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.
The lure of the “Jewish Alps”
There were many factors that fostered the massive appeal of the destination.
Proximity to NYC
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.
A sense of belonging
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 with people who shared a common culture. Yiddish was often spoken and 95 percent of the hotel kitchens were kosher.
Top tier entertainment
Grand resorts—like Grossinger’s Catskill Resort Hotel, Concord Resort Hotel, Kutscher’s Hotel and Country Club (in Thompson, near Monticello), The Pines Resort (in Fallsburg), Brown’s Hotel (in the hamlet of Loch Sheldrake, Fallsburg), Nevele Grand Hotel (in Wawarsing, outside Ellenville), Stevensville Hotel (Swan Lake, near Liberty)), and The Raleigh Hotel (South Fallsburg)—were a mecca for top-notch entertainers, especially stand-up comedians.
This is the place where scores of stars like Milton Berle, Mel Brooks, Joan Rivers, Rodney Dangerfield, Buddy Hackett, Lenny Bruce, Tony Curtis, Jerry Lewis, Billy Crystal, and Jerry Seinfeld launched their careers. The resorts also featured musicians like Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong, and singers including Jan Peerce and Robert Merrill.
More recently, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, starring Rachel Brosnahan (2017-1023), showcased the region’s seminal role in the world of comedy and entertainment.
Other frequent guests at the hotels included sports stars like Wilt Chamberlain, Muhamad Ali, Floyd Patterson, and Celtics coach Red Auerbach.
In addition, these family-owned resorts featured ice skating rinks, indoor and outdoor pools, golf, tennis, aerobics, yoga, Mah Jongg, card games, Bingo and Simple Simon. Much like a summer camp, there were activities for everyone, geared to both singles and families.
Unlimited food
No one was ever hungry at these properties, forerunners of today’s all-inclusive resorts, because the food was unlimited. People could even ask for seconds and thirds, considered a compliment to the kitchen.
The region derived its nickname, the Borscht Belt, because of the Eastern European beet soup that was so popular with the clientele.
Writing in The Washington Post in 1986, Herb Schmertz recounted his impressions of the immense Catskill hotel dining rooms he visited as a child.
“The food comes in waves, in floods, in avalanches: appetizers, kosher pickles and crisp tossed salads, fragrant soups, and then prime ribs, or broiled chicken, or corned beef and eggs in a pancake, or Rumanian steak, or broiled bluefish, or a Philadelphia caponette with spiced fruit, and be sure to leave room for the sacher torte, and the chocolate mousse, and the apple cake a la mode, and in this bag take along a little something fuhlaytah.”
An end to the Golden Era
Scheinfeld’s book The Borscht Belt: Revisiting the Remains of America’s Jewish Vacationland (Cornell University Press, 2016) documented the glory days of the destination as well as the ruins and debris left behind when the resorts and bungalows were abandoned. She spent two years researching and photographing their demise.
Historians suggest that the Golden Age of the Borscht Belt came to an end in 1965. A number of factors conspired to fuel this decline, including decreased anti-semitism, greater ease of assimilation, affordability of air travel, the growth of suburbia, and generational changes that included interest in more exotic vacations both in the U.S. (Miami and Las Vegas) and in Europe. Jewish entertainers were mainstreamed on television, movie, and theater stages across the country.
Marking history
At the inception of the Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project in August 2022, there were no historical markers in the region acknowledging the historical and cultural significance of these hallowed grounds. This unique project aims to fill that gap and preserve history.
Scheinberg’s passionate team includes Isaac Jeffreys, Visual Coordinator; Louis Inghilterra, Research Coordinator; Kelli Huggins, Historian and Copywriter, and John Conway, Sullivan County Historian and Co-Signor on all the markers
The effort is supported by The Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation, a non-profit, volunteer organization, whose purpose is to identify and recognize sites of American Jewish Historical interest.
The signage is dual-sided, Scheinfeld explains. One side offers a general description of the Borscht Belt for someone who isn’t aware of it; the other details a more specific history of that village or town. While the descriptions list major hotels, a QR code next to each offers additional information about many more properties that once existed in that town.
The first marker installation took place in Monticello in May 2023 followed by one in Mountain Dale in August. Scheinfeld hopes to have nine markers in the ground by 2024 and complete the twenty marker project by the end of 2025.
The permanent trail marker program will also be coupled with a self-guided, audio-driving tour to encourage visitors to explore the natural beauty of the area, along with the various villages and towns that share a special history.
“Our goal is to be educational, informative, fun, and immersive, ” says Scheinfeld.
The group is seeking additional funding to sponsor multimedia programming associated with the markers, including exhibits, music, author talks, lectures, and film screenings.
“No, you don’t have to be Jewish to appreciate the contributions that the Borscht Belt has made to American culture, comedy, cuisine, mid-century architecture, and entertainment,” says Scheinfeld.
New hotels and development in the Catskills, many of them on the site of former hotels and bungalows, are creating excitement for the social, cultural, and economic future of the region. The Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project hopes to remind future generations of its storied past.
NOTE:
A third Borscht Belt Historical Marker installation will take place on Sunday, August 20 at 2 PM at Swan Lake, New York. The celebration will be followed by a lakeside concert by Klezmer Berl’s Hotsie Totsie Orkestra from 2:30-3:30 PM. Admission is free.
For more information about the project and upcoming installations:
Meet Marisa Scheinfeld on YouTube
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