Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project Kicks Off Summer Dedication Season Across Sullivan County

The Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project is preparing for another season of dedications across Sullivan County, continuing its work to preserve the history of the Catskills’ legendary resort era.

Radio Catskill’s Patricio Robayo spoke with Marisa Scheinfeld, Founder and Project Director of the Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project, and Isaac Jeffreys, Public Relations and Visual Coordinator, about the 2026 dedication season, the stories behind the markers, and why the Borscht Belt’s legacy remains important today.

Scheinfeld said the project began in late 2022, when a group of artists and historians realized there were no historic markers honoring the Borscht Belt era in Sullivan and Ulster counties. Since then, the project has grown into a larger effort to identify and mark the places that shaped the region’s vacation history.

This year’s dedications will bring the project to 20 markers across Sullivan and Ulster counties. The 2026 schedule includes stops in Ferndale, Roscoe, Rock Hill and Glen Wild, Western Sullivan County, and Wurtsboro, Spring Glen and High View.

The season begins Sunday, June 28, in Ferndale. Scheinfeld said the event will include a rare opportunity to visit the Shelburne Theater, one of Ferndale’s surviving Borscht Belt landmarks, followed by a marker dedication and an after-party at Otto’s at the Sullivan County Golf Course. The official dedication is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Maurice Gerry’s, 9 Ferndale Road, with “Find Me in Ferndale!” running from 5 to 7 p.m. at Otto’s in Liberty.

Jeffreys said this year’s markers look deeper into the Borscht Belt’s early history, including smaller hotels, boarding houses, and vacation spaces that may not be as widely remembered as the major resorts. He said the visual material connected to the project helps show a part of the Borscht Belt that is “a little bit less glamorous” but culturally rich.

The project continues July 11 in Roscoe, with a dedication at the Roscoe O&W Museum and a follow-up program, “Greetings from Roscoe,” at Roscoe Collective. The event will feature Scheinfeld and Jeffreys in conversation with Ahu Terzi of The Hound Books, using rarely seen photographs and ephemera to explore Roscoe’s resort-era history.

On August 8, the project heads to Rock Hill and Glen Wild. That marker will highlight how early Jewish farmers in the area blended agriculture and hospitality, helping shape the tourism culture of the Catskills.

The September 4 dedication will focus on Western Sullivan County, including Lake Huntington, Fosterdale, Kenoza Lake and Callicoon. Scheinfeld said that marker expands the story beyond Jewish resort history to include Polish, Black, Italian, health-focused and worker resorts, showing how different communities found refuge and built vacation spaces in the Catskills.

The Western Sullivan event will take place at Sullivan West, the former site of the Green Acres Hotel, followed by a screening of Dirty Dancing. Scheinfeld said films like Dirty Dancing continue to connect with people because they capture the music, energy and landscape of Catskills summers.

The 2026 season will close October 18 with the project’s 20th marker, celebrating Wurtsboro, Spring Glen and High View. That event will include a dedication at the Mamakating Historical Society, a historical lecture by Alex Prizgintas and a screening of selections from the 1986 documentary The Rise and Fall of the Borscht Belt.

Scheinfeld said that while the project began with funding for 20 markers, there may still be more to come, including a future Grossinger’s marker and possibly two or three additional locations. She said the group also hopes to expand the trail through bus tours, a self-guided audio tour and school programming so local students can better understand the cultural history of where they grew up.

For Jeffreys, the goal is simple: he hopes people walk away from the dedications with joy and a deeper connection to the places being remembered. He said the events can be moving for people who remember hotels, bungalow colonies and communities that have not been publicly recognized in decades.

Scheinfeld said that is the heart of the project: making history feel alive by bringing people back to the places where it happened.

More information is available at maytheborschtbewithyou.org and borschtbeltmarkers.org.

Photo caption: Outdoor Pool, Ferber’s Hotel Lorraine, Lake Huntington