Bygone Hudson Valley

An early postcard view of the Meadow Brook Farm Boarding House, later known as Simon’s Inn or Simon’s Hall.

Prior to moving to Plattekill in 1912, German-born Charles Simon had worked as a headwaiter at a number of upscale NYC hotels.  Around 1918, he and his wife, Mary Ann Foley Simon, opened the boarding house on their 20-acre Unionville Road farm.

At the Meadow Brook, the Simons offered their summer guests a swimming pool, abundant farm fresh meals and dances every Saturday night. A pavilion, restaurant and dance hall that could accommodate nearly 500 people were added to the property by the early 1923, at which point the Meadow Brook came to be known as “Simon’s Inn” or “Simon’s Hall.”

During the off-season, the hall was used as a sort of community center and movie theater, where dances, clam chowder suppers and other fundraising events were held and the Plattekill Rod and Gun Club would host movie nights. The Plattekill Civil Defense Committee used the hall for signal drills during World War II.

Before Our Lady of Fatima Church was built in Plattekill, Catholic Masses were celebrated at Camp Sunset in the summer months and in Simon’s Hall during the winter. A number of fundraisers were held in hall to raise money for the construction of the new church.

Perhaps no community organization utilized Simon’s Hall more than the Plattekill Fire Department. From around 1929 until the late 1940s, card parties and dances organized by the department at Simon’s Hall were a constant source of funds for the newly formed organization, and a great source of entertainment for Plattekill and the surrounding communities. Early dances included music by bands and orchestras from New Paltz, Newburgh and Walden, while in later years orchestras from nearby Villa Nueva, Villa Victoria, Casa Perez and Club El-Ray would draw guests by the hundreds. (A 1945 article in the Kingston Daily Freeman noted that square dances were also popular at the hall for a short time, led by a Plattekill-based band known as the “Plattekillers”.)

Simon’s Hall closed around 1950, shortly before Charles Simon’s death in 1953. According to Ish Martinez, author of Las Villas of Plattekill and Ulster County, the Simon’s Inn property was purchased by the Velazquez family in the mid to late 1950s. By 1961 it reopened as a Puerto Rican villa called El Continental. The owners were brothers Angelo and Enrique Velazquez and their wives, Lillian and Gladys. The large hall provided enough room for the owners to accommodate a restaurant, a bar, and a dance hall. Many of the leading Latin bands from New York City were brought in to perform on weekends. Unfortunately the villa had a relatively short run as much of the building was destroyed by fire in 1965.

This postcard is the only image I’ve some across of the Meadow Brook Farm/Simon’s Inn. Does anyone out there have more information about this once-popular resort?