The "The Story Of The River Hills Of Southern Lancaster County" Story: Part II" Story

It was an ordinary day.  In the early 1900s, a few fellows by the names of Frederick Shoff and John K. Hartman were attempting to construct, in the southern end of Lancaster County, what was to be the largest "Inn" in the United States.  Mr. Hartman drew up the plans and sought financing for the 384 room Pequehanna Inn while Mr. Shoff was to be instrumental in turning Pequea into a resort town.  Mr. Shoff operated a sawmill and lumber yard in Pequea and organized the York Furnace Power Company.  Actually, before the surrounding area and small town was known as Pequea, it was known as Schoff's Post Office.  

The River View Hotel along the Pequea Creek.

Frederick Schoff built the River View Hotel in 1902-1903 and sold it to Mr. Paul Heine in 1904. Together, Mr. Schoff and Mr. Heine owned about five miles of river frontage along the Susquehanna River including the York Furnace Springs area where there was a dance Pavillion.  These two men, together with John Myers, organized the trolley system in 1904, which operated until 1925 when it was replaced by a bus.  

An announcement in the local newspaper telling about
the construction of the Pequehanna Inn.

Mr. Heine also owned the water company which supplied the Pequea area.  During the time that Mr. Heine owned the River View Hotel, the hotel saw visitors from as far away as Chicago and New York.  The River View was a popular place for celebrities as well as Presidents of the United States.  They had tennis courts, croquet courts and swings with canopies.  Mr. Heine also was the owner of The Brunswick Hotel in downtown Lancaster.  Construction of the Pequehanna Inn began sometime in 1907, but sometime in early 1910 an ice freshet (a sudden overflowing of the river due to heavy rain and melting snow) wiped out the bridge over the Pequea Creek which was used to transport supplies.  

A note in the newspaper telling of the plight of Mr. Hartman.

It took over two years before the bridge could be replaced due to a dispute between the power company and Pequea County.  In the meantime, Mr. Hartman attempted to move supplies across the creek via a barge, but had no permit to do so.  Finally the new bridge was completed, but local officials said the building materials were too heavy to take across the bridge.  Somebody in command didn't like the new Pequehanna Inn it seemed!  Then the primary financial backer, Mr. George Atlee, allegedly committed suicide on September 3, 1911.  Mr. Atlee also was the owner of the Lancaster and York Furnace Railway Company, the Lancaster and Southern Railway, a short trolley line connecting Rawlinsville with the York Furnace line at Martic Forge, the Colemanville power plant, the Pequea Land Association and several boats on the Susquehanna.  It was said that a "money panic" about that time in history, intervened and ended the life of the Pequehanna Inn.  Mr. Hartman sold most of the iron and lumber from the site to try and recoup his losses.  But, he never gave up his dream of having the Inn and lived on the site of his future Inn in a one-story cottage.  

This is the drawing of what wasn't meant to be!

The inn would have been the climax of his impressive building career.  He died in 1957.  So, what ever happened to the massive stone foundations?  A fellow who had been writing a story about the entire debacle was wondering, after about 100 years, whether anything still remained of the the Pequehanna Inn's stone foundations and rock terraces.  He reached out to the Pequea Nature Preserve, but they owned very little of the land and what land they did have near the Inn showed no foundations their land.  He managed to identify the owner and was able to get in contact with him.  He was given a tour of the property and did find part of the foundation of the Pequehanna Inn.  He reported the foundation was still an impressive site.  The most identifiable architectural element was the curved foundation in the northwest corner.  The new owner said more construction used to be on the site, but materials have slowly disappeared for use in nearby residential projects.  Well, at least part of the Inn may still live on in the dreams of someone else who may now live near the site in Pequea.  But, what ever happened to the remainder of the other Inn, or hotel if you wish, that was known as The Riverview Hotel.  Has to be a story for another day!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.