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The Resorts That Put the Mood in Moodus

The 'Catskills of Connecticut' was a regional vacation hot spot

By KEN SIMON

From the late 1800s through the 1960s, city dwellers flocked by steamboat, rail and later by car to numerous boarding houses, camps, cottage colonies and resorts in the Connecticut countryside.

 

Although there were many places in the western part of the state that attracted vacationers, it was the area around Colchester and Moodus that became the state’s unrivalled vacation destination.

 

In its heyday, during the 1940s and 1950s, Moodus was accurately called the “Catskills of Connecticut.” During the period from Memorial Day through Labor Day, visitors at the more than 30 vacation spots quadrupled the town’s population to about 20,000 people.

These billboards inold Moodu Center were sponsored by numerous local resorts.

The East Haddam village of Moodus was home to dozens of summer resorts in its heyday as "Vacationland," the largest vacation destination in Connecticut.

Area resorts specialized in either a Jewish or Christian (and in some case a Bohemian) clientele. Thousands of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe had settled in the area, often with the help of international relief organizations who gave grants to establish family farms. Many of the resorts evolved from these farms, whose families welcomed summer visitors -- first relatives and friends, and then strangers.

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Summer vacationers would often stay for a week or two or longer. Often mom and the kids would stay for the duration, with dad joining them on the weekends.​

This clip from Ken Simon's documentary, "Working the Land: The Story of Connecticut Agriculture," tells the story of how Moodus became a vacation mecca before highways and jets changed people's vacation habits in the 1960s. When local farmers began taking in guests in the 1920s, it was an early form of agri-tourism. Sam Waterston narrates.

Country air, simple accommodations, home-style (often ethnic) food, sports facilities, a camp for the kids and various organized entertainments were the main attractions. The larger the place, the more evolved the amenities. Banner Lodge was the area’s largest resort, with extensive facilities and shows by some of the country’s biggest entertainers.

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All of the resorts, however, offered a chance for working- and middle-class people to get away, to enjoy the fresh air, a pool, pond or river, some quiet time, and the opportunity to socialize with fellow vacationers.

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Starting in the 1960s, cheaper airfare and changing vacation habits doomed most of Connecticut’s country resorts. Most have been demolished; others have found new life as religious retreats, glamping venues, RV camps, and the like. A few hang on as family-oriented resorts, no longer catering to any specific ethnic or religious group, but still offering the classic rural Moodus vacation experience.

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For more on the Moodus resorts, read "The Connecticut Catskills" in Connecticut Explored magazine.

Resort Listing
Following are town resorts, cottage colonies, and camps known to have operated through the years.

NORTH MOODUS

  • Banner Lodge Founded by Samuel Banner (1920s); Owned by Jack & Ceil Banner, Claire & Lou Goldblatt, Flo & Irving Levowitz (1930s-1979).
    Property now Banner Lodge Estates and the Black Birch Golf Club, which closed 2024.

  • Grand View Hotel Founded by Harry Greenberg (1920s-1930s); Owned by Irving and Phyllis Pivnick (1930s-1970s); Became a basketball camp, then The Torah Institute (1980).
    Now GrandView Camping & Cottages (2014)

  • Greenberg's Farm/Stucco Cottages Founded 1920s; Owned by Mrs. Burke (1960s-1970s).

  • Gristmill Estates

  • Helman Leiber's Founded by Helman Leiber family (1940s-1960s)

  • Holiday House Founded by the Sam Fast family (1920s-1930s); Owned by the James Leiber family (1930s-1960s).

  • Mountain House/Weiner's Hotel Founded by Sam Schwartz (1920s-1930s); Owned by Jacob Schleifer (1930s-1940s); Owned by Milton & Pearl Weiner (1940s-1960s).

  • Orchard Mansion Founded by Morris Mager (1920s-1940s); Owned by Herbert Kabatznick family (1940s-1970s); Became My Father's House (1980s-1996).
    Now Adult & Teen Challenge New England. (2016)

  • Stein's Founded by the Harry Stein family (1930s-1960s); Owned by Rev. Moody (1960s).

  • The Pines/Dawn Lodge Founded by Alexander Goodwin and Herman Frankel (1920s-1960); Then owned by Charles Moore (1960)

  • Zavodnick's Founded by the Max Zavodnick family (1920s-1940s).

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BASHAN LAKE

  • Emma Budka's Camp Founded by Emma Budka family  (1920); Owned by Joe Mueller (1940).

  • Tony & Julia Budka's Founded by Julia Budka Karas (1930).

  • Demeter's Founded by Louis Demeter (1920-1950).

  • Kalat's Founded by Walter Kalat (1920s-1960s).

  • Kalista-Brozak Founded by the Kalista & Brozak families (1930s-1960s).

  • Rest Farm Founded by Mrs. Karas (1920s); Then owned by the Kaplan and Ondrisek families (1960s-1980s).

  • Scada's Founded by Mrs. Scada (1930s).

  • Shanaghan's Founded by Edward Shanaghan (1920s).

  • Turek's Founded by the Turek family (1920s-1970s).

  • Greenberg's Farm/Stucco Cottages (1920s-1960s) Owned by Mrs. Burke (1960s-1970s).

TOWN STREET

  • Breslow's Founded by Meyer & Morris Breslow (1920); Owned by Edward Cohen (1950).

  • Anton & Frances Wolf's/Leiber's Mansion Founded by the Frank Wolf' family (1920s-1930s); Owned by Joseph Leiber (1930s-1970s).

  • Wolf House/Wolf's Den Campground Founded by the Charles Wolf family (1920s-1960s).
    Now Wolf's Den (1960s).

 

LEESVILLE AREA​

 

OTHER or UNKNOWN AREAS

  • The Auster House (Falls Rd.) Founded by Phillip Auster (1930)

  • Camp Bethel

  • Camp Sokol (East Haddam) (1930s-1950s)

  • Camp Wopowog (East Hampton)

  • Moodie's Lodge Founded by Mary Lena Waller Moody (1960s).

  • Mt. Parnassas View (Mt. Parnassas)

  • Samuel's Farm (Hadlyme) Founded by Selig Samuels family (1920s-1960s).

  • Schleifer's  Founded by Sam Schleifer (1930s)

  • Shadybrook Hotel (Plains Rd.) Founded by the Kandell family (1920s-1940s); Owned by Morris Seidman family (1950-1969); then Speech & Impaired Child Camp (1970-1999).
    Now Nusantara Foundation Islamic Boarding School. 

  • Willow Manor (Rtes 149 & 151) Founded by the Sam Kleinberg family (1930s-1960s).

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