Do You Know of the New York ‘Castle on the Hill?’
Just south of the Finger Lakes Region in a small village named Dansville, sits a castle with a very interesting and enchanting past.
Have you ever heard of the "Castle on the Hill?" It has gone by a few names over the past 150 years or so, like the "Dansville Castle," the "Jackson Sanatorium," "Our Home on the Hillside," Physical Culture Hotel," and a handful of others. The castle is now abandoned, but the videos and pictures try to piece together the history behind this magnificent building.
The first owner of the property was Nathaniel Bingham who believed in the healing powers of the springs and opened up the "Dansville Water Cure" in 1854. Unfortunately, it didn't catch on as well as he had hoped, and he had to sell the property. The castle then went through many owners and even burned down before being completely rebuilt by one of the owners.
The castle did have some prosperous times and was a go-to place for celebrities in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Even as the country was going through rough times during the Great Depression - The castle seemed to be thriving.
The good times had to come to an end, though. According to Only in Your State,
...A man by the name of William Fromcheck would go on to takeover the hotel until after a steady decline of visitors would force him to close the castle doors forever in 1971. This would be the last time the castle would be full of life.
Now the building is falling a part, but is still a reminder of the history in this area. You can see pictures of the castle (both as it was when it was open, and now) in the video below:
There is also a Facebook Page dedicated to the castle, which shares the latest news and pictures, and also pieces of its history. You can see that page here.
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