Mountaindale is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

(and census-designated place) in the town of

Fallsburg Fallsburg is a town in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The town is in the eastern part of the county. The population was 14,192 at the 2020 census.US Census Bureau, 2020 Census Report Fallsburg, New York QuickFacts https://www.census. ...

in Sullivan County,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, United States, situated at an altitude of .

History

Mountaindale changed drastically in character from a rural farming hamlet, beginning with the arrival of the New York, Ontario & Western Railroad, and the name change of the local post office, in December 1880, from Sandburg(h) to Mountain Dale. Around that time a number of farmhouses that were more hotels than farms opened, and beginning in 1899 the ethnic character of the area began to change from predominantly

gentile ''Gentile'' () is a word that today usually means someone who is not Jewish. Other groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably Mormons, have historically used the term ''gentile'' to describe outsiders. More rarely, the term is used as a synony ...

to predominantly

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. By the time of the crash of 1929, several Jewish welfare organizations were engaged in resettling Jewish families whose breadwinners were unable, for health reasons, to make a living in the New York City

sweatshop A sweatshop or sweat factory is a cramped workplace with very poor and/or illegal working conditions, including little to no breaks, inadequate work space, insufficient lighting and ventilation, or uncomfortably or dangerously high or low temperat ...

s, onto subsistence farms in the Mountaindale area. While good-hearted this effort may have been, in some cases it simply replaced urban poverty with an even more extreme form of

rural poverty Rural poverty refers to situations where people living in rural area, non-urban regions are in a poverty, state or condition of lacking the financial resources and essentials for living. It takes account of factors of Rural sociology, rural so ...

. Helen Brown, principal of Mountaindale High School in 1931, told stories of children being sewn into their

long underwear Long underwear, also called long johns or thermal underwear, is underwear with long legs and long sleeves that is normally worn during cold weather. It is commonly worn by people under their clothes in colder climates. In the United States, it ...

in October to be cut out in April, and one particularly poignant story of a young man who played on Mountaindale High School's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

team who broke a leg going up for a rebound when her husband had taken them to New York City to scrimmage the Columbia freshmen. The broken leg simply did not heal. Ultimately, it was discovered that the young man's diet at home did not contain any of the necessary nutrients—in fact, it consisted of little more than

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

and water. Discovering that the poverty in the homes of most of the basketball players was equally dire, they undertook the practice of feeding the basketball team each Friday evening at their home in

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

Hebrew Congregation of Mountaindale Synagogue

The hamlet is also famous for the "Yeshiva Zichron Mayir of Mountaindale", a school founded by Rabbi

Yehuda Davis Judah or Yehuda is the name of a biblical patriarch, Judah (son of Jacob). It may also refer to: Historical ethnic, political and geographic terms * Tribe of Judah, one of the twelve Tribes of Israel; their allotment corresponds to Judah or Jud ...

http://personal.stevens.edu/~llevine/rav_yehudah_davis_v12.pdf in 1960 in Brooklyn, NY. The school was moved to Mountaindale in 1974, and passed down to Rabbi Rothenberg, who died in early 2013. The

Hebrew Congregation of Mountaindale Synagogue The Hebrew Congregation of Mountaindale Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue located at 6 Spring Glen Road, in the hamlet of Mountaindale, Sullivan County, in the Catskills region of New York, in the United States. The small stucco buildi ...

was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2001.

Bach to Rock Festival

Mountaindale came within hours of hostin
Bach to Rock Festival
a concert intended to rival Woodstock in both scope and size. Some musicians and bands that were scheduled to perform in July 1970 were: The Kinks, Kathy Smith, Grateful Dead, Van Morrison, The Band, and more. For the month of August in 1970 the hamlet played host to over 50,000 hippies until a court order halted the concert less than one day before it was to open.

Revitalization

Though there have been several attempts over the years to revitalize the hamlet, since 2018, Mountaindale has been experiencing a bit of a renaissance with new restaurants, retail and experiences opening up.

documents the thoughts behind the changes.

Restaurants & Provisions

The Dale
- featured b
Eater
as a top place to eat in the Catskills
High VoltageForage and GatherWillow & Post
Sanburg Trading Post Great Eye Finds: Vintage Clothing,home goods, vinyl, jewelry, books, glass, art.

Retail

Witchey Handmade ApothecaryYin Spiritual CenterForage and Gather

Experiences

Wild Bower Studio
Cinder Tracks

Parks and recreation

Mountain Dale’s O&W Rails to Trails
trailhead is located next to the hamlet’s basketball courts and Train Station-turned-Visitor Center, adjacent to the bicycle shop
The trail
leads trail users into the Village of Woodridge next to Krieger Park- passing a small waterfall and large lake on the way.
Mountain Dale Park and Campground
offers Camping, pool, propane station, picnic table, dog obstacle course/run, playground, recreation bldg., fishing, boating, boat launch.

References

External links

Local Mountaindale news
{{Sullivan County, New York Hamlets in New York (state) Fallsburg, New York Hamlets in Sullivan County, New York