Memories of Schmitt's Mountain Rest

A few days ago I recieved this great email  from Bob Morea, who shared his memories of staying at Schmitt's Mountain Rest (now Pierce's Landing) in possibly the late 1950's to early 1960's. 

Dear Mr. Francz...

 

I was using “Google Map” to get a rough idea where a dear old friend of mine moved (Greentown)...

and figured I’d poke around the map in the vicinity of the Water Gap/Stroudsburg/etc

just for a trip down memory lane.

 

I’m 60 now, and remember well my folks’ one- or two-week jaunts up to Schmitts Mountain Rest

(yes it was still called “Rest” until our last trip or two up there).

 

I can’t pin down the exact years; I was still running around in my “Mickey Mantle” uniform though.

 

We stayed in all the buildings:  the Honeymoon Cottage down the hill, the Cabins,

the new Cabanas up by the new pool...

and in the last trip, this newly-independent boy even weaseled his own room upstairs in the Main House.

I can still recall the Main House like it was yesterday... the huge L-shaped dining hall (family-style of course),

the two unexplainably comforting sitting rooms, the staircase going upstairs to the guest rooms,

the wonderful smells of an old country house with old padded furniture, and – on queue – the day’s next meal.

 

We were there when one had to brave the steep stairs and cross the road to that old

ICE-COLD mountain-water-fed pool, and we were there the year that the new pool opened.

 

Adolph and his wife were old-school Germans...

and GOD could that sweet old woman cook – she barely ever left the kitchen all season!!!

Adolph ruled the staff with a iron fist ...including grandson Hans

... loving like a true grandfather, but Hans was learning how to honorably represent his family.

Even the guests’ kids, including me, knew not to mess around when Mr. Schmitt was there.

 

The waitresses were college students on summer break,

and at the tender ages of ten or so, I must have been bitten by crushes a hundred times!

 

There was always a German Shepherd (of course), named Prince... he was the best!

 

There was shuffleboard and badminton, and the kids got the honor of being personally assigned

by Mr. Schmitt to ring dinner bells through the property in and around all the buildings,

announcing each meal.

...  and not one kid ever missed the chance – sometimes two kids had to share one bell !!!

 

The Rec (recreation) Hall was the nightly hot spot...

two rooms paneled in glossy knotty-pine tongue and groove,

with checkerboard floor tiles and lantern-style fixtures.

Entertainment comprised band night, talent night, movie night, costume night, horse racing night

(kids got to move ponies-on-sticks along a vinyl “track” on the floor).

The back room of the Rec Hall was the game room:

it had a ping-pong table, a shuffleboard table and a bowling game (complete with corn meal),

and a pinball machine.

The main room had the upright piano, a corner (beer only, as I remember) bar,

and maybe a dozen casual BYOB table setups that were always filled every night with the

nicest people from everywhere – most of whom had established close friendships over the years,

and planned “next year’s vacation” to coincide with each other.

 

My folks (we were from Jackson Heights, Long Island) got especially chummy with two couples:

the O's from neighboring Astoria, and the J's from Lindenhurst, New Jersey.

 

Fred O. was the sweetest man... he was “Mr. O.” to me of course,

but I distinctly remember his wife’s nagging voice yelling, “Fred....” .

He was a gaunt quiet elderly gentleman with severe emphysema who one day overheard me,

then about 8 or 9 I suppose, bemoan how no one would watch me swim in the old pool down the hill.

I didn’t understand things then, and had no idea that Mr O. could possibly die

trying to get back up the stairs (I’m assuming you know the staircase I’m talking about).

But he took me to the pool and, with much wheezing and many stops, we later made it back up.

 

And then there were the J's...

Patrick J., the alcoholic self-described Irish tenor (he sang “Galway’s Just a Dream Away” on talent nights),

his frustrated wife Stephanie, their accordion-playing son Bill whom they had driven to a nervous breakdown

while trying to survive college, and ... their daughter, Marilyn.

Marilyn was a shy pixie of a girl, 17- or 18-years old or so, who caught the eye and captured the heart

of my brother, Jerry.  I was the altar boy at their wedding a couple of years later.

 

The Schmitts, I’m sure, were getting tired and on in years ... and seemed to be priming

their son Willie and his wife (Marie?) to take over the reins at some point.

Even at my age, it was quite evident that the place wouldn’t be the same afterward.

I assume that this is what led to the resort’s eventual demise.

 

I regret not having my folks’ picture albums and envelopes...

there were dozens of pictures of the place...

especially of the professional 8x10’s of Costume Night (and the teenage waitresses, lol!).

 

It was a great place ... a wonderful vacation spot for families, run by a wonderful couple.

 

Best part was after eagerly volunteering for and finishing a “chore” for Mr. Schmitt...

that (supposedly) stern old “Kraut” used to lean down, shake my hand,

give me the warmest smile, and a wink from behind his glasses, and say “Good job, Bobby.”

...miss him as if he were family.

 

Good times, Mr. Francz...  very good times.

 

Bob Morea

Massapequa Park, NY

Some interesting things...

Please click for full-size image...

Marshalls Creek and Zimmerman's Mill

Out for an evening walk and thought this was a photo-worthy scene. I purchased a book that has a section about the history olf Minisink Hills and a bunch of photos. Hopefully in the next week or two I will post a bunch of Then and Now photos.

Laurel Hill Cemetary

An evening walk through Minisink Hills, PA

Getting bored of a predictable walk around "the block" I decided to walk down Hillside Drive to Gap View Drive then out onto River Road and to Laurel Hill Cemetary which is behind St. Mark's Lutheran Church. Some of the tombstones have fallen over and some have been worn down to crooked sun-bleached and weather-worn little stubs that jut up from the earth like teeth trying to chew something that is no longer there. I walked up what used to be the road to the driveway / road that leads to the church parking lot. I followed the road / driveway, hopped over the chain with a half dozen private property signs and walked up to what was last called Shawnee Academy. The many buildings on the property have sat empty for a few years. Previous names of the place have been Wordsworth and Marthworth. It's alway been a place for troubled kids. I was inside the lobby of the main building in 1987 when I had a job delivering office supplies for Town Office Supplies in Stroudsburg. It was very creepy and very, very silent as I walked around a bit taking photos. About 10 or 15 years ago I remember seeing a teenaged girl walking on Gap View Drive near River Road. Suddenly a long white van pulled up next to her and two men got out and wrestled her into the van. I think the van had markings on the side for Wordsworth. As I was walking home on River Road I noticed something very odd-looking and white about 30 feet off the side of the road. I walked through a bunch of dead branches to investigate. It was the perfectly dried and sun-bleached pelvis, spine, ribs, and skull of an adult deer. It probably received a mortal wound from a speeding car and crawled to this spot and took its last breaths. Poor thing. Near the skull were fresh deer droppings.

Highest point in Minisink Hills, PA

I decided to once again attempt to climb to the highest point in Minisink Hills, PA today. If it was true that early settler, George Zimmerman carved his initials into stone up there, I would find it. I approached the hill from behind the old Schmidling house across the street from where I live. It was a very steep slope to the top and the ground was very slippery so I slipped a lot. I found a thick three foot piece of wood that I used for balance. At the peek I found some names carved into the stones but I can't make out any kind of name and the only carving I was certain of said "56" which I am sure was put there by a hiker in 1956. From the peek I could see across the street from the elementary school, the paper mill, the Delaware Water Gap, the sewage treatment plant and Interstate 80. I think I am correct when I wrote in a previous post that the rock used for the nearby railroad crossing over the Brodhead Creek was taken from this hill.

George Zimmerman on the Rock

While out walking / exploring last week, I met Ed who was searching for the original location of a part of Seven Bridges Road. He told me that he had once hiked to the highest hill in Minisink Hills and saw a unique stone formation. Nearby, was a rock with the name George Zimmerman (early settler) carved upon it. Today, I tried to get to the top of that hill...and failed. About 5:30pm I walked up Hillside Drive to Route 209 to the Odd-Lot Outlet because I decided the best way to get up the hill would be to start behind Odd-Lot Outlet where people ride dirtbikes. The approach to the hill was covered with thick brush and steep. After five minutes I hit a steep slope which was very difficult to walk down so I crouched down to an almost-sitting position and kind of slid down. I could see the highest part of the hill but was so winded that I knew I didn't have it in me to make it up there. It was too late in the day to complete the hike and stupidly, I did not bring any water, a flashlight, a whistle, and I didn't tell anyone where I was going. To me, it looks like the stone used to build the nearby railroad crossing over the Broadhead Creek was taken from this hill. Hopefully, one day I will return to this hill and complete the hike and take photos of the rock with George Zimmerman's name carved upon it. George Zimmerman is buried in Laurel Hill Cemetary which is behind St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Minisink Hills.

Zimmerman's Mill and the mill's raceway

Minisink Hills, PA. Zimmerman's Mill and the mill's raceway built by Peter Zimmerman in 1849. Located on Old Mill Road. The mill received some cosmetic renovations in 1972. The mill was powered by water from the Marshalls Creek and the water that flowed from Silver Lake just a few feet away but has since disappeared so that all you can now see is Marshalls Creek.

Then and Now: The Minisink Hills post office and store

The old post office and store were on Post Office Road and are now private homes. The post office wass the tiny building on the left.

Along the train tracks on Paper Mill Lane

I have no idea what years this electrical box was used and like the shack further up the tracks there was the same type of barrels there. I would love to know what was in the barrel.

Remnants of a bridge crossing the Brodhead Creek

The bridge was washed out in the Flood of 1955 and never rebuilt. It crossed the Brodhead Creek from Post Office Road to Paper Mill Lane. The bridge was about 100 years old and from what I have been told, it was the first bridge of the original Seven Bridges Road. The second bridge of Seven Bridges Road is the still-existing bridge near the Minisink Hotel. Tinkertown Crossing was nearby and crossed the railroad tracks somewher on Paper Mill Lane. I searched for signs of it but could not locate any.

Train track abutments that supported train crossing over Delaware River from NJ to PA

These structures date back to the early 1800's. My friend, Gary and I took a canoe trip around them in 2002. They are pretty massive. The one closest to the PA side, as you can see, is falling over. The tracks continued on right into the heart of Minisink Hills and along the Brodhead Creek across from the paper mill (now RockTenn) and connected to train tracks a little past the Interstate 80 overpass. These tracks are still in use today. I have always found these structures fascinating. The railroad that originally built these abutments was called the New York, Susquehanna & West Railroad. The first photo is where the trains tracks used to be. The land around the road is quite marshy on one side and must have been difficult to raise it up about ten to twelve feet to support the weight of trains.

Minisink Hills Antique & Classic Auto Restoration / Minisink Hills Auto Body

This is on Old Mill Road. It doesn't look like they're open for business. I am trying to find out the years that it operated. It was also called Minisink Hills Auto Body.

More exploration of where the railroad went through Minisink Hills

Today I again walked where the railroad ran through Minisink Hills. I had to do further investigation into some initials and dates carved onto one of the supports that that held the train tracks over what I am now led to believe was the old location of Seven Bridges Road. There are indeed initials carved into the stone with the years 1888 and 1887. On one of the supports is a concrete plaque with the year 1888 on it. I am pretty positive when I assume that the plaque was put there by the railroad company and the initials and dates were carved into the stone by some workers when that section of the tracks and supports were close to being complete or completed. I tried doing rubbings of the initials and years but the surface of the stone was too uneven. I was able to trace the outline of the initials and dates by placing a piece of paper over them and using a pencil. I decided to walk up to the train tracks that are still being used. There is a private property sign marked "Delaware Lackawanna Railroad Pennsylvania Northeast." The steel train rails are marked "328 RE OH CARNEGIE USA 1944." I walked along the tracks about 150 yards and came to an old shed along the tracks. Inside I saw things that looked like they had electrical wires attached to them. This shed may have been a switching station near where the old tracks met with the tracks that are still being used. There were also a lot of old rusted out metal cans nearby.  There were manufacturer names indented on the bottoms but they were just too hard to make out. I also saw some old utility poles that looked 1920ish or maybe earlier. On my way back there was a man that was maybe 25 years my senior. I panicked a little and I thought he was from the paper mill checking on trespassers. Nope. His name is Ed and he was out looking for clues of the original location of Seven Bridges Road (now Route 209N from the Days Inn to Marshalls Creek). We got to talking about the area and he mentioned Hillside Drive, which is where I live. He then told me that he knows Willie Schmitt whose father built Schmitt's Mountain Resort in the 1940's  (now the apartment complex, Pierce's Landing, where I live). Hopefully, I can get an audience with Mr. Schmitt and find out some information about when exactly Schmitt's was built (I found a newspaper ad from 1948). Ed and I exchanged contact info and hopefully we'll have historical information that we can share. On my walk back I found a very worn railroad spike where the tracks used to be which as geeky as it sounds, excited me because I know have a railroad spike from the railroad  as well as pieces of coal from a train. This was a pretty exciting couple of hours for me.