An undated picture post card view of the Union House Hotel, also known as the Rogers Hotel, located on the southwest corner of the main square of Gratz, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. In 1910, it was proposed that the main train station for Gratz on the Midland Pennsylvania Railroad would be located just behind this hotel. A station was never built and the railroad turned out to be a complete failure. At the time the railroad was to be built, W. O. Rogers was the hotel’s proprietor.
In 1924, a catastrophic fire, said to have been started with an incendiary device, began at the location of the ice house to the hotel’s rear, and completely destroyed the hotel and several neighboring buildings. At the time of the Great Gratz Fire of 1924, the hotel was managed by Thomas Kerstetter.
For stories of the railroad, see: Midland Pennsylvania Railroad.
For stories of the fire, see: Great Gratz Fire of 1924.
For other pictures of the hotel, see:
Some Views of the Destruction of the Great Gratz Fire of 1924
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