Greetings from Lake Katrine, N.Y.
A small waterfall running downstream is depicted in the classic Catskills postcard titled “Greetings from Lake Katrine, N.Y.” Lake Katrine is both a lake as well as a small hamlet located north of the city of Kingston in Ulster County, New York. The community was once known as Pine Bush. Alphonso T. Clearwater described the area in his 1907 The History of Ulster County: “In the northern part is Lake Katrine, a handsome sheet of water, with private camps on the western side for those who desire relief during the season of heat, and farms and fruit gardens in the vicinity for the comfort and profit of its inhabitants.”
The lake was once guarded by a tollhouse worker named Katrine, affectionately known as “Aunt Katrine,” “Aunt Ren,” or Auntren. There was a boarding house at the lake with the name Lake Aunt Katrine House. In 1883 an advertisement state that “The house is in the midst of a beautiful grove. High and healthy location. Every facility for boating and fishing. Address PETER H. FELTON, Kingston, N.Y.” (Brooklyn Daily Eagle. August 17, 1883.)
An 1889 advertisement stated: “BOARDERS WANTED – LAKE AUNT Katrine House, situated on West Shore R. R., four and half miles from city; healthy location; lake of sixty acres; boating and fishing; no malaria; good board; reasonable. For terms apply to DANIEL SAGENDORF, proprietor (formerly of Pine Hill), post office box 185, Kingston, N.Y.” (The Brooklyn Citizen. June 3, 1889.)
The lake once had the name Auntrens Pond but over time both the lake and the hamlet became known as Lake Katrine. The lake feeds into the Esopus Creek. The lake area was the site of a number of summer boarding houses.
The postcard was published by Colourpicture Publication located at Boston, Massachusetts. It was never mailed.
