Hotels

Photo Credit: 1920’s Genevan, McCartney Library

Still today, visitors can get a sense of the history of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania and its surrounding area with various hotels and motels that still boast “vacancy” and “color television” signs in front of their businesses. However it was hotels, such as The Grand Hotel, in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania that stood as an inviting presence to the many visitors to the area. The four-story hotel, was a “luxurious building [that] had sixty guest rooms and [boasted the title of being] the first hotel in Beaver Falls to feature electric lights and steam heat”[1].

Hotels played an important part for the businesses of Beaver Falls in the 1920s. Visitors not only had a place to stay, but where the hotel, such as The Grand Hotel, was located – in the middle of the city – but visitors had plenty of places to shop and be entertained.* The hotels were also located not far from the industry buildings, allowing employees who did not live in the area a warm and “luxurious” place to stay – a “home away from home” if you will. Bringing in business from outside the area is crucial for any thriving city to survive, and Beaver Falls cornered the market with its spectacular building and services.

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[1] “Lawrence County Memoirs: Grand Hotel – Beaver Falls PA.” Lawrence County Memoirs. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Apr. 2013. <http://www.lawrencecountymemoirs.com/lcmpages/38/grand-hotel-beaver-falls-pa&gt;.