New Catskill Historical Trail Rekindles Glory Days Of The Borscht Belt

19.08.2023 - 21:11 / forbes.com

A talented and committed group of locals, artists, and historians are preserving the rich history of the Borscht Belt with a new series of historical markers and cultural programming.

The broad goal of the Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project is to identify and mark locations emblematic of the history of the Borscht Belt, a celebrated era in American Jewish life.

It is spearheaded by photographer and author Marisa Scheinfeld, whose connections to the region are quite personal. Her great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents all lived there, and she was raised in the Catskill Mountains after moving from Brooklyn at the age of five. (Her parents still live in Rock Hill, a hamlet in Sullivan County.)

“It’s part of the tapestry of my life and I’ve always been fascinated with its history,” she told Forbes.com.

There were many factors that fostered the massive appeal of the destination.

The Catskill region was a popular getaway for a half-century from the 1920s through the 1970s. During its heyday, an estimated 500 hotels and resorts, 50,000 bungalows, and countless rooming houses welcomed guests, predominantly Eastern European Jews.

Only 90 miles and about two hours from New York City, it comprises portions of Sullivan County and Ulster County (specifically, the eastern part of Sullivan County extending into the Ellenville area in Ulster County).

Guests first came by train and then by car. Some husbands stayed for the weekend, left their families upstate, went back to work in the city, and then returned the next weekend. Some guests stayed the entire summer and many families returned year after year to celebrate holidays.

But the area (aka “the mountains”) is probably best known for its depiction in the iconic 1987 film Dirty Dancing, which starred Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze. The movie coupled romance and drama with memorable music and dance set at an upscale resort during the summer of 1963.

At its height, the Concord Resort Hotel in Kiamesha Lake, NY was the largest resort in the Borscht Belt with more than 1,500 guest rooms and a dining capacity of 3,000 persons. Another sprawling resort, Grossinger’s Catskill Resort Hotel in Liberty, NY (said to be the inspiration for Dirty Dancing) had 35 buildings on 1,200 acres with 550 guest rooms, 250 staff rooms, and a dining capacity that exceeded 1,300.

During the first half of the 20th century, rampant anti-semitism in the hospitality industry limited access of Jewish people to many vacation spots.

The Catskills was a place where working, middle and upper-middle-class Jews could escape the heat of steamy tenements (before air conditioning) and enjoy nature and the fresh air.

Not only did they find acceptance here but also a true sense of community