White Lake | |
---|---|
Hamlet and CDP | |
Coordinates: 41°40′28″N74°49′44″W / 41.67444°N 74.82889°W | |
Country | United States |
State | New York |
County | Sullivan |
Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
ZIP codes | 12786 |
White Lake is a hamlet (and census-designated place) [1] in the town of Bethel, Sullivan County, New York, United States, on the southeastern shore of a lake of the same name. It was the closest community to the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in 1969.
The community has a post office on New York Route 17B. Its ZIP Code is 12786. Its population in 2000 was reported at 665 and it is the largest community in the town of Bethel. The Bethel Town Hall is also located in the community. [2]
The lake is reported to be the deepest lake (80 feet (24 m)) in Sullivan County. Residents in the 19th century claimed that the biggest brook trout in the world (8 pounds, 14 ounces) was caught in the lake in 1843. [3]
According to local lore, its Native American name was Kauneonga—meaning lake with two wings (the lake has a figure 8 layout resembling wings). The White Lake name is said to have come from the white sand beaches on its shores and white bottom. [4] The northern portion of White Lake, formerly known as North White Lake, is now called Kauneonga Lake.
A saw mill and grist mill were established at the outlet of the lake circa 1804. In 1811, a hotel was established in the community, starting a long history of it becoming a resort.
The History of Sullivan County reports, "Physicians frequently send invalids to recover health from its life giving qualities. Instances of recovery almost incredible might be given: so that those who wish to combine rare scenery with healthiness of climate, a sojourn during the summer-months is desirable." [3]
Writer Alfred B. Street extolled its virtues in his poem "White Lake", which includes these lines:
Hark! like an organ's tones, the woods
To the light wind murmurs wake;
The voice of the vast solitudes
Is speaking to the lake
The New York Times in 1903 wrote, "The railroad station for White Lake is either Liberty or Monticello. A picturesque drive over the Shawangunk Mountains brings one to this beautiful lake. The hotels which are on both sides are among the best in Sullivan County. At this place all aquatic sports may be indulged in." [5]
In the late 19th century, large grand hotels, including the Mansion House, were built on the shores. [6] In the early 20th century, grand hotels gave way to bungalow style motels as it became a popular Borscht Belt destination, with more than 24 hotels and camps catering to Jews. [7] Among these hotels was the Fur Workers' Resort (later White Lake Lodge, then Camp Hi-Li) which was initially aimed at furriers. The furriers gave it up after discovering that summer was the busiest season for them. [8]
In the 1960s with the Borscht Belt declining various people made attempts to revitalize the area including an attempt by the Monticello Raceway to have harness racing on the frozen lake in the winter. [9]
The community is home to one year-round synagogue: Congregation Beth Sinai, led by Rabbi Samuel J. Fishbain. There is also a small egalitarian congregation Temple Beth-El, open from July to the High Holidays. It was also home to the Lapidus bungalow colony which closed in the 1970s and the property was sold to the religious Satmar community which boasts a new large synagogue and mikvah belonging to the Satmar Community of Grand Rabbi Zalman Leib Teitelbaum, who visits on occasion, as his summer residence is in nearby Swan Lake. Grand Rabbi Ben Zion Halberstam, the Bobover Rebbe spends his summers at the nearby Chiel Kurtz Bungalow Colony in White Lake, as did his late father. Nearby, the Klausenberger Hasidic community of Union City, New Jersey also has a bungalow colony with a synagogue and mikvah, where the late Zvhiller Rebbe of Union City, New Jersey, spent his summers and would conduct a tish weekly. Yeshivas Shor Yoshuv also has a bungalow colony nearby, where the late Rabbi Shlomo Freifeld would spend summers.
In 1969, Elliot Tiber, whose parents owned the dilapidated El Monaco Motel on Route 17B, received a permit from the town of Bethel to stage a music festival on the motel grounds. When in July 1969 Wallkill refused to issue a permit for the Woodstock Festival, Tiber suggested they use his permit for the concert at the motel. Since the space was too small, the producers then staged the festival on the farm of Max Yasgur, approximately three miles northwest of White Lake.
Sullivan County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 78,624. The county seat is Monticello. The county's name honors Major General John Sullivan, who was labeled at the time as a hero in the American Revolutionary War in part due to his successful campaign against the Iroquois.
Bethel is a town in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The population was estimated at 3,959 in 2020. The town received worldwide attention after it served as the location of Woodstock in 1969, which was originally planned for Wallkill, New York, but was relocated to Bethel after Wallkill withdrew.
Woodridge is a village in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The population was 747 at the 2020 census. The village is in the town of Fallsburg at the junction of county routes 53, 54, 58, and 158. The Woodridge ZIP Code is 12789.
The Borscht Belt, or Yiddish Alps, is a colloquial term for the mostly defunct summer resorts of the Catskill Mountains in parts of Sullivan, Orange, and Ulster counties in the U.S. state of New York, straddling both Upstate New York and the northern edges of the New York metropolitan area. A source interviewed by Time magazine stated that visits to the area by Jewish families were already underway "as early as the 1890s ... Tannersville ... was 'a great resort of our Israelite breathren [sic]'...from the 1920s on [there were] hundreds of hotels".
Munkatch Hasidism is a Hasidic sect within Haredi Judaism of mostly Hungarian Hasidic Jews. It was founded and led by Polish-born Grand Rebbe Shlomo Spira, who was the rabbi of the town of Strzyżów (1858–1882) and Munkacs (1882–1893). Members of the congregation are mainly referred to as Munkacs Hasidim, or Munkatcher Hasidim. It is named after the Hungarian town in which it was established, Munkatsh.
Aaron Teitelbaum is one of the two Grand Rebbes of Satmar, and the chief rabbi of the Satmar community in Kiryas Joel, New York.
Yekusiel Yehuda III Teitelbaum, known by the Yiddish colloquial name Rav Zalman Leib, is one of two Grand Rebbes of Satmar, and the son of Grand Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum, the late Rebbe of the Satmar Hasidim. He is the son-in-law of the previous Bistritzer Rebbe of Brooklyn. He is currently one of the two Grand Rebbes of Satmar, with his faction being based in central Satmar congregation in Williamsburg, and the Dean of a Satmar yeshiva in Queens.
Sackett Lake is a lake in Thompson, New York with a small community that revolves around the lake by the same name. It is approximately 4 miles southwest of Monticello, the county seat of Sullivan County. The lake is 127 acres (51 ha) at an elevation of 1,329 feet (405 m).
The Bethel Woods Center for the Arts is an amphitheatre, performing arts center and museum located at the site of the 1969 Woodstock Music & Art Fair in Bethel, New York. Located approximately 90 miles (140 km) from New York City, the 800-acre (3.2 km2) site includes a 15,000-seat outdoor concert venue, a 1,000-seat outdoor terrace stage, an intimate 440-seat indoor hall, and the Museum at Bethel Woods. Concerts run June through September and feature many types of music genres.
Loch Sheldrake is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Fallsburg, New York, United States, in Sullivan County. The zip code for Loch Sheldrake is 12759.
Spring Glen is a hamlet of the Town of Wawarsing in Ulster County, New York, United States. It is located just off US 209 just north of the Sullivan County line. It sits along the Sandburg Creek and has a direct access point for parking and hiking to the highest point of the Shawangunk Ridge Trail at over 1800 feet. It has the ZIP Code 12483.
Hurleyville is a hamlet in the Town of Fallsburg in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The town lies along County Road 104 and was originally developed because it was on the main route between the Villages of Liberty and Monticello, New York. The zip code for Hurleyville is 12747.
Woodbourne is a hamlet in the town of Fallsburg in Sullivan County, New York, United States.
Elliot Michael Tiber was an artist, professor, and screenwriter who wrote a memoir about the Woodstock Festival held in Bethel, New York in 1969. He claimed responsibility for the relocation of the festival after a permit for it was withdrawn by the zoning board of a nearby town.
Harris is a hamlet in the town of Thompson in east-central Sullivan County, New York, United States. The ZIP code for Harris is 12742.
Kiamesha Lake is a hamlet in the town of Thompson, in east-central Sullivan County, New York, United States. The zip code for Kiamesha Lake is 12751.
Taking Woodstock: A True Story of a Riot, a Concert and a Life is a memoir describing the origins of the 1969 Woodstock Festival by Elliot Tiber with Tom Monte. It was published in 2007 by Square One Publishers, Inc., and was adapted into a film of the same name by James Schamus, Ang Lee's long time writing/producing partner. It was released in August 2009. Tiber is portrayed in the film by Demetri Martin.
Chaim Yehoshua Halberstam, also known as Chaim Shia Halberstam, is a Hasidic Jewish rabbi and the Grand Rabbi of the Satmar community in Monsey, New York. He is a son-in-law of the late Satmar Rebbe, Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum, and a direct descendant of the first and second Rebbes of Bobov.
Brown's Hotel was a nationally known resort complex located in the Borscht Belt area of upstate New York, in the Catskill Mountains. It was one of the largest and most elaborate establishments of its kind during an era when the entire region prospered as a tourist destination. From the 1940s to the 1980s, the hotel was a popular vacation destination for many upper-middle-class families living in the New York City metropolitan area. Jewish-American families were welcomed and even catered to specifically by the hotels in the Borscht Belt during a time period when anti-semitism was prevalent in the hospitality industry. Filling a niche, the area quickly became a mecca for Jewish-American families. Brown's Hotel was located in the hamlet of Loch Sheldrake in the Town of Fallsburg, Sullivan County, New York.
Faige Teitelbaum, born Alta Faige Shapiro and known as the Satmar Rebbetzin, was an American Hasidic community leader. Teitelbaum's status as Rebbetzin was gained through her marriage to the first Rebbe (leader) of the Satmar Hasidic community, Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum (1887-1979). After her husband's death, the Satmar Rebbetzin gained a following of supporters who stood in opposition to her husband's successor, the second Rebbe of Satmar, Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum (1914-2006).