Tag: Borscht Belt

Categories
Historic America Photography

Krug’s Stationary

Krug’s Stationary
Vintage neon sign for Krug’s Office Supplies, 7 S. Main Street in Liberty, New York. Liberty is part of the famous Catskill Mountain’s Borscht Belt, home to Grossinger’s Old Hotel, a famously opulent (and now abandoned) resort. From the 1920s to the 1970s, New York City Jews flocked to Catskill resorts in the summer months to escape the stifling heat of the city.

There were once over 500 resorts and hotels in the area. With increasing religious tolerance and the advent of widespread commercial airliners, many families chose to vacation elsewhere and dozens of these establishments now lay abandoned.
Categories
Historic America Photography

White Lake Mansion House

White Lake Mansion House
White Lake, New York, is just a few miles from the farm where the famous Woodstock Music Festival was held in 1969. Visitors would have driven past this grand 1848 Greek Revival hotel, one of the oldest in Sullivan County. Today it sits abandoned, another landmark from a time when the Catskills served as a popular vacation spot for wealthy residents of New York City. As recently as 2015, a developer wanted to demolish the storied structure, but it remains.

Further Reading:
The Opulent White Lake Mansion House
White Lake Mansion House – My View
White Lake Mansion House Ruins
Categories
Historic America Photography

Town & Country Antiques

Town & Country Antiques
Sign for Town & Country Antiques, 1 N. Main Street in Liberty, New York. Liberty is part of the famous Catskill Mountain’s Borscht Belt, home to Grossinger’s Old Hotel, a famously opulent (and now abandoned) resort. From the 1920s to the 1970s, New York City Jews flocked to Catskill resorts in the summer months to escape the stifling heat of the city. There were once over 500 resorts and hotels in the area. With increasing religious tolerance and the advent of widespread commercial airliners, many families chose to vacation elsewhere and dozens of these establishments now lay abandoned.
Categories
Photography

Woodbourne Theater

Woodbourne Theater
Woodbourne is a small hamlet in Sullivan County, New York, in the Catskill Mountains along the Neversink River. Designed by local architect Abraham H. Okun and Built in 1938, this Art Deco theater was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. Also known as the Center Theatre or Peace Palace, it closed in the 1980s and has sat abandoned ever since.
Categories
Photography Roadside America

Swan Lake’s Stone Castle

Photo by Michael Kleen

Photo by Michael Kleen
Photo by Michael Kleen
Photo by Michael Kleen
Photo by Michael Kleen

One of five built by Italian-American stone mason Joe Moshini in the 1930s, this tiny stone castle is located at 2669-2673 Briscoe Road in Swan Lake, south of Liberty, New York. It formerly sat in front of the grand Commodore Hotel, which burned in a controlled fire in 1979.

From the 1920s to the 1970s, New York City Jews flocked to Catskill resorts like the Commodore for summer vacations. There were once over 500 resorts and hotels in the area, known as the “Borscht Belt“. The hotel’s garden, and its tiny castle, was reclaimed by nature, but in 2013 a group of volunteers restored it and erected signs relating the history of the site.

Categories
Photography Roadside America

Abandoned Catskill Drive-In

  • Photo by Michael Kleen
  • Photo by Michael Kleen
  • Photo by Michael Kleen
  • Photo by Michael Kleen

Mountain Drive-In, off NY State Highway 52, east of Liberty, New York, silently sits in ruins like a scene from the Fallout series. A faded sign still advertises “Mountain Fest ’97”, so I assume that was when it closed. According to Cinema Treasures, it opened in 1951 and once had three screens. More info and pictures from 2007 here.

From the 1920s to the 1970s, New York City Jews flocked to Catskill resorts in the summer months to escape the stifling heat of the city. There were once over 500 resorts and hotels in the area, known as the “Borscht Belt“.

Many famous comedians and entertainers got their start here. With increasing religious tolerance and the advent of widespread commercial airliners, many families chose to vacation elsewhere and dozens of these establishments now lay abandoned.

Categories
Photography Roadside America

Swan Lake Resort Ruins

  • Photo by Michael Kleen
  • Photo by Michael Kleen
  • Photo by Michael Kleen
  • Photo by Michael Kleen
  • Photo by Michael Kleen
  • Photo by Michael Kleen

Also known as the Stevensville Hotel, Swan Lake Resort sits at 1626 Briscoe Road in Swan Lake, south of Liberty, New York. From the 1920s to the 1970s, New York City Jews flocked to Catskill resorts in the summer months to escape the stifling heat of the city. There were once over 500 resorts and hotels in the area, known as the “Borscht Belt“.

With increasing religious tolerance and the advent of widespread commercial airliners, many families chose to vacation elsewhere and dozens of these establishments now lay abandoned. An Orthodox Jewish group purchased this particular hotel in 2015, but it remains unused.