The first resorts: How the Poconos' vacation reputation came to be
The first resorts:
How Pocono vacation reputation came to be
Pocono resorts -- from country inns to glitzy hotels featuring heart-shaped bathtubs -- have helped make the region known as the vacation spot of northeastern Pennsylvania.
The resort industry has had its pacesetters that survive today and giants that climbed to glory only to fall into oblivion from fire, neglect or changing tastes.
Deciding which resort was the first would probably start an argument among locals and historians; some dates are difficult to determine, and size must be taken into consideration when defining the term "resort."
Kittatinny House in Delaware Water Gap, which opened in 1832, may have been the first hotel originally built to cater to people deliberately visiting the Poconos. Founder Antoine Dutot originally planned the resort for 25 guests. By the end of the Civil War in 1865 it could accommodate 250. Visitors paid $15 a week to enjoy the hotel's accommodations and the magnificent view of the gap. The expansion of a railroad line through Monroe County in the 1850s marked the real takeoff of tourism, with many hotels like the Kittatinny House opening along streams. Trout fishing was a lure for many, including notables like Annie Oakley, Buffalo Bill Cody and President Grover Cleveland.
The Kittatinny House was destroyed by fire in the 1930s.
In the 1840s, Henryville House, on Paradise Creek in Paradise township, which had opened more than a half-century earlier to about 75 guests, was expanded and turned into a special resort just for trout fishermen. Henryville House, decaying from lack of use and lack of upkeep, was demolished in 2004, about 20 years after it closed.
The Buckwood Inn, which is now Shawnee Inn, was built in the early 1900s. Guests paid $5 to stay the night.
The Stroudsburg House, built in 1833, became the Burnett House around 1875 and was one of the first major stopping places in Stroudsburg. Once known as the Penn-Stroud Hotel, the Stroudsburg House is now Pocono Inne Town.
Pocono Manor, now Pocono Manor Golf Resort -- Spa, was established in 1902 by the Society of Friends for those seeking the restful country life. In 1912, the resort's first golf course opened.
Buck Hill Inn was one of the first exclusive resorts, with restricted clientele. The inn had rooms, in the early days, for 500 guests, and also had 160 privately owned cottages. Buck Hill Inn closed in 1990.
Other defunct resorts include Strickland's Mountain Inn and Cottages, founded in 1945 by Edmund and Ann-Louise Strickland with two buildings on one acre of land. The couple had one customer when they opened their doors. Later, Strickland's became part of the empire of Mount Airy Resort and eventually closed.
The main lodge of Mount Airy closed in 2001 and has since been demolished to make way for an updated entertainment/casino complex.
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