Catskill Mountain House facts for kids
_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
The Catskill Mountain House was a famous hotel that opened in 1824. It was located high up in the Catskill Mountains near Palenville, New York. From the hotel, guests could see amazing views of the Hudson Valley and the Hudson River.
For many years, especially from the 1850s to the early 1900s, it was a very popular place. Three U.S. presidents visited: Ulysses S. Grant, Chester A. Arthur, and Theodore Roosevelt. Many other important and wealthy people of the time also stayed there.
Contents
History of the Mountain House
Building a Grand Hotel
The spot where the Mountain House was built was called "Pine Orchard." People had known about its incredible views for a long time. You could see far across the Hudson Valley and even beyond. Famous writers like John Bartram and James Fenimore Cooper had written about this special place.
Artists and writers loved the Catskill Mountains. After the Mountain House was built, it became a favorite subject for them. Washington Irving and artists from the Hudson River School, especially Thomas Cole, painted many pictures of the hotel and its surroundings. James Fenimore Cooper even told people from Europe, "If you want to see America's best sights, visit Niagara Falls, Lake George, and the Catskill Mountain House."
A group of business people from the nearby town of Catskill built the hotel in 1823. It opened in 1824. It sat on a high plateau with wide views of the Hudson Valley on one side. On the other side were two lakes that provided water and fun activities for guests.
In 1839, Charles L. Beach took over the hotel. His father ran a stagecoach service that brought guests from Catskill town to the hotel. Charles Beach first leased the hotel, then bought it. He rebuilt the Mountain House, changing its original design to a grander, more classical style.
The Fried Chicken War
One summer day in 1880, a wealthy businessman from Philadelphia named George Harding was staying at the Mountain House. He had been a guest there for many years. His daughter Emily needed to eat a special diet that did not include red meat. So, Mr. Harding asked a waiter to bring her some fried chicken instead of the usual roast beef dinner.
This simple request led to a big argument. The hotel owner, Charles Beach, refused to change the meal. He didn't care that Mr. Harding was a loyal customer. In frustration, Beach suggested that Harding should just build his own hotel if he wasn't happy.
Mr. Harding took Beach's suggestion seriously. He checked his family out of the Mountain House that very day. Then, he started making plans for his own hotel. He wanted it to be on South Mountain, right next to the Mountain House, and much bigger. He kept his promise and opened the Kaaterskill Hotel the next year. This was the first real competition for the Mountain House.
The competition between the two hotels and their owners became known as the "Fried Chicken War." Even though it started with an argument, the rivalry actually helped both hotels. Guests from one hotel would often walk to the other for lunch, bringing more business to both.
Getting to the Hotel
The amazing view from the Mountain House came with a challenge: getting there! Guests had to climb 1,600 feet (about 488 meters) from the valley. This meant a five-hour ride in a stagecoach.
As more hotels were built that were easier to reach, the Mountain House needed a better way to bring guests up. So, they built the Otis Elevating Railway. This special cable-powered train took guests directly from the Hudson River up to the hotel. However, the railway was very expensive to run. It was eventually sold for scrap metal in 1918 during World War I.
The Hotel's Decline
Charles Beach had always claimed that the Mountain House was on the highest peaks in the Catskills. But in the 1880s, a geologist from Princeton University named Arnold Henry Guyot did the first full survey of the Catskills. He found that the highest peak was not Kaaterskill High Peak, which was visible from the hotel. Instead, it was Slide Mountain, many miles away.
Beach had also claimed the Pine Orchard was 3,000 feet (about 914 meters) above sea level. This was 750 feet (about 229 meters) higher than its actual height. Beach and his rivals tried to argue against Guyot's findings. But by 1886, other surveyors confirmed Guyot's results. The North-South Lake area was no longer seen as the highest part of the Catskills.
The End of an Era
Both Charles Beach and George Harding died in 1902. Around this time, other hotels in the area became more popular than the Mountain House. Also, the Adirondacks became the new fashionable place for wealthy people to vacation, instead of the Catskills.
The Mountain House continued to operate until World War II. Its last season was in 1941. In 1962, the State of New York bought the property. Some people wanted to save the historic hotel. However, the state's Conservation Department decided to burn it down. This happened on January 25, 1963. They did this because of new rules that said most buildings should not be on land that was meant to be "forever wild."
What's There Today?
Today, the state runs a large public campground called North–South Lake near the old hotel site. You can easily walk from the campground to where the Mountain House once stood along the popular Escarpment Trail.
All that is left of what was once America's most fashionable resort are the old gateposts. But the amazing, sweeping views from the cleared site are still there for everyone to enjoy.
