This week we’ll continue with the stately CATSKILL MOUNTAIN HOUSE, celebrating its 200th anniversary this past July 4th, 2024. For 140 years the people in the valley could enjoy looking up and seeing the white castle in the sky, the Catskill Mountain House.
I recently re-read Roland Van Zandt’s The Catskill Mountain House book and wish to share bits and pieces of it. Van Zandt was an expert researcher (pre-computer days) who bonded with the decaying Greek Castle in the Sky, on South Mountain, back in 1958. The book, finished in 1966, had a 25th-anniversary publication in 1991 by Black Dome Press.
I was fortunate to visit the Mountain House, even though it stood in ruins. As sad as the day of the burn, January 25, 1963, NYS had no choice but to let it die.
Van Zandt said that in the decade of 1820 to 1830, during which time the Mountain House was established, the Hudson Valley was the focal population center of the nation. He said it was the main artery of trade and traffic, the fastest-growing commercial and social center of the whole nation. Van Zandt noted the only sizable area with ninety or more inhabitants per square mile was the region extending from NYC across New Jersey to Philadelphia. By 1830 the City of New York had become the largest and wealthiest city in all of America.
How did the idea originate for the CMH, a probable summary was told in J. B. Beers' 1884 History of Greene County.
Beers said in 1822 four ladies and gentlemen engaged, for multiple days, the services of Erastus Beach’s livery service. The group wished, before returning home, to see the flat rock on South Mountain. The travel to the rock was difficult and they were tired, leading the group to gather boughs to block the cool winds and allow them to sleep under the stars.
Van Zandt said he was cautious about linking this trip with the actual founding of the Mountain House, many commentators have assumed it as a fact and held that the 1822 visit led Erastus Beach to help organize the Catskill Mountain Association and hence the first construction of the hotel. Charles L. Beach said soon after the trip, Erastus, Charle’s father, was instrumental in organizing a stock company called the Catskill Mountain Association. (Erastus Beach was not named in the original incorporation papers.)
Next week we’ll share the hardships endured in the travel to the hotel after they arrived in Catskill. We’ll discuss the ownership by Charles L. Beach, and the 13 Corinthian columns, giving it the Greek castle appearance.
It’s a privilege to read, write, and share information on the Mountain House, the birth of the Mountaintop.
It’s been a great summer for many of us, and we’re fortunate for that.
Take care, and stay safe.
Dede Terns-Thorpe/Hunter Historian.
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