Balanced impossibly atop a sheer sandstone escarpment above a sweeping valley of blue-green Catskill ridges, the massive caprock formation known as Sphinx Rock looms over a lone visitor — a woman in a light dress and hat — who shields her eyes to gaze upward, giving dramatic human scale to this wild geological wonder above Haines Falls, New York. The Catskill Mountains drew Gilded Age and early 20th-century tourists in enormous numbers, and Sphinx Rock — a naturally sculpted overhang above the Kaaterskill clove — was a signature attraction for hikers ascending from the grand hotels of the Mountain House era. Published by Charles W. Hughes of Mechanicville, N.Y., this hand-colored "Star Quality" card mailed in August 1919 carries a message addressed to Mr. Lewis in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, referencing the Catskill Valley and a leisurely outing — a vivid dispatch from the final summer of the World War I recovery era, when Americans were rediscovering domestic travel with fresh enthusiasm.