The Grand Pacific Hotel, which
was built between 1830 and 1840, is believed to be the oldest commercial structure
still standing in both Olmsted Falls and Olmsted Township.
Originally located
on Lewis Road, it was built as a girls' seminary. It was moved across the river to
its present location in 1858, thirteen years before Bagley Road existed. Large
buildings were moved across rivers and lakes in the winter when the solid ice
could support the weight of the building and the logs it rolled on.
The first proprietor of an inn in
the building was Thomas Brown, who christened it with the grandiose name "The
Grand Pacific Hotel." Square dances were held on the third floor for several
years. In the years that followed, the hotel had many proprietors and names. One
of these names was Hotel DeCarpenter, after William S. Carpenter, who had
purchased the hotel in 1860. Under his ownership the hotel boasted a triple-A
rating in the unwritten stopover guide used by hobos, bums and freight hoppers,
with 420 transients checking into the hotel in just six short months between
October 1874 and April 1875. During that time, the Chamber of Commerce, trying
to attract new settlers to the area, had granted one night's lodging at the hotel
and one free meal to any transient who applied at the clerk's office.
This
much-abused hospitable gesture was brought to a halt. By 1876, Carpenter had
managed to net a small profit from his hotel career by throwing a masked ball in
the third-floor ballroom.
The hotel, which had become a
hardware store in 1888, closed its doors in the mid-1970's. The group of buildings
on the site fell into disuse, but remained intact. Interest in the building began
in the mid-1970's when The Grand Pacific Hotel was placed on the National Registry
of Historic Places. However, it was not until 1989 that Clint Williams, a longtime
Olmsted Falls resident and successful real estate entrepreneur, purchased the
entire site with the intent of restoring the buildings and making it again a
vital, bustling commercial area.
Today, the Grand Pacific Hotel is being used as a
banquet facility as it awaits it's next role in the history of Olmsted Falls. |