WESTERN SULLIVAN, ny

Marker location:

Sullivan West High School

6604 NY-52

Lake Huntington, NY 12752

Marker text:  Western Sullivan County 

Western Sullivan County—part of the broader Borscht Belt region—includes Callicoon, Fosterdale, Kenoza Lake and Lake Huntington. These communities became crossroads where Jewish, Black, Italian, and Polish families built their own vibrant resorts fostering leisure, social connection, and cultural belonging. 

On this site stood Green Acres, Lake Huntington’s first Jewish hotel, founded in 1920 despite local barriers to Jewish property ownership. Welcoming all working-class families, it provided a lakeside retreat and day camp until a fire in 1966. Hotel Lorraine offered traditional Hungarian cuisine. Wylie’s and Villa Theresa were Black-owned hotels known for their family atmosphere and entertainment.  

Founded in 1944, the Villa Roma in Callicoon began as a modest boarding house and grew into a year-round destination reflecting Italian American culture. In Kenoza Lake, Valley View House was promoted as the “largest Polish American resort in the East.” In Fosterdale, Recreation Farm blended leisure, health and labor reform ideals. 

Combined, this area hosted about 24 hotels and 6 bungalow colonies including Armbrust’s, Belmont, Edgemere, Fern, Kenoza Lake, Lotus Farm, Mrozek, Nelson’s, Oneg, Tumble Inn, and West Shore.