The Astor House, located on the corner of Vesey and Broadway in Lower Manhattan, was New York City’s first luxury hotel. It opened in the mid-1830s and quickly earned a reputation of being the best in the country. But after others saw its rapid success, competitors started rising up all around it. In 1852, after The Metropolitan and Fifth Avenue Hotel opened its doors, it was just a matter of time until The Astor House lost its appeal and subsequently, the majority of its business.
The hotel was demolished in the early 1900s, but it inspired others around the world to strive for its excellence, hence the Astor House that’s alive and well in Shanghai today.
Buck Hill Inn, Poconos Mountains
The Inn at Buck Hill Falls was built in 1901 and thrived as the premiere vacation spot of the Poconos for several decades. Aside from the Inn itself, more than 125 cottages were built surrounding the resort community.
The ski area, along with events hosted at the hotel, attracted wealthy individuals from all over the world, including Walt Disney. But the oil crisis in the 1970s meant fewer and fewer people were willing to make the drive out the resort, and the owners were forced to sell. It operated for a while under new ownership until it finally closed for good in 1990 and was left to decay in its spot in the mountains.
Niblo’s Garden, New York City
Niblo’s Garden was once an incredibly popular theater on Broadway in New York City. It opened in 1834 and consisted of a beautiful garden with an open-air bar in the center of it, along with several theater stages for performances. P. T. Barnum’s first-ever show was thrown at this establishment.
Fires took down the building not once, but twice in the late 1800s, but it was rebuilt every time. The final time was by retail mogul A.T. Stewart. In 1895, the last performance of the venue took to the stage, and it was demolished not long after to make room for office buildings.
Rainbow Valley, Cavendish, Prince Edward Island
Rainbow Valley was a favorite amusement park among both tourists and Canadian locals alike for more than 30 years. The family-friendly park opened in the 1970s and remained in operation until 2005. Unique attractions included The Dark Ride, which took visitors on a boat ride during the rum-running days, and a flying saucer gift shop.
Today, the area is a natural conservation that has taken on a new name: Cavendish Grove. But people who visited the park won’t soon forget it. In fact, it was so popular that there was an entire documentary made about it in 2014.
Ocean Beach, Rhyl
The Rhyl area of Wales became a popular vacation spot when their train station opened all the way back in 1848. The Ocean Beach amusement park was open from the early 1950s until the early fall of 2007. Since the 1960’s, not much money was put into keeping up with the park and, thanks to the lackluster experience, people seemed to lose interest in it.
Then, in 2007, the owners of the park shut everything down. In 2015, redevelopment plans for the area were approved and there is a new leisure complex in the works. The new development is set to be a smaller type of leisure area with mainly retail storefronts.