The "The Cool Town With A History: Part V - Rockin' And Rollin' At The Sutter Inn" Story

The historic General Sutter Inn in Lititz, Pennsylvania.

It was an ordinary day.  Standing in front of one of Lancaster County's most famous Inns, The Sutter, in the town of Lititz, PA taking a few photographs of the historic building.  Just last year the Inn was in the news when a young female by the name of Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, known to most people as Lady Gaga, stepped into the Bull's Head Public House  for a shot of her favorite Jameson's Whiskey which she refers to as "her longtime Irish boyfriend."  

The original Inn and a few other buildings in Lititz.

Seems that her real-life boy friend, Taylor Kinney, a graduate of nearby Lancaster Mennonite High School in 2000, enjoys the anonymity they experience while visiting the small town of Lititz, PA, nestled among the Amish and Mennonites in an area that probably doesn't even know who Lady Gaga might be.  Now, it really doesn't matter about Lady Gaga anyway, for today's story is about the star of the square in Lititz, Pa, The General Sutter Inn.  

The date of construction is etched on the front window.

This brick and wood three-story building, with a few dormers, on the square carries on it's dining room window the stencil date of 1764.  The building houses two restaurants, a tavern and  sixteen rooms, six of them now luxury penthouse suites with a rock and roll theme.  The last part of my last sentence is due to the fact that the town of Lititz also is home to Clair Bros. Audio, Tait Towers, and Atomic Design, all leaders in the rock and roll industry.  

This photo, taken from their Facebook Page, shows a summer
evening photo of the side of the restaurant facing west.

It was in 1756 that the Moravian town of Lititz was born.  It began as an experiment in utopia, named after the Bohemian town of Lidice where the followers of John Hus had received sanctuary from religious persecution and formed the Moravian Church, the oldest of all Protestant denominations.  The town was actually called "Litiz" when the "Town Regulations" were adopted.  On that day in 1756, only those who signed the "Town Regulations" were allowed to live in the town.  

Restaurant of the General Sutter.

So why did the town need an Inn, such as the Sutter Inn?  It was deemed necessary for the enter- tainment of strangers and travelers, so in 1764 the inn, known at the time as "Zum Anker" (the sign of the anchor) was built.  The Inn then became the Lititz Springs Hotel and in 1930 was changed once again to the General Sutter Inn to honor John Augustus Sutter, a California Gold Rush pioneer, who lived his last seven years in Lititz, and is buried in the nearby Moravian Cemetery.  

The lobby area of the General Sutter features a large
portraiture of the namesake of the restaurant and Inn.

While in California, Sutter founded the city of Sacramento in 1839 and then saw the Gold Rush of 1849 overtake his town.  He then decided to relocate with his wife Annette in 1871 to Lititz, PA.  His home was on the opposite side of Main Street across from his Hotel.  My wife and I have eaten at the Sutter a few times, both inside and out, and have enjoyed not only our meal, but the ambiance of the hotel and restaurant.  We were not lucky enough though to have been in the Bull's Head Public House when Lady Gaga and her boyfriend made a visit.  So sorry we missed it!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Looking east from Broad Street you see the sign for the General Sutter Inn and the Bull's Head Bar.

Inside the Bull's Head Public House.  

Inside the seating area of Bull's Head Public House.

The home of General Sutter at 19 E. Main Street.