The "Another Piece Of The Colorful History Of Lancaster County Is Uncovered!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Looking at The Lancastrian Facebook page when I came across a post that featured a dinner menu for the Hotel Weber in downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  I asked my wife, Carol, if she had ever heard of the hotel before and I could tell her answer by just looking at her.  

Menu from Hotel Weber in 1946 - Click to enlarge

The menu was for a special luncheon that featured Broiled Lobster Tail for $1.10, Boneless Porter-house Steak for $1.10, Liver with Bacon for $.90, Deep Sea Scallops for $.85, Cheese Omelet for $.75 and a Vegetable Platter with Poached Egg for $.65.  The meal included a choice of two vegetables as well as your choice of dessert that was listed below and coffee, tea or milk.  Sandwiches were also listed at the bottom of the menu.  Great price for a hotel meal, at least by today's standards.  But, where was the hotel?  I "Googled" it, but came up empty.  And...the person who submitted the copy of the menu as well as the 44 other viewers of the page on The Lancastrian had no idea.  A few asked where it was, but with no answers.  So, I did the next most logical search; I searched lancasteronline, which is the search of Lancaster Newspapers archives.  Found close to 20 listings and began to read all of them.  Seems that there was a hotel in Lancaster in 1769 which was owned by Michael Diffenderfer who was a county commissioner and the man who purchased the home of Baron Stiegel, the glass maker, when Stiegel went broke and went to prison. In the basement of the hotel was an entrance to a tunnel with ran underground from the hotel to the Court House across the street.  The tunnel was needed in case of an attack by Indians so the guests and employees in the hotel could rush for the tunnel and reach the strong walls of the Court House.  He named the hotel the "Sign of the Buck."  In 1825 it changed hands and was known as the "Leopard Hotel" and was located at 19-31 North Duke Street.  It was one of the main stopping places on the old stage coach lines which ran westward.  It was reported that Georgia O'Keeffe stayed at the hotel when she visited her good friend Charles Demuth who lived closeby.  By then the hotel was known as Sprecher House and when Mr. Samuel Weber purchased it in 1911 it's name changed once again to Hotel Weber until 1962.  

Menu from Ground Hog Day, 1921.

Then on October 1, 1920, Dr. J.C. Burton of Scranton, PA, leased the hotel from Mr. Weber and added another local hotel known as Hotel Royal to his list of hotels and named the new addition Hotel Weber Annex.  The annex was located at Grant and North Duke Streets, about a half block away.  The two locations had a total of 125 rooms.  On May 13, 1935 the members of the Union Fire Co. No. 1 of Lancaster City celebrated their 175th Anniversary at the Hotel Weber.  Wonder what a lobster tail would have cost at that time?  The Union Fire Co. No. 1 was the oldest continuously operating fire company in America.  At their 175th celebration Dr. H.J.M. Klein, of Franklin and Marshall College, was the guest speaker who talked about "History past and present."  Robert Fulton, father of the inventor of the steamboat, was honored for starting the fire company in 1760; also honored were Joseph Simons, Mathias Slough, Adam Reigart, Edward Shippen and John Postlethwait, among others.  

The only photograph I could
 find of the original Hotel Weber.

The next newspaper story I found told of the re-opening of the Dining room of Hotel Weber on Sunday, October 18, 1936.  They specialized in banquets and social functions.  Then on August 13, 1938 approximately $8,500 was offered at sheriff's sale for real estate known as The Hotel Weber property at 19-21-23-25-27-29-31 North Duke Street.  The property was seized from Samuel R. Weber for unpaid debts and sold to Windolph and Mueller.  In November of 1938 there appeared an article in the Lancaster New Era stating that Hotel Weber is under new management with the entire hotel reconditioned.  The poster also said you should visit the Coffee Shop and Main Dining Room which has carefully selected foods prepared by an experienced chef.  Another listing on Friday, January 26, 1945 reported that the Hotel Weber property would be sold at auction in the Woolworth Building on the corner of Christian and Grant Streets. I assume that Windolph and Mueller sold their hotel at auction.  The next item I could find was a large announcement in the July 9, 1948 New Era that said the renovation program of the New Hotel Weber is just about complete.  The best foods and finest beverages at the lowest prices would be served in the new hotel.  It's location was listed as E. King & N. Duke Sts.  Once again, on June 11 of 1958, one of the oldest hotels in the nation was sold for $60,000 to a syndicate of men from New York City.  They planned to make renovations and continue the property as a modern hotel.  Then in 1962 it was renamed The Douglas Hotel; and later The King Douglas Hotel.   Today there is a Harb-Adult at the location that faces East King Street. I'm not sure when the New Yorkers sold the hotel.  In 1993 Jack Brubaker, Lancaster Newspaper's "The Scribbler" reported that the Hotel Weber Bar and Restaurant sign, that at one time was at the entrance to the Hotel, had been recently uncovered.  The sign was painted on the wall between 7 and 11 North Duke Street.  It was preserved for history's sake.  This is yet one more story telling of the colorful history of the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS. I recently found the sign that was painted on the wall between 7 and 11 North Duke, but was unable to obtain a photo since the place is closed due to COVID-19.  Very little of the sign can be seen from the street side anyway.