Driving along the I-390 in the summer you can see it's red brick against the green of the Dansville hillside. It's harder in the fall. I went here for the first time in November 2007 then again in July 2007. It never ceases to amaze me.
The property has access to natural hot springs which made it perfect for a health spa so in 1854 the Jackson Sanatorium opened its doors. But in 1882 the main building was destroyed by fire, so the new building was completed in 1882 (the building that currently stands on the Dansville Hillside)
The Sanatorium was dubbed "The Castle on the Hill"
By 1914 Jackson was bankrupt and bought out by the Government which used it to house returning soldiers from the 1st World War.
This continued until 1929 when the orignal Health Nut Bernarr MacFadden purchased the property to turn it into the Bernarr MacFadden Physical Culture Hotel. The spa offered various treatments, rest, and relaxation.
After MacFadden's death in 1955 the property was purchased by a Hotel Man from New York, who proceeded to drive it into the ground with the doors closing forever in 1971.
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