Plattekill

Historic marker tells the story of Las Villas

By Alan B. Crawford
Posted 10/15/20

On October 4, at the Thomas Felton Community Park in the Town of Plattekill, a dedication ceremony was organized by the Plattekill Historical Preservation Society. The purpose of the event was to …

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Plattekill

Historic marker tells the story of Las Villas

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On October 4, at the Thomas Felton Community Park in the Town of Plattekill, a dedication ceremony was organized by the Plattekill Historical Preservation Society. The purpose of the event was to dedicate an historic sign that commemorates the once thriving Hispanic resort industry known as Las Villas.
The event took place at 1 p.m. at the outside pavilion in the park and was hosted by Ismael “Ish” Martinez Jr., PHPS board member and author of “Las Villas of Plattekill and Ulster County”. The event was well attended, with Covid-19 protocols in place. Among the attendees were State Senator James Skoufis, Ulster County Sheriff Juan Figueroa and Town of Newburgh Historian, Alan Crawford. More than a dozen family members of former villa owners were also in attendance to witness the event and to honor the hard work and dedication of their families. The sign was obtained by the PHPS as a result of receiving a grant from the William G. Pomeroy Foundation. A raffle was held for a beautiful arrangement of flowers, donated by the Verplanck Garden Club. The winning ticket for the raffle belonged to Ada Rivera. All Proceeds from the raffle went to the Plattekill Historical Preservation Society.
Las Villas were a chain of summer resorts, hotels and restaurants that existed in the decades between 1910 and 2000. The first of these resorts is believed to have been La Perla de Cuba in Stamford, New York. Cubans had been visiting the area prior to 1910 and by 1914, they had established this resort hotel. A larger group of villas developed in Ulster County and by the 1920s, Spanish immigrants in New York City and its environs felt the need to relocate to more rural surroundings as in the Town of Plattekill and along the Route 28 corridor. They wanted to get back to their roots and to escape the often crowded and unwholesome conditions that existed in many of the larger cities around that time. 
The Hudson Valley town of Plattekill and in fact, most of Ulster County, was primarily a region of hundreds of small private apple orchards and dairy farms that were exactly the types of properties they were seeking.
Though these villas were mostly owned by Spanish immigrants and Puerto Ricans from New York City, they also catered to Cuban, Dominican, South American and other ethnic groups from the Hispanic communities of the Metropolitan area. These vibrant and eclectic villas included both large and small establishments. The “Golden Era” of Las Villas spanned over 60 years at which time it was the destination of choice for a great many Hispanic families. Just as many other European immigrants had done at the turn of the 20th century, Spanish immigrants had come to America searching for jobs, greater opportunities and a better life and future for their children. Some of the Spanish villa owners like Alejandro Rodriguez of the Villa Rodriguez, had been cigar makers in Cuba, and Ybor City, Florida before settling in Plattekill.  By most accounts, Alejandro was the first Spaniard to buy a working farm in the Town of Plattekill and transform it into a villa.

Many villas were soon to follow in Plattekill and in other Hudson Valley towns like the Town of Newburgh, Phoenicia, Rifton, Allaben, Shokan, Shandaken, Ellenville and Stamford.  The three villas that resided within the Town of Newburgh were, Villa Clara, Villas Vieques and El Cortijo, later called Villa Calderon. At first, like many other villa owners, Alejandro operated primarily as a farm and supplemented to it by taking in summertime tourists.  Most of the villas operating as both a farm and a villa, eventually put all their energies into operating exclusively as villas. Their guests liked the fact that they could find in these resorts the authentic Spanish food and music they cherished. The accommodations in the early years were basic and simple but they were also very affordable.
Another appealing aspect of the villas for most families was that it was a relatively short drive by car of about an hour or two from New York City. These summertime resorts could also be reached by some combination of train, car and boat. By the late 1940s and early1950s, a sizable number of Hispanic families, mostly Puerto Ricans began to relocate to Plattekill from New York City.
They found the area to be a desirable place to live after having vacationed there themselves. Some of these families started up villas of their own or purchased villas that had previously been owned by Spaniards. Much like the Spanish, the Puerto Ricans who relocated to the region were attracted to the area because the bucolic setting and the natural beauty of the terrain which reminded them of their beloved island. What was once a popular area for boarding houses that served as residences for the locals and provided rooms for summer guests eventually became a Mecca of Spanish and Puerto Rican resorts.
By the 1960s, Puerto Ricans were the most prevalent group visiting Las Villas and during these years tourism peaked and became a thriving industry. The increase in visitors to the villas also added much more traffic than small towns like Plattekill had ever seen. On summer weekends the influx of tourists would quadruple the town’s population. Not only were there more cars traveling bumper to bumper along the small winding back roads that led to the various villas but there were also a great many chartered buses called jiras, that added to the congestion on the roads. The jiras were organized by agencies and other social groups who sold tickets to individuals or groups of people. The price of the ticket included a bus ride to the villas, free live music and a hearty meal, usually consisting of arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas), lechon asado (roasted pork), tostones (fried plantains) and a salad. Not all villas took in jira’s but the ones that did were able to offer many people a very popular and affordable way to visit Las Villas.
Other Hispanic groups such as Cubans, Dominicans, and South Americans also flocked to the region where the similarities in language, music, food and customs brought them together for enjoyable excursions and memorable family vacations. Some people chose to return to the same villa year after year and became loyal customers, while others preferred to go “villa hopping” and chose to visit multiple villas in the course of a day or weekend. Some vacationers preferred certain villas because the peace and quiet of the surroundings allowed them to unwind and relax while other villa goers sought a more active experience and found that a variety of activities like picnicking, swimming, boating, horseback riding, movies and other recreational sports were available at some of the villas.
The region became so popular during the 1960s and 1970s that a number of articles appeared in the New York Times detailing the activities at Las Villas and referring to the area as the Spanish Alps or the Puerto Rican Alps because of the Spanish influence and its proximity to the Catskill Mountains.
In the 60 years or more of their existence, 40 to 50 villas entertained tens of thousands of guests from the Tri-State area. With the growing trend in the 1980s of affordable fly away vacations and the younger generation seeking other forms of recreation and entertainment, Las Villas became less popular and interest waned, such that by the year 2000 only a couple of villas remained in operation.
This is now a bygone era of a vacation destination for Hispanic families that had not existed in this country prior to this time. Based on how the villas came to be, makes it highly unlikely that we will ever see anything quite like it again. The history of Las Villas is not only a part of the history of Plattekill and the Hudson Valley but it’s also a part of the history and culture of every one of the Hispanic groups that found their way to this cluster of distinctive villa resorts. The new sign will serve as a reminder to all who see it, that this area was once the scene of an energetic group of resorts that brought an economic boom to the area and provided Hispanics with the ability to visit multiple, scenic rural setting, where they could enjoy sharing their language, music, food and customs with people of similar cultures.