If you do know anything or have any information. Some of the old hotels were restored and became health Best of luck. I just saw your postings. It wasnt necessarily a straight line decline, but rather one of ups and downs through 1965, at which time the decline became more precipitous. How that all came about is a mystery to me. I know the mighty atom once made this hotel . the casino business has been failing, she said. Sometimes the answers are discouraging (Dont. And the cold water running on your feetJust the best!!!! Thank you, My grandparents operated the office the lake house on Briggs Highway in the 50s. put together an exhibit of several dozen pictures, Biden Should Remove Cuba from List of State Sponsors of Terrorism, Descendants of Slaveholder Donor Denounce Law School Name Change, How Social Media and Community Schools Could Fill in Gaps Teaching Black History, American Girl Dolls Declare the 1990s Ancient History, Review: DeSantis's Book is a Campaign Tome Written by ChatGPT, Reconsidering Phillis Wheatley's Place in the Revolutionary Era, Philosopher Lewis Gordon's Impact on Black Jewish History, Quintard Taylor's Black Past Project Fights Erasure of History, Review: The Unfinished Business of "Double V", One Reason to Confirm National Archivist Fast? If my memory serves me well, there was a small grave plot of the Baker Family adjacent to the main house along Mettacahonts Rd. I do remember the taxi and the proud owner of the medallion (cleaning and washing under the trees to the left of the driveway but near the roadway. Dinner was a dressy affair. You just cannot hear the AM and PM bugle calls of Camp Weelock or the stench of the chickens from Tepfers Farm when the wind came from the east. That night, as his son roasts pots of popcorn in the fire, Josh Farley, then co-owner, describes touring the property in 2014. a second later, their eyes light up and they tell me stories of their and their vacationers looked like when the Borscht Belt was at its All I have are vague memories. The visit to the site of the Lake Plaza 16 years ago with our kids was quite a nostalgia trip. I remember Sam woda. Shirley passed in 2005 after a very long illness (cancer) Ida lived til almost her 90s in 1990. Can we bring a species back from the brink?, Video Story, Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic Society, Copyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. Today her book, The Borscht Belt, is omnipresent on coffee tables at well-appointed hotels and rentals across the Catskills. As time marches on families stopped getting together at Shustons as we all went on to college (we out of state), military, and family passed away. My mom gapes at the stage, with its hand-painted backdrop of a sunrise over the White Mountains. As the Catskills revive, Im determined to find among the current offerings some vestiges of the carefree summers my mom spent here. I remember the lake (an rowing) across the the road and a stream through the woods below the lake. Home-grown Borscht Belt entertainment provided America with a rich supply of comedians, musicians and performers. All of them give you a good sense of I was a rock musician and I struggled with a Fake Book to play lots of songs I didnt know. Photographer Marisa Scheinfeld documents the ruins of abandoned Catskills resorts. Do you remember my grandmother, she was the main cook. You shudder when you see some of the There were still millions being spent on expansions as late as 1955, but certainly by 1958 there were indications that a decline had begun. Trying to find some evidence of it on Google Earth. Take care, Joan and stay in touch! hotels were in Ulster or Sullivan Counties). Hi Neil, I just googled something else and this site came up. Next to it is a splashy, color postcard of the pool in its The Homowack Lodge in Spring Glen, New York was another resort that thrived in the heyday of the Borscht Belt from the 1920s to the 1960s.