The Local History Gallery
For the White Lake Area
Website & Imaging: Jerry Grady     Research: Barb Brow

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Hotels & Motels

Page 1: Cabins, Camps, & Trailer Parks
Page 3: Bed & Breakfasts
  
 


HOTELS

The first hotel in Whitehall was brought down the White River by barge from the Trading Post and stood on the corner of Colby and Thompson. (See picture below.) In 1862, Peter Hobler was the proprietor of what was the Union Hotel. It burned on January 1, 1870.

 

The second hotel built was the Cosmopolitan which was operated by A. A. Cain in 1866.
Harvey Harwood and his son Eugene operated the hotel from 1877 until it burned on August 1, 1881.

The Harwood House was built in 1869 by John Gustavus and Benjamin Treat. H. Harwood, ___
Wilcox, A. M. Boice and Nelson Patterson were some of the managers. As it was located across from the Cosmopolitan, it too was destroyed in the 1881 fire.

 

 

   
 
This area map from 1877, published by F. W. Beers & Company, shows the location of the Harwood Hotel, with N. Patterson, Proprietor, and the Cosmopolitan on the end of Colby Street near Lake St. An ad for the Cosmopolitan for 1877 showed an E. H. Harwood as Proprietor.

     
 Sometime soon after the first Whitehall fire in 1881, H. H. Harwood and his son Eugene H. built the European Hotel which was advertised as being located on the South side of Colby Street, west of the RR Tunnel. They operated the hotel until 1886, when George Schuyler was listed as Proprietor.
There were ads for the Mears House found in 1877 with N. Peterson as Proprietor. In 1878 the Mears House was under the operation of Al. Wright. It was on the list of businesses destroyed in the fire of 1881.

Hotel Mears – 1905ca
 

The New Mears Hotel was advertised as being operated by T. S. Watson in 1883. At some point the “New” was removed and it was either the Mears Hotel or sometimes the Hotel Mears until 1897.

From 1898-1899, George W. Cherryman was running the Mears.

In 1901, C. H. Butler came to town and reopened the Mears Hotel which had been closed for several years. Around 1903, he purchased the hotel making several improvements to it. He had a new roof built, a new porch erected, and a cement walk laid. The name was also changed to Lou-Nita, a combination of his wife’s and daughter’s names. C.H. Butler died in 1905.

In 1906 Mr. & Mrs. Alex Gloeckner came to Whitehall and became proprietors of the Hotel Mears. A. Gloeckner died in 1920.


 


1912ca – Mr. A. Gloeckner has been identified as the shorter of the two men on the left of the picture.
 

Hotel Mears – 1914ca

In 1928, Mrs. Alex Gloeckner sold the Mears Hotel to Enoch Peterson who remodeled and renovated it. The old wooden awning was removed and replaces with bright-colored canvass awning. An entire new front was installed with French windows in the new dining room where a Millinery store was located. The lobby was enlarged and a fire place was installed. The kitchen was built in the back of the building. In addition to the renovations to the building itself, it became known as the Colonial Inn. Peterson operated the Colonial Inn until he died in January 1938. His wife continued to run the hotel until it was destroyed by fire in May 1938.

 

1930ca – Colonial Inn (The tall white building in the center of the picture with Colonial Inn on the side.)
 
 

                         

 

 

 On July 10, 1947, it was announced that Mrs. Joseph Meyers of the Holiday Inn was holding an Open House for all Whitehall and White Lake residents so they might inspect the property and see what improvements were made.

Mrs. Meyers, who formerly operated the Sylvan Beach Hotel, purchased the home of Mr. and Mrs. George W. Nelson and converted the place into a resort hotel. Besides a large 11 room house, there was a large barn that was converted into sleeping rooms on the 17 acre estate. The property was situated on the bluff above the home of Capt. and Mrs. Ira J. Lyons (of the Lyons Den) and overlooks White Lake. The buildings were oil heated for year around occupancy and Mrs. Meyers planned on catering to dinner parties in both summer and winter and to the members of the summer colony and hundreds of fishermen who came to the White Lake area during winter months.

The barn was completely remodeled to contain eight rooms with connecting baths and a large recreation room. The whole interior was covered with knotty pine. The recreation room was two storied and contained a large fireplace.

In 1955, Ray Johansen of Michillinda Beach Lodge purchased the renovated barn from then owners Mr. & Mrs. Eugene Atkinson and moved it down to his Lake Michigan property.