Buck Hill Falls, Pennsylvania

Buck Hill Falls is a private resort community in the Pocono Mountains of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

The settlement was founded in 1901 as a Quaker retreat by a group of Friends from Philadelphia, including Charles F. Jenkins who became and remained the president of the Buck Hill Falls Company until his death in 1951.

The Inn at Buck Hill Falls, originally a small wooden hostelry, expanded ultimately to a large new stone building in 1926 and enjoyed popularity into the 1970s and 1980s. By the time of its closure, the Inn boasted over 400 guest rooms [http://www.buckhillinn.com/index.html] along with numerous resort amenities, including an indoor swimming pool with a retractable glass roof, elegant and formal lobby spaces, and a white linen dining room where guests were feted with fine food while occasionally enjoying live harpsicord music. Another major feature of the Inn was the back porch, a huge covered stone structure with exceptional views of the surrounding Pocono mountains. Guests could take afternoon tea and relax in rocking chairs looking out over the mountains. However, changes in ownership, financial troubles, and several fires led to the closing of the Inn in the early 1990s. Although there was no single cause of the Inn's failure, the decline in the costs of air travel, allowing vacationers from New York and Philadelphia to avoid the long drive into the Poconos was certainly a major factor in its demise. The main Inn building still exists and is for sale, although it has not been occupied for over 15 years. [http://www.buckhillinn.com/index.html]

On 1935-06-30 Rexford Tugwell and Eleanor Roosevelt conducted a conference on the future of housing and resettlement at Buck Hill Falls. Stuart Taylor also attended. "You cannot just build houses and tell people to go and live in them. They must be taught how to live," said Mrs. Roosevelt. [cite book |last=Shlaes |first=Amity |authorlink=Amity Shlaes |title=The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression|origyear=2007 |edition=1st edn |year=2007|publisher=HarperCollins |location=New York, New York |isbn=0-06-621170-0 |oclc=|pages=256|quote=A community does not consist of houses alone. ]

There is still a very active community of both summer and year-round residents, many of whom come for a summer retreat from New York City or Philadelphia. Many families have been coming to Buck Hill for generations.The community still has the amenities of its past as a popular Quaker resort, including a 27-hole Donald Ross--designed golf course, 10 tennis courts, and an Olympic-sized swimming pool. The nearby villages of Mountainhome and Canadensis provide places to shop.

Buck Hill Falls is known for its natural beauty including its namesake waterfall, the annual Buck Hill Art Association Art Show, one of the premier cultural events in Northeastern Pennsylvania, and the Foxhowe Association, which sponsors lectures and oversees the Friends meeting for worship in the summer. The Buck Hill Lawn Bowling Association has also hosted National Finals several times. Also, the Buck Hill Conservation Foundation is very actively buying easements, and maintaining expansive trails throughout the convert|4600|acre|km2|0 of forest surrounding the settlement.

In 2000, the Buck Hill Inn was used as a location for MTV's Fear, and several liberties were taken with its history, including claiming that Buck Hill Falls was the sight of 73 murders, the suicide of one maid, and one room being built on "lay lines", as well as ghost sightings. Obviously, none of this is true.

External links

* [http://www.buckhillfalls.com/ Buck Hill Falls Website]

References