Rock Hill in Sullivan County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Borscht Belt - Rock Hill & Glen Wild
⎯⎯⎯
Borscht Belt
Photographed by Jerry Klinger
1. Borscht Belt - Rock Hill & Glen Wild side of the marker
Borscht Belt - Rock Hill & Glen Wild
Nestled among six lakes — Wanaksink, Treasure, Wolf, Masten, Davies, and Lake Louise Marie — Rock Hill has long attracted visitors. While some lakes and clubs excluded Jews, nearby Glen Wild thrived with Jewish farms, hotels, and bungalow colonies.
In 1892, Yana “John” Gerson purchased a farm in Glen Wild and opened the region’s first Jewish boarding house, advertised in the 1899 O&W Railroad Summer Homes guide. By 1920, it became the Jaffe House Hotel.
Supported by the Jewish Agricultural Society, Catskill farmers blended agriculture and hospitality, catalyzing a Jewish tourism industry. By 1908, JAS reported that 500 of New York’s 684 Jewish farms were in Sullivan and Ulster Counties. By the late 1920s, thousands of Jews had built a mixed economy of farms and boarding houses, with hospitality eventually outpacing farming, shaping and defining Catskills’ Jewish resort culture.
By the early 20th century, both hamlets hosted over 13 hotels and 30 bungalow colonies, including Bartel’s, Cooper’s Sunrise, Gottlieb’s, Hoffman’s, Pinewood, Rock Hill Inn, Rosenblatt’s, Six Lake
this page online
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 areas. Beginning around 1960, the Borscht Belt began a gradual demise due to many factors, including the growth of suburbia, inexpensive airfare, and generation changes.
Erected 2026 by Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation; Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project; Sullivan County Historian.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Entertainment • Industry & Commerce
Photographed by Marisa Scheinfeld
2. Borscht Belt side of the marker
Location. 41° 37.562′ N, 74° 35.866′ W. Marker is in Rock Hill, New York, in Sullivan County. It is at the intersection of Rock Hill Drive and Glen Wild Road, on the right when traveling west on Rock Hill Drive. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 345 Rock Hill Drive, Rock Hill NY 12775, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Upstate New York and in the Hudson Valley. It is also in the American Northeast, in the Mid-Atlantic, in Appalachia, and specifically in Northern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Netherland and also one of the original Thirteen Colonies.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 6 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Town of Thompson (approx. 3.3 miles away); Borscht Belt - The Concord Hotel, Breezy Corners & Kiamesha Lake (approx. 3.4 miles away); Site of First House in Monticello (approx. 4.9 miles away); Monticello Depot (approx. 4.9 miles away); Presbyterian Church (approx. 4.9 miles away); St John's Episcopal Church (approx. 4.9 miles away); Methodist Church (approx. 5.1 miles away); Borscht Belt - Monticello (approx. 5.1 miles away).
Credits. This page was last revised on September 8, 2026. It was originally submitted on August 30, 2026, by Jerry Klinger of Boynton Beach, Florida. This page has been viewed 21 times since then. Last updated on September 7, 2026, by Jerry Klinger of Boynton Beach, Florida. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on August 30, 2026, by Jerry Klinger of Boynton Beach, Florida. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
Editor’s want-list for this marker. A wide shot of the marker in context. • Can you help?
