Minnewaska State Park Preserve. How did it happen? I have been curious for years about how Minnewaska came to be a park instead of a Marriott Resort. Locals knew it first as one of the many thriving hotels in the area. But Minnewaska went the way of so many other hotels during the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, closing and remaining semi-abandoned for several years.

Lake Minnewaska was named by Alfred Smiley upon its purchase in 1875. Although the native tribes here were the Munsees (derived from Minisink) which means roughly “at the island”, the name Minnewaska was taken from the Dakota, meaning Good Water.

Lake Awosting was named by the Munsee and is said to be an Anglicized version of a Munsee place name Aiaskawassing, roughly meaning a place “at the top" or "at the high place." An alternative meaning traces the name to the Lenape word òs'hakame, meaning "heaven" – given the lakes’ beauty, elevation and setting, either seems fitting.

Marc Fried's book Shawangunk Place-Names is the standard scholarly source on these etymologies if you want to dig deeper.

History of the Preserve

Kenneth Phillips, Sr. purchased Minnewaska from the Smileys in 1955. The acquisition included the two hotels, Wildmere and Cliff House, plus about 10,000 acres of land. He planned modernizations such as introducing alcohol service, which was a departure from the Quaker-run hotels' earlier policies, and building Ski Minnie.

By the early 1970s, New York State started buying up the land at Minnewaska – including about 7,000 acres including Lake Awosting – establishing a presence on the Ridge.

In 1978, the Cliff House, one of the hotels already closed at Minnewasaka, was destroyed by a fire. By 1986, both the restaurant at Ski Minnie, which closed in 1978, burned in 1981 and Wildmere, the second hotel, which closed to overnight guests in 1979, was also destroyed by a fire in 1986.

The Deal and Why It Died

The Ulster County Planning Board then recommended Minnewaska to the Marriott Corporation as a potential investment. Marriott subsequently requested that the county buy the 375-acre property so that they could lease it from the county and build a $45-million resort operation which was to include a 400-room resort hotel, 300 condominiums and an 18-hole golf course.

As that proposal stalled, Phillips, in 1980, entered into a partnership agreement with Marriott which involved Marriott's purchase of the property and operation of a resort based on the above plan.

In 1981 the DEC approved the hotel and condominium plan which also allowed for an increase in development if the Marriott could prove adequate ground water supply.

So what happened? Why did the deal die? Was it the rumored explanations of endangered species at the lake, the water rights that were (or were not) retained by the Smileys, the persistent and well-organized local activism, the late knowledge that the lake was fed by rain water and was not spring fed? A combination?

The fact is, the water won.

If you were in the area when this announcement was made, it is fair to say that all hell broke loose and a genuine grassroots fight began. The DEC’s decision was challenged by several environmental groups including Citizens to Save Minnewaska, Catskill Center for Conservation, Friends of Minnewaska, The Sierra Club, Scenic Hudson, the National Audubon Society, Sloop Clearwater, Appalachian Mountain Club, etc.

The Phillips development partners then hired their own hydrologists. The DEC hydrologists and the private firm went back and forth about how quickly the lake could recharge, were it to be used as a water supply for the planned development. Ultimately the lake was found to be inadequate as a water supply without a significant drop in lake level which would eventually destroy the lake.

The environmental coalitions argued that the development (the golf course especially) would violate existing conservation easements and that the area simply didn't have the water to support it. It took about six years of legal battles, fundraising, and benefit concerts before a federal appeals court ruled the golf course would violate the easement terms. This effectively killed the deal with Ken Phillips. The Marriot, tired of the legal battle and the significant costs accrued, withdrew in 1985.

During this time, with the Marriott proposal still in the works, Phillips met with Parks Commissioner Nash Castro and Ken Krieser, Superintendent of the Palisades Region of Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, to suggest a plan for condominiums and a fitness inn with the State having development rights except for the inn and a four-season day park. The State rejected the plan.

With the Marriott deal dead, Phillips was given three months to complete a deal. But that didn’t stop Ken Jr. who entered into conversations with possible backer Zuckerman and Knickerbocker Associates of "Canyon Ranch" fitness spa which was also fought and ultimately died.

By the fall of 1985, Castro, The Nature Conservancy, the Open Space Institute, and Ken Phillips Sr. agreed to a deal for the state to acquire the property with financial details to be settled. But time ran out for Phillips and with no way forward the state initiated eminent domain in November of 1985 and completed the purchase in 1987. The early incarnation of the present day Minnewaska State Park Preserve (24,000+ acres) was born with the creation of Minnewaska State Park (11,000+ acres), ending the battle over the lake and property. In 1993, Minnewaska State Park was designated a State Park Preserve, further protecting its lands and waters.