Framed or unframed, desk size to sofa size, printed by us in Arizona and Alabama since 2007. Explore now.
Shorpy is funded by you. Patreon contributors get an ad-free experience.
Learn more.
1902. "Rip Van Winkle Hotel, Sleepy Hollow, Catskill Mountains, New York." Detroit Publishing Co. glass negative, 8x10 inches. View full size.
This spot was well known long before the Mountain House was built (1823-24). At this bend in the trail was a spring where the weary climber could refresh himself. Thomas Cole mentioned this as he used to climb the escarpment to visit The Pine Orchard and Twin Lakes to paint. Today, even the spring is gone.
to be modeled. As an HO model railroader, I keep coming across pictures on this site that scream to be reproduced.
THANK YOU for your work Dave!
Every ravine, valley or "clove" in the Catskills (clove is Dutch for a ravine through which water flows) named some area or other Sleepy Hollow. Associating their mountain landscape with the fictional character of Rip Van Winkle offered enormous tourist potential. Since Palenville, New York was the gateway to one of the most famous "cloves" in the area, Kaaterskill Clove - popularized by the Hudson River School of artists like Thomas Cole - they were more successful than most in associating themselves with the Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
The actual incorporated town of Sleepy Hollow lies on the other side of the river near the home of Washington Irving -- a municipal tribute to one of America's first real media superstars.
Dave, could you blow up that section between the buildings that shows what appears to be a child peering out of the thin slice of window? I got goose bumps when I saw that.
[Ka-blam. That's a door. - Dave]
Just noticed the little girl peeking out the side door of the hotel - almost missed her.
The boardinghouse and the shanty on the left (the original 1826 house) burned down in 1918. The Mountain House Road is now a horse trail.
... in the worst way. What treasures lie within?
[The sign over the door says Beer. - Dave]
Does anyone know what the small building is or was used for?
[It's the Rip Van Winkle House. - Dave]
What a great vacation spot! I could definitely stretch out in that hammock on the front porch and sleep for 20 years!
I believe the caption is incorrect. The village of Sleepy Hollow is in the Hudson Valley, between Tarrytown and Ossining, on U.S. Hwy 9, perhaps a 30 minute drive to N.Y.C. Not really in the Catskills.
[That's a different Sleepy Hollow. This is on Catskill Mountain, near Palenville in Greene County. - Dave]
Looks like an old buggy or sleigh body on the left corner of the house. Two wheels and shafts are lying farther to the left.
Does anyone know the fate of this great nostalgic endeavor? Is it possible to learn the precise address and to determine what stands on this land today?
On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5