Herdic House Hotel to Park Place

Outside of Park Place

Park Place has seen many years. It, like most other houses on Millionaires Row, still stands as a euphoric reminder of Williamsport's most prosperous times. The average person living in Williamsport passes Park Place at least once a day, but most fail to realize the prodigious journey this building has taken, a journey beginning on the outskirts of town and becoming the busiest part of it.

Park Place became one of the main components of the "westward expansion" of Williamsport. It also became more than just a hotel for out-of -towners. It was a frequented dining hall for many. If one needed to send a telegraph, he could stop here. Even if you just wanted to "get in touch with nature," you could feed one of as many as 22 white-tail deer (fewer than six) roaming on the five acres of inspiringly landscaped yard. Soon after its construction, the Park Hotel became an essential part of the town (3).

In 1864 Peter Herdic didn't build his hotel downtown; he built downtown around his hotel. He did this by relocating the passenger depot for the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad. He was able to arrange a deal whereby Herdic would provide the land and the railroad would lay the track. Herdic even provided two horse-drawn passenger cars to carry people back and forth between the original Pine Street depot and his (3).

The design and construction of the Herdic Hotel was completed soon after the close of the Civil War in 1865. The furnished building cost $225,000, which was little to Peter Herdic, especially after the Civil War era lumber profits (1).

Stairway in the Park Place Foyer

The hotel boasted an Italianate styling. Each of its four stories was twelve to fifteen feet tall. Square, each side measured 156 feet. Inside was a open central courtyard (3).

The outside was easy on the eyes with endless flower gardens complemented by a mixture of oak and evergreen trees all rounded up with a finishing touch of live deer and a fountain to relax the weary traveler (1).

The hotel had room for 700 people all placed in luxurious suits (1).

Most of the hotel was built from local material. The lumber was brought in from Peter Herdic's own mills, and the marble used was brought across the river from a quarry in Mosquito Valley (3).

Herdic wanted the people of Williamsport to have a reason to be there also, so he placed inside a telegraph office, one of only two in the city. Also inside was a dining room where people would come from Philadelphia just to stop and have lunch and then go back. Herdic's lavish hotel even had an orchestra which played for guests getting off the train. Herdic wanted his hotel to shine above all others and to do so he installed the latest in gas lighting all around the hotel. His hotel used so much gas that the existing gas plant couldn't supply the needed pressure, so Herdic built a gas plant for the sole purpose of furnishing gas to the hotel.

The Herdic Hotel opened to the public on September 25, 1865. Peter Herdic set up an over-the-top party, which lasted long into the night. That way he could show off the high-tech lighting he spent so much money on. Unfortunately, on the day of the grand opening, the gas works burned to the ground. Herdic sent everyone of his workers to buy or borrow every oil lamp in town, thus allowing the party to continue (1).

Park Place Foyer

Herdic loved to entertain people. He did so with the orchestra playing and the dinner staff catering the party. That one night he created a liquor bill of over $2500. One might say it was an unforgettable party (3).

Herdic wasn't able to keep his grand creation for long because in 1878 he was forced to file for bankruptcy and subsequently had to auction off his beloved hotel. It went for a mere $1200, less than half the money spent on opening night's liquor (3).

Mr. R.J.C. Walker, the son-in-law of Herdic's largest creditor, William Weightman, purchased the hotel. When the Walkers took over they made extensive renovations to the building and grounds including changing the name to the Park Hotel. They continued Herdic's tradition of making the building the center of social activity for the entire town. As the economy thrived and train travel became more popular, Williamsport became a popular place for conventions and meetings, and the hotel became a favorite place for visitors (1).

In 1889 Charles Duffy rented the building from the Walkers and became a "manager" of the hotel. It remained a successful and lucrative business until 1930 (3).

In 1930 William Budd Stuart purchased the hotel from the Walker's Estate, and maintained it as a hotel until 1937 when he began working on converting it into a retirement home for elderly women. He did this as a memorial to his mother Laura Stuart. He was able to establish a foundation in her name that would operate and maintain the building. While converting the hotel to a retirement home, he discovered that state codes prevented any retirement homes from being over three stories tall, so both the third and fourth stories were removed. This was done while maintaining the building's original roof, roof line, and architectural features around the roof.

The Name was changed from the Park Hotel to the Park Home. It remained the Park Home until 1994. During that time there was little evidence of up-keep. You could say "the board ran it into the ground." In 1994 the city shut down and put the Park Home up for sale. The old hotel took six year finally to entice a buyer who had first, the money to buy it, and then, the money to basically renovate the whole structure (2).

In July of 2000 a trio of local businessmen - William C. Brown, Representative Allen E. Ertel, and Anthony H. Visco Jr., purchased the Park Home. They renamed it Park Place. The outside needed repainting, and all the porches were rebuilt, and landscaping still hadn't been done.

On the inside, owners are modernizing the building's infrastructure to fit today's office needs. Little on the interior of Park Place is original except for the windows, some of the flooring, mantels, and most of the door frames. Everything else is new. A list of things replaced would include plumbing, electrical, heating, and air conditioning, doors and hardware, and lighting. They have retained the same walls; everything else has been modernized (3).

I will never walk by Park Place --- I still like to call it Park Home --- again without stopping and thinking what it must have been like when Peter Herdic threw his grand opening party or when the train still stopped there. Just to see it as the center of town, this project has definitely help me appreciate history a lot more.