New Haven COUNTY · Faith & community
Explore John Greco’s miniature biblical landscape on Pine Hill, its closure and restoration, through an early-1960s photographic postcard and clearly dated later photographs.
Historical focus · 1956–1986, with later views through 2022
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Early 1960s
A color photographic postcard shows the Holy Land USA hillside sign, cross and miniature buildings.
Unknown photographer / Wikimedia Commons
Public domain in the United States because copyright was not renewed, according to the Wikimedia Commons file record. Reproduced without alteration.
Original source · Reuse termsFebruary 19, 2012
A stone entrance arch marked Jerusalem, with leafless trees and overgrowth beyond it.
Matthew Filipowicz / Flickr
CC BY 2.0. Source-provided web-size JPEG reproduced without alteration; credit the photographer and link the license.
Original source · Reuse termsFebruary 19, 2012
A weathered red-and-white miniature building labeled Herod’s Palace, with other models on the hillside behind it.
Matthew Filipowicz / Flickr
CC BY 2.0. Source-provided web-size JPEG reproduced without alteration; credit the photographer and link the license.
Original source · Reuse termsFebruary 19, 2012
Small buildings cover a rocky slope above a dark gated opening at Holy Land USA.
Matthew Filipowicz / Flickr
CC BY 2.0. Source-provided web-size JPEG reproduced without alteration; credit the photographer and link the license.
Original source · Reuse termsFebruary 19, 2012
Three crosses stand above a rocky hillside under blue sky at Holy Land USA.
Matthew Filipowicz / Flickr
CC BY 2.0. Source-provided web-size JPEG reproduced without alteration; credit the photographer and link the license.
Original source · Reuse termsFebruary 19, 2012
A painted relief of figures seated at a long table beneath a worn wall at Holy Land USA.
Matthew Filipowicz / Flickr
CC BY 2.0. Source-provided web-size JPEG reproduced without alteration; credit the photographer and link the license.
Original source · Reuse termsFebruary 19, 2012
Damaged model buildings, roof sections and other fragments at Holy Land USA in February 2012.
Matthew Filipowicz / Flickr
CC BY 2.0. Source-provided web-size JPEG reproduced without alteration; credit the photographer and link the license.
Original source · Reuse termsFebruary 19, 2012
A brick-colored gateway with a small Holy Land sign and a metal gate beneath its arch.
Matthew Filipowicz / Flickr
CC BY 2.0. Source-provided web-size JPEG reproduced without alteration; credit the photographer and link the license.
Original source · Reuse termsMay 26, 2011
The pale steel cross rises above trees on Pine Hill, photographed in 2011.
GrammarFascist / Wikimedia Commons
CC BY-SA 4.0. Source image reproduced without alteration; credit the photographer and link the license.
Original source · Reuse termsDecember 20, 2022
White miniature buildings stand on a rocky, brush-covered hillside beneath clear blue sky, photographed in December 2022.
Cc3339 / Wikimedia Commons
CC BY-SA 4.0. Source-provided web-size JPEG reproduced without alteration; credit the photographer and link the license.
Original source · Reuse termsFOLLOW THE ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHS
Continue exploring photographs and documents in the archives that hold them. These links open external collections, with their own image credits and reuse terms.
1985 and 1989
Explore 10 photographs by Seymour Rosen from 1985 and 13 by Robert Foster from 1989 in the preservation archive’s viewer. These early post-closure views add context to the later gallery here.
Seymour Rosen / SPACES; Robert Foster / SPACESTHE STORY BEHIND THE PHOTOGRAPHS
Local attorney John Baptist Greco developed Holy Land USA on Pine Hill, turning a Waterbury hillside into a place for Christian storytelling and reflection. CTHumanities dates the project’s beginning to 1956; the organization’s own website dates its public opening to 1958. Those dates describe different stages of its development. The early-1960s photographic postcard in this collection records the attraction during its original era. [1] [2] [3]
Greco’s biblical landscape included miniature interpretations of Bethlehem and Jerusalem. The SPACES preservation archive documents an environment assembled from concrete, lumber, scrap metal, plastic, wire, purchased statues and discarded mannequins. These varied materials were part of its character. The dated 2012 photographs reveal small buildings, arches and religious imagery after years of exposure; they are records of surviving features, not photographs of the attraction at its mid-century peak. [4]
Holy Land closed in 1984 as Greco’s health declined. After his death in 1986, the property passed to the Religious Teachers Filippini, and weather and vandalism continued to damage the site. Preservation efforts have a documentary history of their own: SPACES lists correspondence, petitions and other material from the late 1980s. Its linked photo archive preserves views made by Seymour Rosen in 1985 and Robert Foster in 1989. [3] [4]
The landmark’s cross changed over time. The official history records a steel replacement in 2008 and a color-changing LED cross in 2013. Neil O’Leary and Fred Blasius purchased the property in 2013, and Holy Land reopened in September 2014 while restoration continued. The 2011 and 2022 photographs belong to this later history. They document particular moments and should not be read as a current condition report. [1] [3]
Download this collection’s notes, timeline and image credits. Photographs link to their original archives and require an internet connection.
Building dates and photograph dates are recorded separately. Later photographs are identified in their captions; unknown exposure dates remain unknown. Follow each image’s credit and reuse terms.
