Kaaterskill Hotel

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View from the east
View from the west
View over North-South Lake to South Mountain with the Kaaterskill Hotel

Kaaterskill Hotel was a luxury hotel in the Catskill Mountains . The hotel, which existed from 1881 to 1924, was located at an altitude of 750 m on the summit of South Mountain . It was considered the largest frame-built hotel in the world.

history

With the opening of the Catskill Mountain House in 1824, tourism began in the Catskill Mountains. In order to benefit from this business, the lawyer George Harding (1827-1902) had the Kaaterskill Hotel built on South Mountain. Legend has it that the cause of the hotel's construction was that his daughter was not served chicken at the Catskill Mountain House.

Next to the hotel, a carriage route was built from the Kaaterskill Clove to the summit. The construction of the 600 bed hotel cost 450,000 US dollars (2018 value: 10 million dollars). The construction work lasted from September 1880 to July 1881. Around 800 workers were employed. The architect was SD Batton from Philadelphia. A short time later there was an extension with around 600 beds. Chefs from France were hired for the operation. A new road was built from Palenville to the hotel for the approach .

Due to the competition with the Catskill Mountain House, various sights were given different names. In the high season of August, a single week was $ 30-35 and a double room was $ 60-75.

The hotel has never been profitable during its entire life. After the death of George Harding, ownership passed to the Girard Trust Company . In 1922 Harry Tannenbaum from Lakewood (New Jersey) bought the hotel. On September 11, 1924, the hotel burned down completely after improper handling of fire.

Today there is a forest clearing at the location of the hotel. A few remains of the hotel can be found in the surrounding forest.

Building

The entire hotel was built from wood. The main building had four floors and was 200 meters long and 13 meters wide. The front was oriented to the southeast. At both ends there were towers with six floors and a square floor plan with a side length of 10 meters. To the left of the entrance, on the ground floor next to the central lobby, were the administrative rooms. The four-story north-west wing was centrally located behind the entrance area. It housed the dining room on the lower floor. The east wing joined on the right. In the corner between the north-west wing and the east wing, a courtyard was formed by the kitchen (north wing). The ice house was located near the hotel and the hotel laundry was around 1.5 kilometers away. The toilets in the rooms were flushed with water.

In the basement of the hotel there was a billiards room and a bowling alley with four lanes. The single rooms were 2.7 meters by 4.8 meters. The double rooms were 4.8 meters by 4.8 meters.

Web links

literature

  • Stephen M. Silverman, Raphael D. Silver: The Catskills: Its History and How It Changed America, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group 2015

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ HOTEL SOLD Kaaterskill .; Hotel Man Buys Historic Site With 600 Acres of Ground. ( nytimes.com [accessed June 27, 2018]).
  2. ^ The legend of Catskill Mountain House . In: Watershed Post . May 28, 2011 ( watershedpost.com [accessed August 13, 2018]).

Coordinates: 42 ° 11 '21.3 "  N , 74 ° 3' 3.5"  W.