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Originally Sheldrake Pond, Loch Sheldrake had about 48 hotels such as Brown's, Edgewood, Evans, Holiday, Karmel, New Roxy, Riverside Hotel, Shady Nook and about 36 bungalow colonies including Kushners, Pesekows, and Melamed's Villa.
From 1929 to 1941, Murder Inc., an organized crime group of Jewish and Italian mobsters from New York City, frequented the Catskills. Some of their victims perished in the lake, with one making national headlines in 1939.
Opening in 1944, Brown's Hotel offered supreme entertainment and atmosphere. The Brown family had a long relationship with comedian Jerry Lewis and put his name on their nightclub, the only one in the Borscht Belt named for a celebrity.
The Jerry Lewis Theater Club presented acts such as Harry Belafonte, Totie Fields, Dean Martin, Woody Allen, Sammy Shore, Liberace, and others. Hotel Evans is embedded in boxing history. Jimmy Braddock, Marcel Cerdan, and others trained at the resort. The Karmel Hotel later became Stagedoor Manor, a performing arts camp.
Borscht Belt - Side 2
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 generational changes.
Erected 2025 by Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation, Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project, Sullivan County Historian.
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