The Tamarack Lodge

The Tamarack Lodge, located in Greenfield Park, New York, was one of the many Catskill resorts in Ulster and Sullivan Counties popular for decades with tourists from New York City.  Sadly, the Tamarack, like so many of the other Catskill destinations, is an abandoned shell of what it once was.

 The Tamarack in Better Days

 The Tamarack was a boarding house from 1927 to 1947, after which it became the Tamarack Lodge. It was one of the many resorts considered part of the borscht belt and was a popular destination for Jewish vacationers. Pulitzer Prize winning author Herman Wouk waited tables in the children's dining room during the 1930s.

Many popular entertainers appeared at the Tamarack, including Danny Kaye, Jerry Lewis, Cream, The Who, and Janis Joplin.  During Passover in 1994 a large fire wiped out part of the building and displaced guests.
dining room during the 1930s.

In  April 2012 

The smoke billowing high above Route 52 just outside the Village of Ellenville late Saturday afternoon can be seen for miles. According to Ulster County fire officials 30 buildings on the former Tamarack Lodge property catch fire. To make matters worse, two separate brush fires break out. It's a scene that draws hundreds of firefighters from neighboring counties of Orange, Dutchess and Sullivan Counties to try and keep this fire from getting out of control.

Dave Meade, a NYS Forest Ranger said, “All the shingles and stuff were carried by the high-winds and it dumped a whole bunch of spot fires here all the way across at several locations. We didn't even know this one until we flew over and spotted it. This one looks like maybe it's 10 acres." While state forest rangers work the woods… 

Park Ranger, Greg Tyrrell said, “Right now it's a good time to get a handle on this thing. You know we got a lot of personnel from all over, so we should get a handle on it pretty quickly."Back at the Ellenville Fire House firefighters continue to return from fighting the lodge fire. They get some much needed nourishment, and then they're out the door to get back to work.Charles Mutz, Ulster County Chief Fire Coordinator said, “The main part of the facility is on the ground. I've sent an excavator up to the sight to my deputy and the incident commander up there. We have two aerial operations going at this point just to cool it down."

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Union General Memorial Hospital

 

In 1925  Union General Memorial Hospital Opened its doors to the Public. This in 1995 it shuts down its 36-bed hospital because of too few patients and continued financial losses. This location also served as a training center for local Paramedic's.

 

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The Orphanage

This Orphan facility was run by the Episcopal Church and later was used as a retreat for chronically ill children. This is all the information I could gather on this location.

 

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That 70's Hotel & Spa

That 70's Hotel and Spa was located in a bustling resort town built upon a natural mineral spring. It was thought that the high levels of sulphur, magnesium, and iron in the water provided a variety of health benefits, the exact specifications of which varied widely over the years. By the end of the 19th century, it was a highly fashionable escape from New York, patrons included the Vanderbilts and Oscar Wilde. By the time of the Depression, there were more than a dozen resort hotels operating out of the town, alongside a highly regarded golf course, a number of bath houses, and other amenities common to resorts of the era.

That 70's Hotel and Spa which first opened its doors in 1927. Already the town was fading. Add to this the economic hardships of the Depression, which happened only a few years after the hotel was built, and the hotel was economically troubled from the beginning.

But after World War 2, the town again came into prominence, now as a getaway spot for wealthy German Jews. In 1946, Ed Koch, future mayor of New York, bussed tables at the Hotel. The town was again booming.

But the decline of resorts in general, as well as the building of the New York State Thruway, which bypassed the town, took their toll. One by one, the resort hotels and bath houses closed. That 70's Hotel was among the last to shut its doors, in 2004.

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School for Girls

The College for Girls was founded in 1890 and in 1907 the School moved to its final home on 22 acres in Dutchess County, New York. In 1907 the school had an enrollment of 120 students and a faculty of 29. Originally named The Finishing School for Girls, the course of study was six years (four years of high school and two years of higher study).In the early 20th century the school discontinued high school courses and became a junior college only. The two-year curriculum continued until the mid 1970s, when College began awarding four-year Bachelor's degrees. Generations of young women from prominent American families attended The College over its 90 year history.

Majors of study included art, fashion design, music, modern languages, literature, history, dance and domestic science. Activities at Bennett included gymnastics, riding, golf, tennis, field hockey and tobogganing.

At the time of its closing, enrollment was around 300 students.

With the growing popularity of coeducation in the 1970s, The College found itself struggling to survive. An attempt to upgrade facilities and convert to a four-year college in the mid 1970s left the already troubled college in financial distress. In 1977 the trustees attempted to reach a collaboration agreement with Briarcliff College, a junior women's college in nearby Briarcliff Manor which was also struggling with low enrollment. The plan did not work, however, and Briarcliff instead merged with Pace University in 1977 after both Briarcliff and The College for Girls entered bankruptcy.

In 1978 the college closed its doors for good.

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