LEW BEACH, NY — Let’s take a trip back in time to, say, September 1, 1914.

The place? Lew Beach, NY.

Tucked into the wooded corner where Sullivan, Delaware and Ulster counties meet—and once known as Shin Creek—the little hamlet has since been named in honor of U.S. Congressman Lewis Beach (1835-1886).

The Beaver Kill flows, fish and trees are plentiful, and the timber industry thrives.

True, on a global scale, things are a mess on this day thanks to the Great War. Witness a sampling of headlines from the Sun newspaper out of New York City:

“FRENCH LEFT BEATEN BACK TOWARD PARIS, WAR OFFICE ADMITS; GERMANS SAY THEY HAVE CUT OFF ENGLISH FROM THEIR BASE”

“BALKAN STATES READY TO UNITE AGAINST TURKEY”

And though the United States won’t officially declare war until April of 1917, the situation in Europe is obviously unsettling, even for those in peaceful Lew Beach.

Still, for Ann Backman, there is work to be done and life to be lived.

Born Ann Elizabeth Hoyt on August 22, 1848 in Denning, NY, Ann has just turned 66. Her father, Harvey W. Hoyt, was said to have been partly descended from Native Americans, though he’d kept that quiet outside family circles. Her mother—Gertrude Fisher—was a native of Germany.

By 1900, Ann and her husband of 25 years, John George Backman, are living in the Town of Rockland. Together, they have five children—though they’ll lose their 27-year-old son William in 1909.

John himself will pass in August of 1911 at the age of 61.

Ann Backman keeps busy—very busy, since she’s the owner of the old Lew Beach Villa.

She is also my great-grandmother.

The Lew Beach Villa has been in Backman hands since at least 1904, when John came into possession. (At the time, it featured the name “Anson Barnhart.” The Barnharts are a prominent family in the Beaverkill Valley.)

Following John’s death, John and Ann’s son Fred—along with his wife, Nettie—inherited the property. But by January 31, 1912, the Villa—now called the Hotel Hiawatha—reverted back to Ann.

So, it’s September 1, 1914. Ann—stocky and bespeckled, with her windswept hair tied back—is the proud owner of the old Lew Beach Villa, appraised at $300, and with a school tax bill amounting to $5.10. (My husband Fleck, who cares about such things, says that—adjusted for inflation—these amounts are equivalent to just shy of $7,000 and just north of $150 at this writing.)

Today—thanks to my mom, Carol Simons, who lovingly preserved a number of period photos—it’s possible to piece together a glimpse of what life was like in Lew Beach for the Backmans.

To begin with, they were a large but tightly-knit family, never too busy to pose for pictures. (Some of these were taken by Otto Hillig, the German immigrant who famously built Hillig Castle in Liberty, NY out of river stones in 1937.)

We can also confidently say that the Backmans enjoyed being outdoors. Many photos were taken of the family hunting, fishing and tooling about in their vintage cars. They also swam and hiked around the streams and waterfalls.

And did they love animals—especially their dogs! There are a large number of sepia-toned photos proudly immortalizing their favorite canines.

Of course, there are pictures of the hotel itself, a large, wooden, three-story structure complete with prominent gables and a spacious front porch. Inside, guests would be cordially greeted, and were encouraged to refresh themselves with a drink or two at the fully-stocked bar, which featured Lion Ale.

In all, the pictures show a busy and happy family enjoying all of the natural wonders that Lew Beach embodies.

Sadly, my great-grandmother Ann died on December 9, 1919 at the age of 71. She had obviously been the matriarch of the family, and would be sorely missed. She was buried in the Lew Beach Cemetery next to her husband. They remain at rest there to this day.

Following Ann’s death, Fred and Nettie once again inherited the hotel and grounds. But in late December of 1924, they sold the hotel and all related properties to one Max Simons.

Born Markus Simkowitz in Austria-Hungary, the 41-year-old Simons had come to the U.S. in 1899 and became a naturalized citizen in 1905. Initially residing in New York City—and later working as a cab driver—Simons was then living in Scranton, PA.

Simons seems to have bought the property in order to flip it, since the best available evidence asserts that it was sold less than three months later (March 16, 1925). Max also hit it off with Ann’s youngest daughter Cora, eventually marrying her in July of 1928. They settled in Scranton, where Cora gave birth to my Aunt Ann in 1931, and to my father Jack in 1932. (Years later, Cora’s sister Kate gifted my dad with a car… on the condition that he take her and Cora blueberry picking in Lew Beach once a year. My dad happily complied.)

Meanwhile, the hotel remained open for business. In the 1940s, it was known as the Lew Beach Villa. By 1971, it had been renamed the Beaverkill Valley Inn. (Not to be confused with the current Beaverkill Valley Inn, located on 60 acres at 7 Barnhart Rd. in Lew Beach, which is a totally different structure. Built in 1895, it was originally called the Bonnie View Inn.)

Tragically, on April 13, 1971—a windy Tuesday—disaster occurs. Just before 12 noon at the Lew Beach Hotel—right across the street from the Beaverkill Valley Inn—Margaret Hourigan, 64, attempts to start a gas-fueled clothes dryer.

Unfortunately, it explodes.

Immediately, the hotel is a blazing inferno. Margaret, who owns the place with her husband Edmond, is severely burned. (Sadly, she dies in a Cooperstown hospital three days later.)

Then, an unlucky wind blows the flames 35 feet across the street, where they touch off the Beaverkill Valley Inn. It, too, is quickly engulfed.

But that’s not all.

Eight other buildings are hit hard, including the post office, an old mill, at least two private residences and a garage.

Responding Lew Beach firefighters are quickly overwhelmed. Distress calls are frantically made. Responding units from Livingston Manor, Roscoe, Rockland, Liberty and White Sulphur Springs are astonished by the carnage.

“The heat was so intense that it set fire to firehoses and the pavement of the roads adjoining the burning structures,” Catskill Mountain News will later report. “The Lew Beach fire truck, which had been placed in Shin Creek, was blistered and had to be cooled with streams from other fire companies, which had been called to the tiny community.”

The historic Lew Beach Villa, once owned by my family, burns to the ground, leaving the current proprietors, Caroline and Emil Friedank—as well as their six children—homeless.

Historians Joan Powell and Irene O’Keefe Barnhart describe the event as being, “Without a doubt, the most horrific fire in the district” (Powell and Barnhart, p. 290).

More than 50 years later, longtime residents haven’t forgotten.

And though the hotel hadn’t been family property for more than 45 years, we Backman descendants were profoundly sad to see it so thoroughly destroyed.

But we still have the beautiful pictures of the family and the hotel in better times. And the Backmans’ obvious love of nature—the streams, the hills, the waterfalls and the animals—is alive and well in those of us who share their bloodline today.