Buildings

The Frere Hall built in 1864, contains a large reading room and a library with a large and well chosen collection of books. The hall is given to the Mahabaleshwar Club at present. The Petit Library has also a good collection of English, Marathi and Gujarati books and dailies. The library has  a billiards hall. The Mahabaleshwar club, the Parsee Gymkhana and the Hindu Gymkhana offers courts for tennis and badminton. Table-tennis and card games are also popular among the Parsee Gymkhana visitors. The Hindu Gymkhana affords similar facilities and the tournaments on its tennis courts constitute an annual feature of Mahabaleshwars seasonal sports. Fishing, trekking, hunting and boating are another group of sporting facilities. The Morarji Gokuldas General Hospital near the Petit Library and the Manekbar Gangabai Hindu Sanatorium afford medical facilities. There are three primary schools at Mahabaleshwar, two Marathi and one Urdu; and a high school viz. The Makharia High School. The Sarvodaya Kendra, Mahabaleshwar established in 1949 aims at an all round development of the area. The Kendra works in a number of fields viz. bee-keeping, spread of  education and literacy, building of roads and wells and providing medical aid and water supply. The Wheat-Rust Station on the Sasson Road is sponsored by the Department of Agriculture, in 1942. It is doing valuable work in the development of disease resisting varieties of wheat. There are three Inspection Bungalows at Mahabaleshwar. There are three apiaries at Mahabaleshwar on run by the Khadi and Village Industries Board and the other two viz. Madhu Kosh and Madhu Sagar run by co-operative societies. Mahabaleswhar honey known for its quality is in great demand in the adjoining areas. There are two mosques at Mahabaleswhar. The Christ Church originally built in 1842 is near the hospital. The Roman Catholic Church is adjacent to the Petit Library and the American Mission Church is on the old Mahabaleshwar road. About sixty yards to the west of the Christ church is the Beckwith monument 4558 feet above sea level and reached by a bad stony path. It is a plain obelisk about thirty feet high and was erected from public subscription at a cost of Rs 3000. Sir Sidney Beckwith died here in 1831 while commander-in-chief. The subscribers put up an inscription and Lady Beckwith sent out another on a marble tablet. The influence of weather on marble rendered the second inscription almost illegible as early as 1843; the first inscription remains comparitively uninjured though the writing is much obliterated and blackened and can only be read with the greatest difficulty. For several years the monument has been regarded as sacred by the poorer classes, who resort to it for the purpose of obtaining answers to prayers. The first inscription on the west face runs :

"Sacred to the Memory of
Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Sidney Beckwith, K.C.B.,
Governor and Commander-in-chief of Bombay, and Colonel of
His Majesty's Rifle Brigade;
who, after along course of distinguished service, expired at his Residence on these Hills, on the 15th day of January
1831, aged 60 years.
Erected by a small circle of his friends in testimony of their admiration for his noble character and to perpetuate the memory of so good and amiable a man."

The other inscription on the east face runs :

"This Tablet is placed by Mary, Lady Beckwith, daughter of the late Sir William Douglas, of Kilhead, Bart as a memorial of the most devoted affection for her lamented husband, by whose sudden death she has been deprived of a most attached partner and friend and guide, in whom was combined every amiable quality by which the Christian character is adorned, and the intercourse of domestic life is endeared-a loss which can only be alleviated by the hope that looks beyond the grave. The sympathizing friends who erected this monument have kindly permitted a sorrowing widow to add her heartfelt tribute to their."

About 700 yards south-east of the obelisk on the left of the road leading to Lodwick Point is the cemetery canopied with the shade of many trees. It is well kept and contains several notable monuments.