|
| |
Douglas Inn, Urbana, Ohio
|
|
|
|
This page is a stub.
You can help improve it.
The Douglas Hotel building has been a stable of the scenery of downtown
Urbana in one form or another for almost 200 years.
And now
[2021], after more than a decade of sitting empty and much debate among
community leaders through the years about what to do with the historical
structure, the Douglas Hotel is prepping for a new chapter.
The
Douglas, once considered the best hotel in Urbana, contained the Oak
Room restaurant and operated until 1978. Reopened in 1979, it once again
closed in 1982. Shortly after, most of the building was remodeled as low
income apartments. In 2003, the building was condemned and it has been
empty ever since, although there are plans to restore it.
In
2003, The Douglas Inn was described as a vast 19th-century former hotel
dominating the town square, and was said to be dangerously infested with
cockroaches; some of its few remaining human residents heat their rooms
with the hotplates of their ovens.
This Looking Back features
the northeast corner of Monument Square at Scioto Street. It was at this
site that Henry Weaver erected a building (Photo 1 circa 1866) in 1833.
It was regarded as one of the finest brick buildings west of Columbus.
Mr. Weaver with his son Lemuel operated a business on the first floor of
this building. At the time of his death in 1872, Henry Weaver was
regarded as the wealthiest man in Champaign County.
Sometime
early in the 20th century this building was remodeled and became the
location of Moore’s Business College (Photo 2 circa 1923). Note the
changes in the buildings to the east along Scioto Street in the two
photos. The Moore’s Business College building was demolished in 1961.
Peoples Savings Bank now occupies this location.
This is a circa
1910 photo (#1834) of the Douglas Hotel looking west from Monument
Square down Miami Street in Urbana. About 1815 on the present-day site
of the Douglas Hotel, John Reynolds built a frame house. The Reynolds
family lived on the second floor and operated a general store on the
first floor. It also served as Urbana’s first post office.
In
1819, John C. Pearson purchased the property and in 1825 erected a
two-story brick building, which he established as a hotel. This brick
building ultimately became the nucleus of the Douglas Hotel.
Sometime prior to 1844 Henry Weaver acquired the property and built two
additional floors to the hotel, which was then referred to as the Weaver
House. In 1877 the Weaver family sold the hotel and C. L. Stough became
the proprietor. Around 1900 the hotel began to be referred to as the
Douglas Inn/Hotel.
Comment:
I have been unable to discover why
the building was named Douglas Inn, and later Douglas Hotel. If
YOU know, please let ME know.
|
Source
Sources for this article include:
A Brief Early History of the Douglas Hotel by Barbara E. Sour
Any contributions will be
gratefully accepted
|
|
