Between Darkness & Light | Bernarr MacFadden Physical Culture Hotel

The Bernarr MacFadden Physical Culture Hotel has gone by many names over its long history and the building that still stands in Dansville today is not even the original. Better known to the local exploration community as the Castle on the Hill, this certainly was an interesting spot to explore from the beautiful views to the strange books found scattered throughout the property. As a Canadian I still managed to get here three times, once in fancy dress, and always enjoyed the quiet easy nature of the trip despite being a local sore spot.

Despite the name, the Castle on the Hill in Dansville had only a short period contextually under Bernarr MacFadden. His ownership and operation proved to be the most influential in the site’s history. It started in 1852 when Nathanial Bingham, a believer in “The Water Cure”, heard of a natural sulphur spring in Dansville, New York village. Bingham began constructing a hotel resort to take advantage of the spring’s perceived and believed healing powers. With his associate Lyman Granger, Bingham opened Our Home On the Hill in 1854, the central building of a four-storey wooden structure to house those seeking treatment. By the time the resort opened, Bingham was already in ill health and was seeking a buyer for his part of the operation; Lyman also sought to sell his share. Dr Abraham Pernell purchased both men’s shares in the resort and turned control over to his son-in-law, who wished to establish a water cure resort. But it did not yield the success, and both men divested themselves of the resort. Pernell would lease the building to Dr Caleb Jackson in 1858, with the option to purchase the resort after three years. Dr Jackson, a true believer in the water cure and, while short on capital, more than made up for it in ideas and force of character. Dr Jackson brought much more to the resort than the water cure, using diet and exercise as curative measures. Patients would eat a diet full of fruit, vegetables and grains; Jackson even developed his version of an unprocessed brain, which could only be consumed after being soaked in water. Jackson called this brain Granual; it inspired one of his associates, Dr John Kellogg, who used it as a base for his Granola in 1887. Granual, often paired with a caffeine-free coffee substitute, Soma, proved popular at the resort and the broader United States. Under Jackson, many improvements were made, including constructing additional buildings and several cottages. The resort proved a popular destination for the wealthy elite in the reconstruction era, with many travelling long distances to seek the cure-all promoted by Dr Jackson. In 1876, Dr. Jackson turned the operations over to his son, Dr. James Jackson and his wife, Dr Kate Jackson. It’s popular was proven that when disaster struck, there was no choice left but to rebuild. In the summer of 1882, a fire started in the main building caused by an overturned oil lamp; there were no deaths, but the entire main building was destroyed. The architectural firm Warner & Brocket of Rochester designed a new all-brick fireproof structure, with the first bricks being laid in October 1882 and the building opening precisely a year later. Reopening under The Sanatorium, the new main building stood five storeys tall and three hundred feet long. It took the new name, The Jackson Sanatorium, in 1890, and five years later, Dr Jackson passed away and left the whole fate of the resort in balance.

While the site continued to see success through the last decade of the 19th Century, the popularity of the water cure had started to wain by the turn of the new Century. However, there were still several such health institutes around the country, so to remain relevant, they opened a nursing school to train nurses to operate in these health clinics. Opening in 1902, the trainees would be tested in both their moral and practical skills. The training also included a two-month probationary period at the Sanatorium before moving on to other institutions. But it was little more than a stopgap. In 1914, the Sanatorium declared bankruptcy and was under a creditor committee’s control. There was enough reserve that allowed it to operate under the agreement until William Leffinwell purchased the resort in 1916. But in two years, the resort did not do well. When the United States declared war on Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire in August 1917, it began to prepare for World War One entry. In January 1918, the War Department seized the Jackson Sanatorium. It was renamed US Army General Hospital No. 13, designed specifically to deal with returning soldiers suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD, then known as Shell Shock). While the US didn’t officially enter combat until the Spring of 1918, the first soldiers were admitted in November. The hospital continued to operate well after the end of the war, closing in 1921. The building sat empty for the next three years until W.F. Goodale made it to reopen the Sanatorium. His involvement was quickly overshadowed by the arrival of Bernarr MacFadden in 1929. MacFadden had made a name for himself as a promotor and influencer in physical culture. Reopening the resort as the Bernarr MacFadden Physical Culture Hotel, he poured money into the facility, adding a swimming pool, social areas, and sunbathing rooms. Popularity again sored, despite the economic depression ravaging the United States, the wealthy, elite and celebrity all travelled to take part in MacFadden’s resorts in Dansville and across the United States. The hotel remained in operation until MacFadden died in 1955. William Fromcheck operated the hotel as the Castle on the Hill until he died in 1971. By this point, much of the physical culture fad had faded into the past but wasn’t completely gone, nor were Dr Jackson’s teachings. In 1977, William Dorne and Henry Foote purchased the property for the Christians Concerned for Human Needs. The goal was to open The Dansville Institute, an agriculture and Biblical Healing Centre focused on the teachings of Dr Jackson. So it was much to their surprise when, in 1978, during renovations, they opened up a sealed time capsule that contained all of Jackson’s published works, other writings, and various other things, including a trimming of his beard. While the history of the Institute is unknown, it is believed they operated out of the Castle until 1981. The resort sat empty, with taxes building up, and in 2002, it was sold at a tax auction to Peter Korg. Korg intended to restore the building as a medical centre and spa and secured some grants in 2008. While there were some attempts to clean up and secure the property, little was done until recently when some stirrings about a renewed effort came in 2023. Sadly, I haven’t seen anything further.

The first time I went to the Castle on the Hill, I fondly remember from one of the first Rochester UrbEx meetups, racing along I-390 in a convoy, even with a driver who had a radar detector to allow us a bit of extra warning if we were travelling too fast and warned us of a speed trap. You also never parked near the Castle; the road that fronted the hill was far too narrow, and the Castle is well known to locals who weren’t happy with its attention even in 2007. It wasn’t a long walk from the public park, but we also went close to sunset (all three trips), which gave off some beautiful light. But that first view of the location struck me at the size of the place and how easily we could wander up the trail and into the buildings. The building was surprisingly stable given its age, although there were some places that you didn’t want to walk too far. The main building was empty and clear of anything (most had been sold off in the 1970s). The real treat was the views from the roof, especially at golden hour, when the light is perfectly positioned. On this trip, the locals also showed us the one cottage filled with some of MacFadden’s books. The book A Man’s Sex Life was abundant (we all walked away with a copy; I kept mine for many years until it fell apart). Interestingly, the particular title does not appear on any list of his published works. On the second trip, we all dressed in fancy dress (not the British meaning), which was an exciting trip. I didn’t bring my good suit but got a second-hand one at a thrift store, so I wouldn’t want to ruin it. Only some people participated in the dress-up, but enough people did to make it all worthwhile. One of the best parts is that the location, despite being ‘watched’ by the locals, we never had a close call; no one ever got caught or injured.

If there is one phrase to describe my photography here, it’s golden hour. If there is one thing that the castle is good for, it is its position in the setting sun, casting some fantastic light during the golden hour. It was still reasonably early in my photography the first two times I went. Still, I had at least gotten past my use of bridge cameras. I was with my dSLR (D70s) and was starting to take full advantage of metering manually to capture that glow with a bit of work in post-processing. On the first trip, I focused mainly on the building itself, while on the second trip, was on the people I was with. Something I rarely did with my urban exploration work. But these are some excellent portrait works, especially when I was up on the roof, using a longer lens and shallow depth of field; it was also the first time that the 85mm f/1.8D showed up in my portrait photography. Interestingly, on my last trip, I shot all the films at the Castle, and all medium formats. Shooting a roll of Tri-X Pan, the 320 stuff, and a roll of slide film through the Rolleiflex. Looking through that event’s album, I see that I only shot Kodak film during the trip. I’m rather happy with the results I got here, the use of colour and manual exposure.

While writing this post, I took the opportunity to ‘explore’ Dansville through Google Maps. I wish I had taken some time to visit the downtown. A beautiful example of a small-town USA with beautifully restored 19th-century buildings. Sadly, the last time I passed through Dansville was on my way home from Washington, DC. I was on a tight timeline as I wanted to get home to spend time with my then-girlfriend (now wife) after being away for a week. But you never know when my travels will take me here again. I hope the restore sees restoration; it’s a beautiful structure that offers fantastic views from above the village; on the right day, you can even see it from the nearby Interstate. You can see all my photos from the Castle on the Hill over on Flickr.

Glossary of Terms
Hydrotherapy: Hydrotherapy, formerly called hydropathy and also called water cure, is a branch of alternative medicine (particularly naturopathy), occupational therapy, and physiotherapy, that involves the use of water for pain relief and treatment. The term encompasses a broad range of approaches and therapeutic methods that take advantage of the physical properties of water, such as temperature and pressure, to stimulate blood circulation, and treat the symptoms of certain diseases.

Physical Culture: Physical culture, also known as body culture, is a health and strength training movement that originated during the 19th century in Germany, the UK and the US.

Post-traumatic stress disorder: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that develops from experiencing a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on a person’s life or well-being. Historically PTSD has been referred to as Soldier’s Heart and Shell Shock.