‘Vacationland’ vanishes in Amenia
Two brothers created a thriving resort community on the shores of Lake Amenia, and it all disappeared, lake included
Perhaps a cautionary tale for wannabe upstate entrepreneurs: Two brothers from New York City, Frank and Walter Beekman, travelled to Dutchess County, got drunk and bought half of the town of Amenia in the spring of 1927.
The brothers then set out to create “New York’s Vacationland” surrounding a body of water they renamed Lake Amenia, a one-and-a-half-acre freshwater lake that was dammed in the 1920s to power a nearby sawmill.
“Vacationland” opened in July of 1927, complete with an orchestra, fireworks and stunt plane with “Lake Amenia” written on its wings. That plane crashed into the woods later that weekend, sending the pilot to the hospital with minor injuries.
There was a dancehall, a floating stage in the lake, and camps and cottages dotting the shore of one of the earliest resort communities of the "Borscht Belt" era. That is until the stock market crash just two years later, in 1929, which forced the Beekmans to cease all operations. Frank moved out of state, and Walter continued to live on the shores of Lake Amenia.
But the stock market crash and the failing of “Vacationland” is not why Lake Amenia disappeared.
In August of 1955, Hurricane Diane flooded much of upstate New York, closing down train tracks and interstate highways.
The damkeeper of Lake Amenia, according to local lore, was drunk during the storm, and when he stumbled out to open the floodgates, he dropped his keys into the rushing waters. The dam failed, and Lake Amenia gushed into the community and drained into the Tenmile River. Soon after, town officials and residents agreed to not rebuild the dam and risk it bursting again.
In 1970, Walter sold the area that was Lake Amenia to the town for one dollar. Today, Beekman Park, named after the brothers, is a recreation park with several ball fields. A portion of the dam remains in the corner of the park.
Learn more about “Historic Tales of the Harlem Valley: Life at the End of the Line” with author Tonia Shoumatoff on Wednesday, August 16, 2023 at 6pm at The NorthEast-Millerton Library Annex in Millerton. Learn more + register.
