Pennsylvania Hotel Has a Long History of Spirit Activity

AltoonaMirror.com - The U.S. Hotel Restaurant and Tavern in Hollidaysburg not only has a rich and storied past as a central Pennsylvania landmark, it's also a mecca for ghost sightings and other paranormal phenomena - not the least of which is an ax-wielding apparition thought to inhabit one of the hotel's upstairs bedrooms.

"We have had ghostbusters from the Allegheny Mountains come in here on a regular basis, and they say there's definitely a poltergeist up there with an ax," said owner Karen Yoder. "I mean, of course you can believe what you want, but there are definitely ghosts out here."

And that bodes well for area ghost aficionados, because the U.S. Hotel will play host to a paranormal event from 5 p.m. Aug. 1 to 2 a.m. Aug. 2. that includes a buffet dinner, lectures by nationally renowned paranormal investigators Kristyn Gartland and Brian Stephenson, both members of The Atlantic Para-normal Society; demonologists John Zaffis and Adam Blai; psychic Chip Coffey, who stars on the TV shows "Paranormal State" and "Psychic Kids"; and a meet-and-greet session with the investigators.

Stephenson, 36, of Ridgefield, Mass., grew up in Lilly and graduated from Penn Cambria High School.

"Kristyn and I felt it would be a good opportunity not only to investigate the building, but to bring in some of the best investigators in the world to investigate the place," he said. "It just seemed like the perfect fit for us."

He said he's been fascinated by the hotel since he was a kid. Yoder, too, is anticipating the investigation.

"I'm really excited about it," Yoder said. "The five people coming all have incredible paranormal experience - they all have a great reputation. I think it's a great thing for the public and for us."

Yoder said she's seen her share of ghostly activity through her 16 years of owning the hotel.

"One time, I was showing the dining room to a customer who wanted to have a party there," she said. "As we were speaking, a fork flew off the table for no reason at all."

She also recalled seeing chandeliers swaying in the dining room, adding she could then "feel a cold breeze go by ... the hair on my arms stood up."

Manager Kim Clark-Yoder, 37, of Hollidaysburg also believes the hotel is haunted.

"There are things that happen here that are unexplainable," she said. "I've heard knocking sounds from inside the building when no one else was here, and I've seen things like glasses falling off shelves and the TV coming on for no reason. ... We've also had customers who've seen apparitions."

Zaffis, 52, from Stratford, Conn., conducted a paranormal investigation at the hotel years ago - and never forgot it.

"There was definitely a lot of spirit activity there," he said. "I have no doubt whatsoever that the place is haunted."

The investigation also serves as a promotional kickoff for Stephenson and Gartland's new Massachusetts-based company, Anomalie, which specializes in backpacks for paranormal investigation equipment.

"We started it back in September in 2008 because there was nothing at the time designed to carry this kind of equipment (things such as electromagnetic field cameras, infrared illuminators and thermal imaging cameras)," Stephenson said. "To my knowledge, this is the first company of this nature ever designed."

The hotel is not currently a functioning hotel, he said, adding the upper floors have been dormant for many years and the rooms have not been changed or renovated in any way - including beds and dressers.

"The entire hotel is very active, but the upper floors are said to be the most active areas of the building." he said.

Gartland, also from Massachusetts, said she was instantly taken by the hotel when she and Stephenson recently took a guided tour of the place, adding the building "has a huge potential to be haunted."

"It seems like there were a lot of murder-suicides in this place - a lot of tragedy," she said. "It's got a lot of history, and I'm just excited to go back."

But is that excitement tempered by fear?

"No trepidation," she said. "We wanna scare 'em back. We want to get this stuff documented - we want them to come out."

And all the investigators want the people in Blair County to come, too.

"I can't wait - it's gonna be a real high point for us," Stephenson said. "I know people are gonna be blown away not only by the presentations, but by the investigation itself."
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HISTORY OF THE U.S. HOTEL


After surviving Indian attacks and the upheaval of the American Revolution, the pioneer Adam Holliday built his homestead on the banks of the Juniata River. By 1796 Holliday had become prosperous enough to begin laying out a townsite on a gently sloping hill in this scenic river valley. There were still only a few houses and farms existing on the location when Adam's son, John, opened a "rude" tavern in 1814. The completion of the Huntingdon, Cambria and Indiana Turnpike in 1818 made Hollidaysburg a popular stopping place for travelers. Still, the town remained small; an 1830 census listed only 70 inhabitants.

The Pennsylvania Canal's completion in 1832 changed all that. Hollidaysburg was now open to trade with Philadelphia and the East, and two years later the Allegheny Portage Railroad connected the canal and Hollidaysburg with the Great American West. Hollidaysburg, as the western end of the canal system, was a vital link in the development of such important industrial cities as Johnstown and Pittsburgh.

At this point in history, 1835, the U.S. Hotel was conceived. John Dougherty built the Hotel to accommodate westward travelers with convenient food, lodging, spirits and as gaudily painted signs of the era denoted; entertainment for man and beast.

The U.S. Hotel and the town of Hollidaysburg were now in their heyday with the economic boom that directly related to the town being chosen as the terminal for transfer from the canal to the railroad that carried passengers and freight, via Foot-of-Ten, over the Allegheny Mountain summit. The iron industry boomed and cheap canal transportation kept business flowing with the waters.

In 1837, Hollidaysburg had 14 daily canal boat lines, and the Juniata Street basin was the center of warehouses for shippers and traders. This activity kept the tavern trade bustling and the hotel rooms full.

Hollidaysburg status as a national transportation center lasted only 20 years. With the completion of the Pennsylvania Railroad mainline in 1854, Altoona became the new hub of transportation. The original U.S. Hotel survived the "Canal Era" and remained intact, servicing the new railroad industry until the building was destroyed by fire on November 29, 1871.

In 1886, German immigrant Engelbert Gromiller, rebuilt the U.S. Hotel. A brewmaster by trade in his Bavarian homeland, Engelbert established a brewery in the building next door where the mules were previously housed. The Hotel was noted in a newspaper account of the day as having the best $1.50 a day house in the borough.

In 1905 the cut block barroom was added to the brick structure. This section is still the barroom today and boasts such original relics as a hand-carved mahogany back bar, beveled silvered mirrors, hand leaded stain glass windows and a brass foot rail, under which flows a still active water trough spittoon. This barroom operated continuously until prohibition.

During World War II, the Navy set up a radio school on the site, billeted men in the Hotel and used the tiled bar area as a shower room. When the Gromiller family sold the business in 1945, the bar was reassembled.

The Hotel changed hands several times in the next half century and began falling into disrepair. The deteriorating brewery had to be destroyed.

Since 1987 the Hotel has gone through some monumental changes and its original grandeur is being restored for your entertainment. This landmark's history is being recognized and appreciated by not only Hollidaysburg's people but once again by the hungry gourmet willing to travel to experience the "best fine dining in the borough"!

Source: www.theushotel.com/history.html

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