Anecdotes of Hotel Conneaut & Exposition Park: Part 2, 1900-1909

In my ongoing series of anecdotes from Hotel Conneaut and Exposition Park, I found the first decade of the 20^th century to be one of triumph and also devastation for the resort as a whole. The park had yet to become a prime destination for vacation goers and far off from being known as the largest resort in Pennsylvania, but was well on its way to success. As an interesting aside, Clark Gable, who was born in Ohio in 1901, lived on a farm along Conneaut Lake from the ages of seven months to five years. Republican candidate for the 1936 presidential election, Alfred Mossman Landon, also spent his childhood summers at Conneaut Lake during that same decade and accomplished a two-mile swim across the lake..

1900

Mr. O. E. Gleason, owner of the Mansion House in Titusville and partner to Frank Lockwood, leased the Exposition Hotel to E.D. Comstock for the season. Fred G. Pardee of Titusville operated the hotel through the year of 1900 before departing to lease a hotel in Watertown, N.Y.

The park installed a huge, 60 foot diameter merry-go-round at the tune of $7,500, a price tag that would read about $232,000 in today’s dollars.

1901

Henry O. Holcomb took over management of the hotel Conneaut.

1902

On March 10, a crew of forty men commenced building the new Hotel Conneaut on the site of Exposition Hotel. The plan for the building sized it at 160 by 130 feet with a projected cost of $25,000. Whether newspaper error or a project going extremely overbudget, the hotel construction actually cost $35,000, or about one million in today’s value. 

Workers labored rapidly, their work made faster because they used a portion of the old Exposition Hotel in the construction of the new building. They used the three story section of the original structure, having moved the one story north wing near the auditorium to be used for another building, and built the new hotel in its place. By April, they set about wiring the hotel for electric lights.

Meadville house furnisher John J. Shryock provided all the new carpets and bedding for the new building. He won the contract in a bidding war against companies from Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Erie, and New York.

Also under construction was the largest gravity railroad on that side of the country.

1903

When construction workers continued working on the new Conneaut hotel, tragedy struck. On February 9^th, one of the laborers, Harry Hogan, fell and hit his head, but returned to work the following day. By evening, he felt poorly and returned to his parents’ home in Erie where he fell into a delirium and eventually died.

In mid-April, a group of carpenters employed by Constable Brothers, the company contracted for the hotel’s construction, quit the job and returned to Meadville, tools in hand. Because they had refused to name their union, they had been placed on the unfair list of the Erie Carpenter’s Union, thus causing the strike. Non-union laborers took over the work on the hotel while the matter was resolved.

Park guests would be arriving in a new terminal, as a new station was constructed farther south than the original. It could not be completed in time for season opening due to difficulties in finding material, but was still used and required every guest to pass through gates before boarding a train.

A new train, the Conneaut Lake Limited, was up and running and featured a day coach, chair car, and a private car. Along the lake, new, larger docks were built by the steamer company.

With the new hotel alas complete and improvements made all around the park, the new owners could label the grounds as a first class resort. Hotel Conneaut boasted a Spanish style entrance, built of stucco and large porches that wrapped around both sides of the hotel. Guests could walk up to the roof garden for a peaceful rest and view of the grounds. In the north wall of the large lobby was a fireplace and on the west side, a staircase leading to the upstairs guest rooms. Off of the lobby were separate writing rooms for men and women. Also on the ground floor was a barber shop, buffet, telephone booth, toilets, billiard room, ladies parlor and several guest rooms.

On Decoration Day, 700 diners filled the new dining room in Hotel Conneaut’s north wing. 

During the remainder of July, thousands visited the park on a daily basis, many coming during the day to picnic and enjoy a leisurely stay at the lake. The hotels ran at full capacity and were forced to turn many travelers away, some taking the train to Meadville where they found accommodations and returned on the morning route.

1905

In April, the Conneaut Lake Company purchased the resort from the Conneaut Lake Exposition Company. The new officers were President Henry O. Holcomb of Erie who was the current proprietor of Hotel Conneaut, Secretary and Manager C. P. Kepler of Pittsburgh, and Treasurer F.W. Henninger of Pittsburgh.

They immediately set about making improvements to the resort, including building a new, modern bathhouse.

The park opened for the season on May 30, Decoration Day, with the year’s schedule already quite jampacked with reunions and picnics. The hotel rooms and cottages were booked well in advance by eager excursionists. Park Manager Kepler, the former Traveling Auditor of the Bessemer Road, was in charge of the bookings.

The Circle Swing, a new attraction installed, featuring a dazzling spectacle of light, made possible by doubling the capacity of the electric light plant.

On August 29-September 1^st, the Conneaut Lake Agricultural Association hosted a fair and race meet on the new fair grounds adjacent to the resort.

1906

On December 4, a large fire tore through three of the largest hotels in Conneaut Lake Park as well as the surrounding frame buildings. Hotels Arlington, Brunswick, and Thatcher were lost, amounting to about $30,000 in damages.

On April 2, another fire began in the basement of the Taylor Hotel inside Conneaut Lake Park and men from numerous surrounding towns rushed in to fight the blaze. The Taylor burned to the ground followed by the Chilcott Hotel and several barns before it was extinguished. The damage amounted to around $35,000.

On Friday, June 29^th, Mrs. Holcomb, wife of Manager Holcomb served as hostess for one hundred women from Conneaut, Erie, Girard and other localities. With her incredible grace and class, she welcomed the women into Hotel Conneaut and spent the day giving them a grand tour of the resort.

The July 4^th holiday week proved to be the busiest the resort had seen as 25,000 people visited the lake. 6,000 paid entry to see the horse races, the best ever seen in western Pennsylvania. Hotel Conneaut’s management handled the crowds with unwavering professionalism. Next door, Hotel Mantor burst at the seams as harried park employees ran about, tending to the many needs of excursionists. On the 4^th, guests waited an hour to find a place within the bathhouse, which showed considerable traffic that week.

In November, laborers began constructing a substantial addition to Hotel Conneaut. It measured 30 by 100 feet with a wing of 30 by 60 feet. It stood four stories high.

1907

Hotel Conneaut received a sister hotel upon the completion of Hotel Virginia, built to accommodate the overflow of guests. Hotel Mantor had a new third story with added guest rooms and its name was changed to the Lakeside Inn, which without argument, boasted the best view of the lake.

Upon a cold and rainy season opening, visitors could not be discouraged by the poor weather and poured into the park, eager to see all the new improvements and amenities.

On the morning of Sunday, June 2, Hotel Conneaut guest Edward Hammond was taking a stroll along the hotel’s lawn when he came across the rain-soaked body of Dr. Cornelius Van Horne. A coroner’s jury theorized that Van Horne had fallen from his guest room’s balcony during the night, walked several feet, collapsed from a head injury and died from exposure.

1908

Prior to the season opening, $50,000 (nearly one and a half million in today’s value) was spent in new attractions, including the scenic railway, managed by Piper & Skeen, a penny arcade, managed by Fred J. Spillman of Niles, OH, The Castle of Fun led by Meadville’s C.H. Clark, The Old Mill, The Mystic Cyclone, The Circle Swing managed by Scott Murphy, the Ocean Waveoperated by M.D. Fox, the Ferris Wheel conducted by Larry Palmer, and the Avenue Theatorium—Conneaut’s first movie theater, and especially for the children, Erhart’s merry-go-round and the pony track with saddle and carriage horses. 

The park buildings and pavilions received a fresh coat of paint, and all the benches painted vermilion red. A new half-mile-long racetrack, the Conneaut Lake Oval, was constructed and spectators soon claimed it was the fastest half-mile track in Pennsylvania. Its grandstand could hold 5,000 people.

Seven steamboats owned by the Conneaut Lake Navigation Company were repaired and improved in preparation for summer passengers.

The partial list of 1908 park employees is as follows: 

• Park Manager: Mr. Kepler
• Park Superintendent/Hotels Conneaut and Virginia Manager: Henry Holcomb
• Hotel Conneaut Chief Clerk: Frank Garber, Greenville PA
• Hotel Conneaut Assistant Clerk: Joe Longmore, Pittsburgh PA
• Park Office Manager: Mrs. J.O. Jones, Greenville PA
• Post Office Manager: Mary Moulthrop 
• Bessemer Station Agent: F.H. Wheeler, Mercer PA
• Bessemer Superintendent of Motive Power: E.B. Gilbert, Greenville PA
• Baggage Handler: C.W. Cubbison
• Yard Master: C.M. Kamerer, Butler, PA
• Bathing Pavilion Manager: A.W. Robertson
• Rowboat Manager: Mark Lynce
• A.K. Tower Operator: C.A. Rood 
• Bowling Alley Manager: C.W. McCullough
• Park Contractor: Mr. Piper of Moundsville, WV with crew of forty men
• Cottage Contractor: Martin Dennis
• Park Photographer: W.W. Wilt
• Lakeside Inn (former Mantor House) Proprietor: James Reany
• Hotel Bismark Manager: Julius Fuhrman
• Check Stand Attendants: Phoebe Irons, Linesville PA and Mildred Powers, Grand Rapids MI
• Cashiers: Flora Moulthrop and Lillian Schaaf

Friday, May 29^th, the day before opening day, a storm blew through, toppling thirty trees, removing the roofs of two cottages, damaging the bathhouse roof, and sinking all the rowboats. Undeterred, thousands entered the park on Saturday May 30^th, Decoration Day, welcomed by the boisterous music of the Greenville based Boyd’s Band. 900 people arrived on two trains from Pittsburgh alone. Park superintendent Henry Holcomb welcomed guests into Hotel Conneaut, entertaining 400 from Pittsburgh and countless others from other districts. In the dining room, Henry Wiesbauer’s orchestra delighted diners with a musical program. They also played in the dancing pavilion for the entire season.

A College Field Day was put on the Saturday after Memorial Day with many sports and activities for athletes from all around.

On June 12-13^th, the park hosted an Italian festival, featuring food, games, music, excursion trains, and fireworks put on by P. Rozzi.

In July, Imogene DeTier opened a manicuring parlor in Hotel Conneaut.

In the early morning hours of December 2,  a fire of unknown origin began in the Bismark Hotel. The fire rapidly spread with devastating results to more than half the park. A detailed account by the Crawford County Historical Society can be read here.  An investigation into the fire was made but with no natural explanation found, the people of Conneaut assumed an arsonist set fire to the Bismark Hotel. The National Board of Fire Underwriters offered a $500 reward for anyone who had information leading to an arrest. Fingers pointed to the hotel’s owner for beginning the fire for insurance purposes, but with no evidence, no one was ever brought to justice.

1909

Park management set about making many improvements during the quick rebuild prior to the upcoming summer season. A large, fireproof cement midway was constructed with entirely new buildings.

They purchased one-hundred new rowboats to replace the ones that had been in storage inside the dance pavilion when it burned to the ground. 

At the end of May, the finishing touches were put on the brand new cement and steel dance pavilion. The impressive structure that would eventually be called Dreamland Ballroom featured a beautifully laid maple floor and 17,000 square feet of floor space. Its outdoor promenade boasted a 14 foot width by 412 feet length. The first floor was used for picnics when the weather proved too inclement for an outdoor affair. In its first summer, dances were held every night but Sundays, led by a twelve-piece orchestra.

The park’s grand opening was held on Decoration Day, May 30th.

On July 8^th, Exposition Park hosted the seventeenth annual picnic of the Merchant’s Association of Niles (from Trumbull County, OH), the largest ever held. 

During the hot summer days, swimmers enjoyed the bathing pavilion with 150 dressing rooms. It had a large collection of brand new, modern swimsuits for men, women, and children. Along the lake, visitors sped down the toboggan slide, and jumped from springboards and diving platforms.

Within the Arcade, guests bowled in the eight lane bowling alley or played pool or billiards. Those up for more vigorous sports could play a game of ball on the regulation baseball diamond or on the tennis courts just south of Hotel Conneaut.

By this time, the Conneaut Lake Fair, held on August 30-September 3 that season, proved to be the most popular fair in the state.

On Friday, October 15, around 11 a.m., a fire of unknown origin broke out at the resort, starting in Phelp’s grocery across from the trolley station. The frame structure quickly went up in flames and spread to the adjoining frame buildings, though was stopped from spreading further by the new fireproof cement structures on the Midway. Park employees battled the blaze to no avail and the Meadville fire department arrived with a steam fire engine and hoses. The men of Conneaut Lake came over by steamboat to assist and by the time all help arrived, the fire had consumed the grocery, the back of the Old Mill, Penny Arcade, Bonheyo Bakery, and the park lock-up. The men put out the fire as it reached the Log Cabin Restaurant, Miller souvenir store, and Jackson’s restaurant, all of which received mild damage. The front section of the Old Mill was spared. The initial rumor was that the hotel’s Conneaut and Virginia were both up in flames, but in truth they were nowhere in danger and it’s interesting to note how word of mouth can quickly twist information. The buildings destroyed were not owned by the park and the losses for the self-employed businessmen who owned them were great.

Resources:

• Mr. Comstock: The Conneautville Courier,1 Mar 1900, Thu. Pg 1
• Fred Pardee: The Conneautville Courier,10 Jan 1901, Thu. Pg 1
• New Owner: The Record-Argus, 31 May 1901, Fri. Pg 3
• New Hotel: The Conneautville Courier, 13 Mar 1902, Thu. Pg 1
• New Hotel Work: The Conneautville Courier, 3 Apr 1902, Thu. Pg 1
• Hotel Progress: The News-Herald, 24 Apr 1902, Thu. Pg 8
• Furnishing Contract: The Conneautville Courier, 29 May 1902, Thu. Pg 5
• Harry Hogan Death: The Conneautville Courier,18 Feb 1903, Wed. Pg 1
• Carpenter Strike: The Evening Republican, 16 Apr 1903, Thu. Pg 4
• Conneaut Lake’s Prospects Bright: The Record-Argus,15 Jun 1903, Mon. Pg 1
• Conneaut Lake Pleasure Resort Changes Hands: Butler Citizen, April 13, 1905, Pg 3
• Two Hotels Destroyed At Conneaut Lake PA: The Evening World, December 5, 1906, Evening Edition, Final Results Edition, Pg 13
• July 4^th at Conneaut Lake: The Pittsburgh Press, 8 Jul 1906, Sun. Pg 33
• Plan for Addition: The Conneautville Courier, 19 Sep 1906, Wed. Pg 5
• Annex: The Conneautville Courier, 7 Nov 1906, Wed. Pg 1
• Three Hotels Destroyed: The Daily Morning Journal and Courier, December 5, 1906
• Cold Weather Doesn’t Interfere With Arrival of Guests: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,16 Jun 1907, Sun. Pg 14
• Sudden Death At Expo: The Record-Argus, 3 Jun 1907, Mon. Pg 2
• Exposition Park Season Opened: The Evening Republican, 1 Jun 1908, Mon. Pg 1
• Summer Season At Exposition Park: The Evening Republican, 23 Mar 1908, Mon. Pg 1
• Manicuring Parlor: The Conneautville Courier, 8 Jul 1908, Wed. Pg 1
• Reward for Arsonist: The Forest Republican, March 17, 1909
• Beautiful Conneaut: Page  1 of The Niles Daily News, published in Niles, Ohio on Wednesday, July 7th, 1909
• Merchants to Picnic Here: Page 3 of The Niles Daily News, published in Niles, Ohio on Thursday, May 27th, 1909
• Fire at Exposition Park: The Conneautville Courier, 20 Oct 1909, Wed. Pg 1