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The Mamakating Park Historic District is located on the ridge north of
Masten Lake Masten may refer to: Places *Masten, Pennsylvania, USA; a ghost town *Masten Creek, a stream in Minnesota, USA People *Chris Masten (born 1969) Aussie-rules player *Joseph G. Masten (1809–1871) Mayor of Buffalo, New York Other uses *Masten Spa ...
on the highest ground in the Town of Mamakating, New York,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. It is a Catskill vacation community, originally intended to be the much larger Sullivan County Club, built in the 1890s. It includes several dozen
Late Victorian Victorian architecture is a series of architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the styles known as Victorian we ...
cottages, most of which are as they were originally built, arranged around the site of a former hotel building, and some other buildings from the mid-20th century. These few elements show the essential ideas of the much larger original resort plan. In 1998 it was recognized as a historic district and listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
.


Geography and properties

The district is a area around the horseshoe-shaped junctions of Columbian Road, Mamakating Avenue and Park Road, extending to the north from its northeast corner to include the houses along Park there. It is mostly wooded, with the middle of the horseshoe, where the former hotel was located along with its still-extant
tennis court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both Types of tennis match, doubles and singles matches. A variet ...
s, the only open space. A small rise near the south end of the horseshoe is, at above sea level, the highest point in the Town of Mamakating. It includes 48 buildings, all but three of which date to the time of the community's original construction and are thus considered
contributing properties In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...
to its historic character. The site of the former hotel, and some of its dependencies such as a
chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...
and
casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...
, are also contributing. Some of the original landscaping is still in place as well. Most of the houses are
frame A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...
, built in styles typical of their '' fin-de-siècle'' era, such as the Shingle style, after the main hotel. They are characterized by
Late Victorian Victorian architecture is a series of architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the styles known as Victorian we ...
touches such as large
veranda A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure. Although the form ''vera ...
s, cross- gabling and eclectic use of
decorative Beauty is commonly described as a feature of objects that makes these objects pleasurable to perceive. Such objects include landscapes, sunsets, humans and works of art. Beauty, together with art and taste, is the main subject of aesthetics, o ...
elements.


Aesthetics

The plan for what became Mamakating Park was laid out by William Henry Baldwin, an engineer from
Yonkers Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York (state), New York, after New York City and Buffalo, New York, Buffalo. The popul ...
. Its scale may have been inspired by Tuxedo Park, America's first gated community, in neighboring
Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...
. It had some curving streets and rustic, forest-inspired names like Fox Trail and Maplewood Lane (never built), but mostly follows a grid layout more typical of wilderness religious
camp meeting The camp meeting is a form of Protestant Christian religious service originating in England and Scotland as an evangelical event in association with the communion season. It was held for worship, preaching and communion on the American frontier ...
s of the era, which tend to cluster groups of cottages around structures of communal function and importance, rather than curving and winding as streets in Tuxedo Park and similar communities do. Like other mountain resort communities, the homes in the original plan were sited to take advantage of their natural location. The grid extended north and south along the ridge, with many houses to have been built close to the street where the land dropped off sharply. That would have allowed them to take in the view to the Shawangunks over Wurtsboro in that direction, or the Catskills to the north and west.


History

Mamakating Park began as the Sullivan County Club, a group of
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
businessmen who planned a Catskill vacation community similar in design to Elka Park and Onteora Park in Greene County, but much larger in scale. For much of the 19th century, Masten Lake to the south had been owned by the
Delaware and Hudson Canal Company The Delaware and Hudson Railway (D&H) is a railroad that operates in the Northeastern United States. In 1991, after more than 150 years as an independent railroad, the D&H was purchased by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP). CP operates D&H ...
and reserved for use as a fedder
reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...
, but with traffic on the canal declining to a minimum as railroads displaced it, it had started to become a summer resort destination for city residents looking for fresh air. In 1893, the club bought , including the lake and the ridge north of it, from a
Yonkers Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York (state), New York, after New York City and Buffalo, New York, Buffalo. The popul ...
family with the intent of developing it into a summer cottage community surrounding a large hotel., taking advantage of the views of the
Shawangunk Ridge The Shawangunk Ridge , also known as the Shawangunk Mountains or The Gunks, is a ridge of bedrock in Ulster County, Sullivan County and Orange County in the state of New York, extending from the northernmost point of the border with New Jerse ...
to the southeast. Recent extensions of the Orange & Western Railroad into Sullivan County made the area accessible within a day's travel to city residents, and after the subdivision of the land, 2,000 half-acre (2,000 m²) lots were put on sale the next year at an initial price of $100 ($ in 2009 dollars) each. Demand was such that the club members were soon able to increase their asking price to $125 ($). With 359 lots sold by 1894, the club contracted the New York firm of Delhi & Lawrence to design the main hotel and considered building a
cable railroad Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
to improve access to the club from the nearby village of
Wurtsboro Wurtsboro is a village located on U.S. Route 209 in the town of Mamakating in Sullivan County, New York, United States, near its junction with New York State Route 17 (which is being upgraded to interstate standards and will be renumbered as ...
. But in 1897, delayed economic fallout from the Panic of 1893 finally led to the original plans being shelved after the hotel and 20 lots near it had been developed. In 1902, after the Sullivan County Club was
foreclosed Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan. Formally, a mortg ...
on, a new group of investors calling itself the Mamakating Park Company bought the hotel and the remaining undeveloped lots. They promoted the resort aggressively in New York newspapers, with the added bonus of many of the cottage owners renting them out for periods of time, and slowly added amenities such as a multicar garage that reflected the rise of automobile travel. In 1913 they were successful enough to run ads noting that "
temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...
principles will be adhered to" and that
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...
patients were restricted. Another economic downturn, the Great Depression of the 1930s, led the Mamakating Park Company to fold, and the hotel and its properties were leased to different operators. Late in the decade, newly affluent
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
began moving in (leading some other residents to move out). The Sullivan mansion became the main building of Camp Lakota. The Mamakating Park Inn effected the construction of the casino, barber shop and some other buildings in the hotel complex, and was part of the "borscht belt," featuring entertainers like Red Buttons. Relations between the hotel owners and the surrounding property owners were cordial, and residents were invited to attend the Friday and Saturday evening events at the casino. The owners of the homes surrounding the Inn, led by Evelyn Jablons, organized as the Mamakating Park Property Owners Civic Association after
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
bought a section of lakefront property for members to use and created a beachfront, cabanas, and swimming area. The hotel and Camp Lakota had their own, separate beachfronts. After the hotel finally shut down in the 1950s, Camp Lakota bought the property and used the buildings. The hotel itself was destroyed in a 1970s fire. During the 1980s, a few new houses were built on the remaining vacant lots. In the late 1990s, the camp began restoring some of the other buildings.


References

{{National Register of Historic Places in New York National Register of Historic Places in Sullivan County, New York Historic districts in Sullivan County, New York Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state)