The Old Corner Hotel, Williamsport

The Bar At The Old Corner Hotel

328 Court Street, Williamsport Pa

https://www.oldcornerhotel.com/

Last night, before seeing the Carol King musical at the CTL, my daughter and I had one of the best meals I've had a in a long time - at the Old Corner Hotel - where none other than actor  Gene Kelly was once thrown out the door.  

When Gene Kelly came to Williamsport to film a navy training film, the Old Corner Hotel was one of the locations featured.   The above screenshot from the film shows Kelly being thrown out the door of the Old Corner Hotel.  See more about his visit to Williamsport here:

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2022/11/when-gene-kelly-filmed-movie-in.html

From the outside, it may not look like much - maybe just another bar.  And there is a gorgeous old bar inside, where the bartender does her job well.  I had an old fashioned that was absolutely superb.  But they also have "lounge seating", around the bar, a dining room, and outdoor seating too.   

My photos are simply not going to do this food justice.  I can't capture the flavors.  This meal had incredible flavor.

 And the food...  the food it not your typical bar fare.  We did order tacos and brisket nachos - the plainest of options on the simple menu of incredible choices. Pastas, a halibut special, salads....  and we chose the tacos and nachos.    But these were not standard bar tacos and nachos.  These had incredible flavors and texture.  It was an absolutely incredible meal, and I can't wait to go back.  See their menu online here: https://www.oldcornerhotel.com/our-menu/

The walls are lined with old photos and history - which of course I love - but I came home to do a little more research of my own. Here's some of the history of this gem of a restaurant:

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HISTORY

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Wallhalla is the German pronunciation of Valhalla - the hall in which the heroes slain in battle were received by Odin, in Norse Mythology.

"The Opening" of the Walla-Halla House on  Willow Street between Court and Market, according to the Sun Gazette, was held on March 23rd 1875.     An article the following day reported:

Yesterday morning Willow street between court and market was the center of attraction. The opening of the magnificent saloon in the building lately purchased by Mr. John Meitzler was the cause of the attraction. The opportunity for feeding well was a first class one for tramps, but, unfortunately for the poor fellows, they were not aware of what was going on. That that there was a “free blow”  For the hungry right in the center of our city. This saloon is elegantly frescoed and fitted up, reflecting great credit upon the parties immediately interested. We could not have our readers infer from this, though that enough hungry stomachs were not present on this occasion, for they were there. The Turkey, the roast beef, the veal, the sauerkraut and smear-kase [any soft cheese suitable for spreading or eating with a spoon, especially a sour cottage cheese - or this could even have referred to a type of cheesecake]  were the recipients of first class appetites, and many of them. Before noon arrived there wasn't enough fodder left to make a Sparrow smile. Suffice it to say however that the “ free blow” or “opening” of the Walhalla was in  [unreadable line of text]

Formerly the location of "The Synagogue"

  In a 1915 article on the Covenant Presbyterian Church, there is  mention of their services being held at "the synagogue", "which had been located at what is now the site  of the Old Corner Hotel". 

In  June of 1875 the Williamsport Sun Gazette reported: "The front of the new beer garden of Mr. John Meitzler on Willow Street below Court is being handsomely ornamented"

By 1895, the establishment was referred to as the Old Corner Hotel.  Originally, it was a wooden structure.  On October 7th 1882, the Gazette and Bulletin reported that a "brick building is to be erected where the Old Corner Hotel now stands" .  The photo below, reportedly from 1907, does not appear to be brick - so perhaps that first construction was the back of the building.  In the early 1940s. there were advertisements for "good quality used brick" for sale at the Old Corner Hotel, that may be a clue as to when the "new" brick front was added.

A 1946 article in the Weekly Shopper included an account from Charles W. Andrews, of hotel around 1900:

"Almost nightly there are gathered at the hotel many prominent Williamsporters, most of them owner of fast trotting or pacing horses. The question of who owned the fastest hose was usually the subject of discussion.   Many times the argument resulted in the entire party's going to the old Fair Grounds to stage a race to settle bets at the Old Corner. After the race they would come back to the hotel, where Mr. Harman, who was usually a stakeholder, would pay off the winner.  The winner paid, the party would repair to the grill room for champagne and an elaborate repast served by Mrs. Harman.

Mrs. Harman, by the way, was well known for serving some of the finest meals in central Pennsylvania."

In 1912, the chef at the Old Corner Hotel , Homer Lomison, scratched his finger on a hard shelled crab, and contracted blood poisoning from the scratch.

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In the late 1880s or early 1890s, the Turn Verein's met in "the old shop that used to stand in the rear of the old corner hotel."  Now, I don't actually know that this was in any way part of the hotel, but I love any mention of the Turn Verein's, so I'm including it here.   

I first learned of the Turn Vereins, or "Turners", while researching tight rope walkers in Williamsport.  Turnverein Societies were German-American gymnastic clubs, known as Turners.  They promoted German culture, physical culture, liberal politics, and supported the Union war effort during the civil war. Their picnics and events by 1890 sound like carnivals, but the group came from a series of political upheavals, and the original German Turnen movement in the United States was brought here by political refugees.

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2020/06/when-tightrope-walkers-came-to.html

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1927

Photo from the Hotels Facebook page, showing some of the woodwork and one of the stained glass windows in the dining room

In 1944, the Old Corner Hotel repeatedly advertised for an "Elderly Man in good health" to work as office clerk.

In February of 1945, when Gene Kelly was in Williamsport for a Navy Training Film, the Old Corner Hotel was one of the locations used in the film.  Read more here: 

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2022/11/when-gene-kelly-filmed-movie-in.html

In 1957, Travel Writer Gilbert Love wrote, for the Pittsburgh Press, "as a frequent traveler I mainta that almost any name that locates or described a place is preferable to a mere label.  The New Old Corner Hotel in Williamsport may sound complicated, but the name tells you far more than on elike Grand Hotel, or Ivan Z. Sputnick's Hotel"

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READ MORE

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"The Old Corner has been a staple of Williamsport, Pennsylvania since the 1800’s. Serving as a meeting place and place for travelers to rest, this historical building has undergone many renovations to keep up with the times while preserving its historical feel. The current location of the bar is a new addition to the building and the hotel rooms in the upper floors of the building now serve as extended stay, short term room rentals."

List of owners & Managers, of the Old Corner Hotel

The Old Corner  was purchased around 1948 by 31 year old William [Bud]  C. Hopler Jr., who had been managing the hotel since 1940.  Hopler was a cousin of  former proprietor Samuel  Harman. Hopler owned and operated the place  until he sold the business to Frank Morrone l in 1972. 

"While hanging out clothes on a rope leading from the balcony in the rear of the Old Corner hotel, Williamsport, Miss Ida Noll, on Sunday morning, leaned too far over the railing and becoming overbalanced, was hurled headlong twenty feet into the yard below.  Being quite stout, the fall was unusually severe and a physician found that she had sustained a fracture of her right arm, injured both hips and split her nose, a number of stitches being necessary to close the wound.  Her eyes were also blackened." - The Altoona Tribune, 1907

A Civil War Veteran committed suicide at the hotel in 1899.  In 1918, there was another suicide in the hotel, but the man had taken great pains to hide his identity before taking his own life.  William Clokey, aged 71, also ended his life at the hotel, in 1946.

1911

In September 1911, there were two supposed attempts at a robbery.  Patrolmen Schley noticed the rear door to the bar room open, and notified those inside. It's thought that he scared away the perpetrators.  A few weeks later, Proprietor William Mee found the key just hanging in the  key hole, and it was thought that the would be burglars, had arranged it "so that all that would have to be done was to push the key out on the floor and by the use of a skeleton key, effect an entrance."  This was reportedly the way the door had been opened in the earlier attempt as well.  A new lock was placed on the door.

1919

$1,000 in 1919 is roughly the equivalent of $17,600 in 2023.

An article about a fire in May of 1926 tells us that The Ciccarelli Pool Room, Square Deal Restaurant, American Cigar Store, and the Market House, were all located around the Old Corner Hotel.  Early advertisements for Sykes store note its location as "across from the Old Corner Hotel"