Molly Pitcher Hotel

Before the days of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and Interstate 81, and the attendant motels and restaurants, when motoring travelers passed through Carlisle’s downtown on Hanover and High Streets, Carlisle had a notable hotel named the Molly Pitcher Hotel. This hotel was a destination for travelers who desired pleasant, quiet accommodations, and it was also the location for elegant diners, banquets, and dances hosted by town residents. The hotel building exists today, but has been repurposed and provides apartments for senior residents.

The basis of the hotel property on South Hanover Street was the Strohm Building, improved in 1910, which housed a shoe store, a large store room, three complete five-room flats, and several single rooms to rent.^[1] In February 1919, the building was purchased and transformed into The Hotel Carlisle, which opened its doors for business on Tuesday, July 1, 1919.^[2] The newspaper article that told of the grand opening described the hotel as “a House of Sunlight,” as all the rooms faced either the street or the inner patio and each room had an awning with screened windows. The hotel building was faced with brownstone from Hummelstown, and offered public rooms named the Rose Room, the Wisteria Room, the Green Room, and the Ladies Parlor. The newspaper account included a description of all the modern kitchen equipment and furnishings.^[3] This hotel was considered a “gem,” attracting travelers who arrived by train as well as automobile.^[4]

In January 1925, the Carlisle Hotel property was transferred to the Carlisle Community Hotel Committee of the Carlisle Chamber of Commerce. It became associated with a hotel chain managed by the American Hotels Corporation of New York. The name was changed to The Molly Pitcher and the local manager was William Flenner. ^[5] A 1926 brochure, complete with pictures, states that rooms could be taken on the European plan, and rooms with private toilet and lavatory could be rented at a rate of $2.50 upwards.

From the 1920s until the mid-twentieth century, when competing hotels and motels were built, the Molly Pitcher was a focal point for the social life of Carlisle. It was “famous for dinners, banquets, dances and the privileged. During World War II, the hotel was a favorite hangout of Army officers from the Carlisle Barracks.”^[6]

When train service stopped in 1936 and traffic patterns changed due to a shift in the major throughways, it resulted in fewer travelers coming into Carlisle. Other venues for parties were available, such as the Carlisle Barracks Officers' Club and the country club, removing the need for the social spaces offered by the hotel. With lowered occupancy, the hotel gradually declined physically and in reputation. The 80-room hotel was purchased in 1960 by Costas Costopoulis and managed by his son James. During the ‘60s, long-term residents, who could not afford other housing, established themselves in the hotel and the hotel no longer offered bar and restaurant services. Over time, the hotel became a location for crime and a sore point in Carlisle. In 2004, the Cumberland County Housing and Redevelopment Authority purchased the hotel property from Jim Costopoulos for $600,000 and converted some of the rooms for low-cost senior housing. There was a long-range plan involved and over the next decade, the first senior residents were relocated. A portion of the vacant building was given a total overhaul and transformed into a nine-unit complex for low-income seniors, which opened in December 2007.^[7] The former lobby areas were transformed into retail space on the street level.

In January 2014, the redevelopment authority received a $3.3 million grant to create an additional eight apartments in the remaining portion of the hotel property. It is thought-provoking to consider the history and ironies presented by the Molly Pitcher Hotel. It becomes a physical example of the significant cultural changes brought to town life over the course of the twentieth century.