Kristin Poerschke of the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor sent some photos of the Mountain View Inn east of Greensburg. The property was bought recently and much of the historic hotel was demolished for a planned shopping plaza. Kristin’s picture might look like the same building as in this vintage postcard but it’s not; the original section was razed and only sections built in the past decade were retained.
The Mountain View Inn east of Greensburg, Pa., a long-time landmark along the Lincoln Highway, was sold earlier this year. Reports were that the new owners wanted to build a shopping plaza, and indeed, people have been writing about the inn’s destruction. Here’s a note from blog reader John: “the original section of the hotel has been razed. The only sections saved from destruction are those built this decade.”
The Pittsburgh Tribune Review reported last month that asbestos concerns had halted the dismantling following an auction of its all its contents. A state Department of Environmental Protection inspector “ordered the building secured until it could be examined to determine if asbestos is present. As a result, Altman dozens of successful bidders had to wait to collect their purchases.
Brothers James and Daniel Snyder …
purchased the property for more than $2.5 million after the inn, restaurant and bar closed in January. The real estate developers plan to raze part of the structure to make way for commercial development. The sale included the inn, 14 acres and a house on the property…. The hotel’s Mountain Laurel wing overlooking Route 30 will be retained as a 53-room lodge run by about 10 employees, according to plans presented this week to township officials.
I reported on September 2 about David McLane crossing the U.S. to document life in small towns along four major highways in the U.S. As he says on ohmynews.com, “It is NOT a survey but an attempt to come a fuller understanding of the land and the people which comprise significant parts of America but are typically un-represented by main-stream media. This is the third section and reports on traveling from San Francisco to New York City on the Lincoln Highway.”
ABOVE: Sueko and Dave, 49th Street & Seventh Avenue, New York City.
The final installment finds Dave and Sueko trying to make their way through New Jersey to New York City. Their transmission has other thoughts, but a friendly repair shop owners gets them on their way after a few days’ delay. Read all about it and see Dave’s beautiful photos HERE.
The Mansfield Ohio NewsJournal reports that the Ambassador Hotel will be razed.
At a sheriff’s auction last Friday, GRE Enterprises LLC turned in the sole bid for the landmark hotel at 191 Park Avenue West, the old Lincoln Highway.
The hotel went for its starting bid, $77,890 — exactly what the former owners owed on taxes.
A representative for GRE said, “We’ll take it down…. The old restaurant that used to be Buckeye Tony’s will stay. The rest of the lot will be cleared and put up for sale.”
The restaurant was also known as the Blue Dolphin in the 1960s when it was the Downtown Motor Lodge.
Looks like it might be another tough week to keep up with blogging — kids have the flu and I get more symptoms every hour. But here’s some cheery news (and a photo) from Jeff at Vintage Roadside.
Kelly & I are on a road trip from Portland, OR to Nashville, TN for the National Trust annual conference and we’re driving the Lincoln Highway across Wyoming & Nebraska. We’re writing our blog and visited the Black & Orange cabins today in Fort Bridger, Wyoming. We linked to your post about the cabins to give people more history about them.
Read their adventures at vintageroadtrip.blogspot.com/.
The Boulder Daily Camera has a nice story on the Circle Motel in Lafayette, just north of Denver on the Lincoln Highway’s Colorado Loop. Like many mid-century motels, it wavers between identies of classic architecture (it was once the Lafayette Cabin Camp) and a modern trouble spot. Preservationists want to preserve it as a symbol of city’s early highway history while critics consider it blight.
Kenneth Foote, a member of Lafayette’s Historic Preservation Board, said the motel on the edge of Old Town is the last building left that’s associated with the city’s early highway history….
“This building has outlasted its life span,” said owner Mike Macinko. “It should be scrapped. There’s infinitely more bad history here than good.”
The motel, one of the few options for those who don’t have the money for a down payment and don’t want a long-term lease, has long had a reputation for attracting drug dealers, sex offenders and others living on the edges of society….
Count former owner Phyllis McGlathery as a preservation proponent…. She became interested in the property’s history after receiving a letter from the National Park Service about the Circle Motel’s connection to the Lincoln Highway. A historic survey commissioned by Lafayette in 2008 described the Circle Motel as the “best example of properties related to the 1920s-1930s rise of the auto-related retail and service economy” in the city. According to the survey, the property represents the prominent economic role of the Denver Loop of the Lincoln Highway….
Macinko, the owner, said he’s not interested in applying for local landmark designation…. His plans include razing all the buildings and replacing them with small, energy-efficient apartments. In a nod to the motel’s lengthy history, he said, he would try to incorporate the look and feel of the place in a new design and keep the original cottage….
The article includes a history of the property and long list of criminal problems there in the past 5 years.
Colo, Iowa, city clerk Scott Berka wrote to say the Colo Development Group has decided to close the much-loved Niland’s Cafe. Friday was its last day open.
Berka wrote, “We will still rent the motel rooms through the development group office (641) 377-2238. We are studying possible alternative uses for the cafe. One suggestion has been to make it available for meetings and special events. We would also be receptive to the right party leasing the facility and keeping it as a cafe.”
I recently talked with Olga Herbert, director of the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor, about how the Ship Hotel constantly struggled with people stopping to take photos or use the restrooms but not buy anything. Costs to just stay open, let alone provide services, are a huge problem for roadside businesses. Olga adds:
I hear that all the time from Dunkle’s Gulf and Lincoln Motor Court. People love to stop for a snapshot, but then get gas at the BP and check into the Hampton Inn. In an effort to get more (and a younger Lincoln Highway fan base) we have begun a LHHC geocache. One of the sites is at Lincoln Motor Court. Geocachers and the Altizers [who own the motel] really enjoy it; feedback is posted on http://www.geocaching.com. It appears many have driven by Lincoln Motor Court and always wondered about it. Now they are stopping, meeting the Altizers and checking the place out. Hopefully, it will turn some adventure seekers into Motor Court guests.
There are a number of geocaches along the LH such as at the restored Coffee Pot nearby. Learn more about the motor court one HERE.
A couple first-person reports came in recently. First was a reader’s reply to this blog from Bonnie Metzler:
Just visited there 8/7/09. Loaded with nostalgic charm and spotless! Glass doorknobs, vintage lace curtains and bedspreads-SIX pillows on my bed and bedside plate of mints. Windowbox full of flowers, complete with friendly owner critters-cat came in to nosey around my cottage! Old fashioned tile bath w/porcelain fixtures and fabulous old wooden window. Cable TV, microwave, mini frig, and coffee pot plus glass mugs. Only drawback was Route 30 is noisy even late night if you sleep light. Will find a reason to return! Owners were friendly and accommodating!
Also, NY LHA Director Jerry Peppers writes:
We just stayed overnight in Bedford at the Lincoln Motor Court. The LMC is a true 1920s era experience, including the Altizer’s 1920s era hospitality. The cozy cabins are tastefully updated but the quality of construction from that era is still very apparent. Don’t worry about the lack of air conditioning, even in mid-August. The crisp mountain air had us scrambling to get under a blanket!
We also ate at the Jean Bonnett Tavern and saw Dunkle’s Gulf, which are in your book. Bedford has street concerts Friday nights in the summer in the center of town; you lose sight sometimes just how friendly people are. After visiting Sue’s hometown in Ohio we picked up the LH in East Liverpool and drove it, including Cindell Street, to Canton. We stopped at the Hot Dog Shoppe in East Liverpool and the Steel Trolley Diner in Lisbon (both in your book) and at Bob Lichty’s auto showroom in Canton. I have autographs in your book from the places where we stopped.
Articles in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (#2 here) and Post-Gazette report that the new owners of the Mountain View Inn plan to raze the 85-year-old portion of the historic hotel and will reopen the 59 rooms in the newer section as Mountain View Village.
The developers who bought the 14-acre site also plan a strip mall on a vacant parcel on the property with a restaurant, dry cleaner, bakery, and drive-thru restaurant.
The inn opened in 1924 along the Lincoln Highway but closed in January when the bank placed the property in foreclosure.
At least three Lincoln Highway travelers have asked recently about the operating hours at the restored Niland’s Cafe in Colo, Iowa. I reported in my new Lincoln Highway Companion book that they were closed Monday — they are, and Tuesday too.
The cool cafe is open:
Wed thru Sat, 6:30 a.m – 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, 7:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Check www.colo-iowa.org for current hours by clicking the Reed/Niland Corner link at left, and then the cafe link. Don’t forget there are newly restored overnight rooms too.
Click the map above for a full-size view of the Lincoln Highway.
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Click the Greetings book below to purchase the ultimate guide to the history and route of the Lincoln Highway!
Another fun book! The Ship Hotel: A Grand View along the Lincoln Highway recalls the greatest roadside attraction along the coast-to-coast road.
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