| OVERVIEW: The Laurel House was built in 1852 by Peter Schutt as a 50 room boarding house. The hotel was then operated by Peter Schutt's son, Jacob Schutt. In 1871 the Laurel House was purchased by Jacob Fromer, who was from Wittenburgh, Germany. After the Civil War, the Laurel House went thru it's final large development. Between 1881 and 1884 the house was enlarged to what you see in the pictures above. It then could handle up to 300 visitors. The hotel thru it's history was designed to attract middle-class clients, where the Kaaterskill Hotel and Catskill Mountain House attracted high-class clients. The cost of staying at the Laurel house was approximately half the cost. The hotel was located very close (100 feet) to the edge of the Kaaterskill Falls. It gave an outstanding view of the Kaaterskill Falls Clove. They also built a platform next to the top of the falls. They also had a pulley and rope for lowering refreshments to vistors at the bottom of the falls. For a quarter, vistors could have them release water dammed up to experience a massive flow of water over the falls. Back then, they had wooden steps from the top of the Kaaterskill Falls to the first water basin. They also had wooden planks under the Falls for their visitors. All of those wooden steps and planks are now gone. People today still follow the trail, but it is extremely dangerous, and many deaths have occured. The hotel stayed operation until 1965. New York State then acquired it and intentionally burned it to the ground on March 1, 1967. It was burned to the ground to make way for the Laurel House campgrounds. Unfortunately, New York State does not respect historic structures, and they have a reputation of burning historic structures. Today, you can only find parts of the rock foundation within the forest. |
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