Valley Girl Views: From The Cooner Hotel To The Watson Inn

The Cooner Hotel (Today the Watson Inn) when it was built in 1857, was one of only twelve buildings in the area that would become Watsontown. Built by William Cooner in 1857, the Cooner House included a livery stable, located behind the hotel.

Before building his hotel here, William Cooner was widely know as the keeper of the stone tavern on the road from McEwensville to Muncy, which was one of the stopping points on the stage route between Harrisburg and Williamsport.

WIlliam managed the Cooner House Hotel for fifteen years, before turning the management over to his various sons. The arrangement changed many times, but it was always "in the hands of the old proprietors family."

According to the Watsontown Star & Record, "Cooners has always enjoyed an enviable reputation for excellence of its cuisine, and the present proprietor is making special and successful efforts to maintain that reputation."

"This hotel, under the management of the new landlord, Jas. B. Cooner, fully sustains the excellent reputation of the house in the past. Our young friend has had, you might say, a life time's experience in the business, and is courteous and accommodating at all times. The bar is stocked with the very finest liquors of all kinds, while the table, under the supervision of his excellent lady, abounds with the best of everything in reason. The traveling public will find the Cooner Hotel an agreeable place to stop at in every particular." - Record & Star, May 1877

The Cooner Hotel, , Abt 1912

The Cooners raised 13 children, 8 boys and 5 girls. Several of the boys took turns operating the hotel from 1871 to 1904. In 1904, William Cooners son WM S Cooner took charge, and had the entire hotel remodeled. Electric lights and steam heat was installed.

In 1921, Cooner House "closed it's doors as a public house, leaving Watsontown without hotel accommodations for man or beast". Not for too long though, as Boyd H. McBath and Charles Campbell of Kylertown, Clearfield County purchased the property later that year.

One of the interior swinging doors, from the

Original Cooner House

McBath and Campell converted the main street side of the property into a large hardware store, and used the rest of the building as a rooming house.

Five years later, in 1926, the McBath & Campbell Hardware store was sold to Dresisbach sons in Lewisburg, who moved the contents to their store in Lewisburg. The Store room at the old Cooner Hotel was to be rented, "as the proprietors will retire".

The Watson Inn

In April 1929 building was purchased by the James & Mary (Wright) Gair Family, and it was then that the name appears to have changed to The Watson Inn.

Twenty years later, in 1949, Edward Szutowicz of Turbotville, owner of the Mansion House & the Turbotville Hotel, purchased "the former Cooner Hotel at Watsontown. " Miss Rudy Gair had been operating the Watson Inn at the time. In 1951 when Szutowicz purchased the Watsontown Post Office, he still owned the Inn. But at the at the time of his death in 1971, he was no longer the owner.

The Watsontown High School Band Marching in front of the Watson Inn

Identified Are: holding baton, Howard Lamey (far left front row), Sam Wertman next to Mr. Lamey. Second Row, from right : Ken Fromme, and Toland Confer.

Behind Roland is Leroy Frontz, then James Muffly behind him. Next to James is Bill Frazier.

At some point, Emery Gair, son of the James Gair who purchased the hotel in 1929, took over the hotel business, running it for many years. Emery Gair died in 1968, and three years later, in November of 1971, his widow Edith sold the Inn to Mr & Mrs Wayne Kaiser and Mr & Mrs Martin Laidacker.

In 1988, the Watson Inn was closed.

Norman and Nancy Buck purchased the property in 1990, under foreclosure by Farmers National Bank, and almost immediately began a years worth of extensive renovations. The original building had two and a half stories with ten guest rooms. Buck purchased the two adjoining properties, expanding from 5,002 sf to over 17,000 sf of space, and expanded to 3 floors, going from 25 rooms to 32.

I'm told that only one original wall was left, from the original hotel - a wall to the basement.

The Watson Inn Today

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Find More Of Watsontowns History Here:

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2020/04/watsontown-pa.html

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The first hotel and store were kept by David Watson, and stood on the south side of Front street at the canal. There was another hotel at the time of Mr. Watson's death, which was erected by James Watson (no relative of the former, however), and stood on the north side of Front street directly opposite the residence of A. J. Guffy. Upon the death of David Watson his house was closed, but the one built by James Watson was continued for some years under the successive proprietorships of Robert Brown, James Brown, George Fox, and others. A third hotel was built on the northeast corner of First and Main streets by William Cooner in 1857 and opened in August of that year. The building is still used as a public house with Mr. Cooner's sons as proprietors. - Bells History Of Northumberland County, 1891