Site of the Mountain House School

Note the old stone wall along the north side of West Main Street. This small city property at the corner of Park Avenue and West Main Street is the site of the old Mountain House School, which backed up to the base of Mount William. Park Avenue was built after the school was demolished, as part of a WPA project. The four-story Mountain House School once operated as a hotel. Author Stephen Crane, who wrote the Red Badge of Courage, attended school here and his sister, Agnes, who was also an author, taught here. Stephen began going to school here in January of 1880, but left just weeks later in February, when his father, Jonathan Townley Crane, passed away and his family had to leave the parsonage in Port Jervis. After spending the rest of the winter and spring living nearby in New Jersey, Stephen returned with his mother to Port Jervis to live with his brother, William, at 21 Brooklyn Street. Stephen Crane continued school at the Mountain House School until 1883, when he and his mother moved to Asbury Park, New Jersey. Stephen Crane would later live with William at his house on East Main Street. It is believed Stephen Crane was inspired to write the Red Badge of Courage after hearing stories from veterans in Port Jervis. Crane also wrote a number of short stories, Whilomville Stories, which are based on Port Jervis.