Borscht Belt - Ferndale

Borscht Belt - Ferndale. . , Borscht Belt - Ferndale , Once a favored tourist stop on the O&W Railway, the hamlet of Liberty Falls changed its name to Ferndale in 1901. To avoid the stigma linked to Liberty's tuberculosis sanitaria, the hamlet adopted the name of the local Ferndale Villa resort., The Grossinger story began in 1914 at the Longbrook farmhouse in Ferndale, laying the foundation for what would become their famed hotel in Liberty. By 1917, New York State Route 4 (later renumbered as Route 17) wound through the Catskills, connecting the area for motorists and earning national recognition as the "Original Hotel Highway." By the 1960s, Route 17 had evolved into a modern divided highway., At its peak, Ferndale had over 50 hotels and bungalow colonies including Dan-Bee, Empire, Garden, Hy-Sa-Na. Kappy's, Lipkowitz, Pollack's, Queen Mountain, Shelburne, Stier's, Upper Ferndale and Wiss' Wigwam. Nearby, Harris had several bungalow colonies including Levine's Maple Grove, Victory Cottages, and Mayberg's and hotels such as Resnick's and Turey. , Borscht Belt , From the 1920s through the early 1970s, the Borscht Belt was the preeminent summer resort destination for hundreds of thousands of predominantly east coast American Jews. The exclusion of the Jewish community from existing establishments in the 1920s drove Jewish entrepreneurs to create over 500 resorts, 50,000 bungalows and 1.000 rooming houses in Sullivan County and parts of Ulster County. The Borscht Belt provided a sense of community for working and vacationing Jews. The era exerted a strong influence on American culture, particularly in the realm of entertainment, music, and sports. Some of the most well-known and influential people of the 20th century worked and vacationed in the area. Beginning around 1960, the Borscht Belt began a gradual demise due to many factors including the growth of suburbia, inexpensive airfare, and generational changes.,