Kevin Whipple describes an area in Henryville, Pennsylvania that once offered skiing:
“There was once a rope tow at the now-defunct Henryville House Retreat in Henryville, PA in Monroe County. The main hotel (now demolished) was at the intersection of Route 191 and Route 715. The rope tow slope is very easy to find as the new Henryville Post Office is located right at the base of the slope, with rope tow components right next to the parking lot.
The Henryville House Retreat was a very historic and famous Pocono retreat dating back to the 1700’s. The old hotel, which was sadly torn down, played host to many famous individuals in the Pocono heydays. Presidents Grover Cleveland and Theodore Roosevelt stayed there, and Buffalo Bill Cody and Annie Oakley used to perform. All food at the resort was supplied by an on-site farm.In more recent times as a condemned structure, it was home to some of the most famous ghost stories in the Poconos (broke in there once myself) - before being demolished sometime around 2002-03.
There were several outbuildings from the hotel on this compound. One of which was a very large pool house, which in the winter months served as the base lodge. A friend of mine learned to ski on that slope in theearly 1970’s (right before closing its operation). He recalls there being a nice picnic grove in the pine trees right at the top of the tow where skiers would mingle, and then a narrowand semi-steep trail that dropped from this grove to the base of the main slope. I’m not sure this was technically aresort-maintained ski run, as this appears to have been a one-wide-slopewith rope tow operation. This trail was probably local-maintained. He tells me the base lodge/pool house was a happening place back then with a bar, dance hall, pool tables, and ping pong.
The skiing wasprimarily just one wide slope that descended from a pine grove at the top of the rope tow that ran on its own liftline. Probably a 100 foot vertical drop, if that. Looks like very bland skiing but a great place to learn the sport. I don’t think there was any snowmaking or night skiing but I could be wrong. The slope remains somewhat clear today, with theHenryville Post Office sitting at the base of the old slope. The base components for the tow are still standing next to the parking lot. The towline runs to the left of the main slope (skier’s right).There are still somewooden towers with sheave wheels running along the line, and thesummit components and drive for the tow are still at the top of the hill. I can almost picture Teddy Roosevelt himself strapping on the hickory sticks for a run.”
Kevin provides the following photos, which he took during a trip in 2004.
I have no idea how my brother found your website but could add a ton of information and stories about Henryville and the Henryville House as my parent's property adjoined the Henryville House's land. My two brothers and I had an awesome childhood in that location and really enjoyed your comments.
HI I LIVED IN PA MAY YEARS NEAR THE HENRYVILL HOUSE. I DID NOT SEE IT TORN DOWN IN 2002 I LIVED HERE TILL 2005 WHICH THEN I MOVED TO FLORIDA. I REMEMBER IT BEING ROPED OFF WITH YELLOW TAPE. LIKE THEY USE IN CRIME SCEANS. WINDOWS WERE BROKEN AND POLICE WOULD NOT LET ANYONE ON THE PROPERTY. I WOULD OF LOVED TO GO INSIDE TO CHECK IT OUT. I DID HERE THOW THAT SOME CARPNTERS HAD GONE IN TO TRY TO REPAIR SOME THINGS WHILE THEY STILL HAD SOMEONE TAKING CARE OF THE GROUNDS AND HOTEL THE CARPENTERS SLEPT THERE ONE NIGHT AND WAS AWOKEN BY SOME NOAISE AND FOUND THERE TOOLS MOVED AND SOME BEING THROWN AROUND AND SO THE FLED OUT OF THERE NEVER TO GO BACK GAIN. NOW HOW TRUE THAT STORY IS I DON
T KNOW IT IS ONLY WHAT I HEARD. I HAVE PASSED BY THE BIULDING MANY, MANY TIMES. I KNOW IT SITS IN RUINS NOW BUT LAST I HEARD I WAS NOT TORN DOWN. I WOULD LOVE FOR A PARANORMAL GROUP TO GO IN THERE AND CHECK IT OUT LIKE PA PARANORMAL SOCIETY OR TAPS . THE HOUSE HAS LOADS OF HISTROY BEHIND IT. B NEVER A PARANORMAL GROUP TO CHECK IT REALLY OUT. IT WOULD BE INTERESTING IT THEY COULD DO THAT. I DID LOVE YOUR STORY. DANIELA RUSSO
in response to Daniela's comment: the hotel building itself was torn down in 2002. There still remains some out-buildings, including a large building that sits at the rear of the property, but the condemned main building is gone. You can see the old hotel in the black and white aerial photo, but it is gone in the more recent GoogleEarth image. The ghost stories from this place where among the most popular ghost stories in the poconos.
Hi - we vacationed at Henryville House during the 70's. 10 or so families from NJ would descent on the hotel for a couple of days of rest and relaxation - to be honest we did not get a lot of rest - the kids played all day/night - either skiing, togonning, or sledding on the local hill - and or we would travel over to Timber Hill Ski area - (later called Alpine Mountain I think?) or Camelback.
There was no real night skiing operation - although there was a light a the bottom of the hill. We would go through sets and sets of gloves on the old rope tow - being pulled up through the pine forrest only to descent in true bliss down the hill trying not to crash through the hay bails and onto 191.
For entertainment at night - the owners would setup steeplechase rases which were so much fun for the entire family. Food was excellent and the hospitality was fantastic.
Everytime the group get's together we always reminice about the years we spend at this little slice of Pocono Heaven.
When I was a teen in the early 70's my family vacationed a couple of summers at Henryville House. We'd stay in the 2nd strip of units on the hill. I remember hanging out at the snack bar, pool, and evening entertainment like 'night at the races'. There used to be a pond on the other side of the highway where there was a rowboat tied up that you could take out. The dining room was all windows and they served great meals. In the main building, the entertainment director was always hanging around w/ideas of what to do. The owners at the time was a large family from Philly - lots of towheaded kids.
Was visiting the area this weekend and passed by. It was sad to see the present site. It was a lively place in its heyday.
i was a waiter and musician at the Henryville House during the summer of 1973...it was my first gig and i visited the grounds a few weeks ago...sadly i don't stay in touch with anyone i knew then....Mrs. Parks? Karen Maloznick?
mikelewistpt@yahoo.com
was this the home of patrick henry?
I had actually broke in I climbed some scaffolding n went in threw a window into the dinning room it was absolutely beautiful even though it was graffiti n beat up by idiots u got the sense of loneliness when u were on the dining room u just felt sad like it was once so beautiful n had life n now just dead very sad the basement was kind of creepy the upstairs though felt like kids u could almost imagine pol running around n playing n just having a good time then leaving it's like u didn't wanna let go I wanted to buy the place so bad but of course I was just a kid :-(
the henryville house is still standing where it was back in the day and has not been torn down. i pass it everyday on my way to school
once again, in response to joe velardi's comment... the main hotel building HAS been torn down, back in 2002... there IS still some of the other out-buildings remaining on the property when last I was through there, including a large structure to the rear of the property... please refer to the new verses old satellite images above
1978 was the last year of operation for the Henryville House. I went there with a church youth group for a week-end in February that year. The following year we had to go somewhere else - Fernwood I believe, because it was closed.
There was snow on the ground when we were there and we used the ski slope for sledding. We would lay on the sled and grab the rope tow to catch a ride to the top. I went through two pair of gloves on that rope tow.
Our week-end included meals which we took in the main hotel. There was also a bar and a jukebox there as well. We did not stay in the main building. We stayed across the road and up the hill in the second set of motel rooms.
I just looked at the place on google earth. The two rows motel rooms are still there, but the main building is gone. The building left was behind the main building and was used to house summer help at one time - so we were told at the time.
1978 was the last year of operation for the Henryville House. I went there with a church youth group for a week-end in February that year. The following year we had to go somewhere else - Fernwood I believe, because it was closed.
There was snow on the ground when we were there and we used the ski slope for sledding. We would lay on the sled and grab the rope tow to catch a ride to the top. I went through two pair of gloves on that rope tow.
Our week-end included meals which we took in the main hotel. There was also a bar and a jukebox there as well. We did not stay in the main building. We stayed across the road and up the hill in the second set of motel rooms.
I just looked at the place on google earth. The two rows motel rooms are still there, but the main building is gone. The building left was behind the main building and was used to house summer help at one time - so we were told at the time.
My grandparents lived up the road within walking distance and I have many childhood memories of the Henryville House and swimming in the pool.
To the guy who said his house was next to the Henryville house,I too lived across the street from it on Rt715.Going to Barrett elementary I use to catch the bus with two brothers down at base of slope. Really like too know if this is you or your brothers.I now live in Atlanta. dougsinger54@yahoo.com
The Historic Henryville House building was razed in 2004. The annex building remains standing to this day. My family owns the house next door to the property. I stayed there every summer of my life until it closed for good in the early 1980s. I have a Facebook page dedicated to Henryville House called the "Henryville House Memories Page" that is accessible to all. The page has photo backup of my timeline. I miss the old place terribly...some of the best memories of my life. A sin it could not have been saved.
My father, 82 now & his parents vacationed there for 2 weeks each summer in his youth. I just saw pictures of the hay ride and the bar on the opposite side of the road. My father has very fond memories of his time there, it sounds like a relaxing place to have been!
My father, 82 now & his parents vacationed there for 2 weeks each summer in his youth. I just saw pictures of the hay ride and the bar on the opposite side of the road. My father has very fond memories of his time there, it sounds like a relaxing place to have been!
I just found this site and I am very sad to see that Henryville House has been gone for sometime now. When I was twelve years old back in 1971 I spent a week with my parents, brother, and cousins. I remember that vacation like it was yestersay. I remember the working farm, the livingroom which was very cozy, the diningroom being very spacious, the swimming pool and this little kitten that I fell in love with. I would play with the kitten for hours and then before we left someone told my parents that the kitten was accidentally run over by a car. I was heartbroken.
Anyone found trespassing on the property will be prosecuted.
PROPERTY IS UNDER 24 HR. SURVILLENCE
lol... so true... and you get a wonderful view from the very public post office parking lot... lift remnants next 2 parking lot... it's a field, not fort knox
Hey Nick, I tried to find that page on facebook and could not find it. Did you re-name it by chance?
The main house has indeed been torn down. what you see now is the rear building, which to my understanding, was there to house employees. i grew up on timber hill, which is 3/4 mile from the house. as a teenager my friends and i used to break in their all the time during the night time. (night time because the caretaker was around 70 years old and was surely sleeping :) ) the house was very creepy, especially the basements. yes, basements. there were 3 that we found. all separate from each other. half of the second floor was torched, literally from one beam down. at the end of the torched half is the room where another maid was supposedly accidently killed due to her being strung in the temple by a door. the room had two doors that opened into each other. one from the hallway and the other from the adjacent room. according to the pocono ghost stories books. but indeed, these two doors did infact open into each other. the doors met in the corner of the room, which there was a mirror and a little shelf.
when you entered the house, from the rt 191 side, you entered into the ball room. you then walked into the reception area. then to the right was office space and the kitchen. to the left was the actual main door, which you entered on the rt 715 side. this was sort of a lobby area. where there was an entrance to one of the basements.( this is the basement where a maid supposedly hung herself again, according to the pocono ghost stories books) also in the lobby was a staircase to take you to the second and third floors. the other two basement entrances were located in the kitchen and on the outside of the rear of the building. the second and third floors were guest rooms. from the third floor you could access the attic which was also creepy. we used to bring unsuspecting friends in there in the middle of the night, take them to the top floor, then run out. leaving them stranded. oh the laughs we had. but in all reality the history of the house itself is amazing, 2 presidents have stayed their. mainly for the amazing fly fishing to be done on the stream across the street, rt. 191. there was a very nice pool. next to the pool was "the nut hut" , which was a snack bar. and to the right of that, where the post office is, was the ski hill. i take my kids sleigh riding there in the winter. and as of last winter (2012), the remnants of the rope pull is still there at the base. there is also a baseball field which is across from the house on the rt 715 side. that was still used when i was a kid for baseball practice. then across the street was a small lake or pond for swimming. the pond is gone, but the concrete "dock" with stairs for entering and exiting the pond is still intact and can be easily seen when you come to the end of rt. 715. anyone, myself included, who graduated from Pocono Mountain High school in 1997 - 1999 knows why the house was torn down. but this not the place to discuss that.
"PROPERTY IS UNDER 24 HR. SURVILLENCE"
oh, stop. im up there every weekend at my fathers house. i take my kids sleigh riding there in the winter. im not sure where your getting your info from, but that place is watched about as much as paint drying on a bench. if your ever in the area in the winter, stop by with a sled. that hill is awesome!!!! you can join the dozens of other people that enjoy it to this day.
and here is the facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/HenryvilleHouseMemoriesPage?hclocationtimeline
I went there for a couple of summer vacations as a young kid in 1969 and 1970. I remember the pool and the hayrides at night. I remember going fishing in the nearby lake. Nice summer vacation resort. Never heard of the haunting until I looked the house up recently just to see if it was still in operation.
Was this also known as Henryville Lodge? I recall spending a short time there during a winter of my youth in the '60's or '70's.
We stayed in one of the motel-type buildings, not the main lodge. I recall using the tow rope to get dragged up the hill on a single-blade sit-down ski sled with handlebars. It was like a ski bike. We were given box lunches (chicken) and I remember playing the Shoot-the-Moon game trying to move the steel ball up the steel rods. And who could forget the great Night at the Races where you got to pick your numbered wooden "horse" that advance by the roll of the die? Good memories!