It has been a hotel, a student dormitory and currently, an apartment complex, but it began as a memorial to one of Bradford’s greatest oilmen, Lewis Emery. This year, on Feb. 22, it turned 95 years old.
Lewis Emery died in November 1924 at the age of 85. He had been one of the city’s most successful entrepreneurs: an oil producer who, it was reported, had 1,000 wells in his lifetime. A natural leader of men, he was a champion of the independent oil producers and originated a double pipeline for the delivery of oil from western Pennsylvania to the eastern seaboard. He also owned a hardware store, oil well supply stores, a refinery, a newspaper (the Bradford Daily Record), a gold mine in California, a rubber plantation in Peru and wheat fields in the midwest, while he also traveled extensively throughout the world and ran for governor of Pennsylvania in 1906.
Following his death, his only daughter, Grace, decided that a luxury hotel at the head of Main Street across from the town square on “one of the most conspicuous and choice sites in the city” would “immediately attract the eye from a distance and become more imposing at travelers’ approach.” Bearing the name Emery, it would be a lasting monument to his memory.
There was only one problem. Another hotel already stood there.
It was the St. James, a hotel that had been erected in 1878. The second hotel to be built in the city, it had served as one of Bradford’s finest hotels for more than 50 years. The St. James was a three-story brick structure, with 75 rooms, “fitted with every convenience” including baths, electric bells, elevators and every modern improvement. Its motto was “the best service, the best table, the best rooms, the best of everything for our guests.”
Determined, Grace Emery purchased the St. James Hotel from James Leasure on Dec. 10, 1927, chose an architect and approved blueprints. Razing of the old hotel began March 20 and during demolition, all materials from the old hotel: doors, windows, lath, lumber, brick, plumbing, radiators, etc. were offered for sale – cheap.
During this time period, with the St. James now gone, Bradford’ s City Council asked Grace Emery if she would consider letting the city extend Main Street through to Bushnell St. They hoped to build a new City Hall on this extended portion, and suggested that Grace Emery consider building the new hotel on the corner of Kennedy and Boylston streets, now the site of Bradford’s Kubiak building. But she refused.
Groundbreaking for the new Emery Hotel was held on Father’s Day in 1928 and construction began immediately. Eight months later, it was finished. Grace Emery spared no expense, hiring interior decorators, local businesses and experienced workmen. It was built of local Hanley brick with gravel and sand supplied by Bissett Brothers and 750,000 pounds of cement. It had 1,200 electrical outlets, 75,000 feet of wiring, telephones in every room, and bathtubs or showers in 80 of the units. When finished, the new hotel stood seven stories high, had 105 rentable rooms, five stores on the first floor, a coffee house, main dining room, and private dining room called The Venetian. By 1929 standards, it was truly luxurious.
There were 61 employees: two day clerks, a night clerk and two telephone operators in the front office; a head waiter, 14 waitresses, two cashiers, two busboys, and one roll boy in the dining areas; a chef, kitchen steward, sous chef, assistant chef, night chef, pastry and ice cream chef, a pantry woman, four dishwashers, and one pot washer in the kitchen; a head housekeeper, six chamber maids, one parlor maid, one night maid, a head laundryman, one laundress, five bell boys, two elevator girls, an engineer, baggage porter, night porter and doorman.
That night, there was a special grand opening party with 300 guests including architects, contractors, local businessmen and prominent Bradfordians. Decks of cards with the Emery crest were given as souvenirs. An orchestra from Buffalo played all evening. Following welcoming remarks by Grace Emery, dinner was served at 7:45 p.m. At one point, members of the local National Guard, Company K, appearing in full military regalia, marched in single file about the banquet tables, and congratulated Grace Emery with three rousing cheers.
Thousands of flowers were placed about the lobby and lounge areas and after dinner, the rugs were rolled up, and the entire ground floor was devoted to dancing. It was truly a night to remember.
In its day, the Emery Hotel had many famous people stay there, including three Pennsylvania governors, a Supreme Court Justice, aviator Wiley Post, Ethel Barrymore, George M. Cohan, Jack Dempsey, Tom Mix and Benny Goodman to name just a few.
Two years later, Grace sold her house on Congress Street and in 1931 had a penthouse terrace apartment erected on the top of the hotel. She lived there until her death in 1941. The hotel was sold to the Emery Hotel Corp. which expanded the hotel in 1944, adding 20 more rooms and renovating the interior in 1946.
But by 1964, the day of luxury hotels – at least in Bradford — was coming to an end as a “new and modern Holiday Inn” was planned, with a “nationally famous tradition of modern motor inn service.” The old Emery was sold – this time to the University of Pittsburgh as a student center with residence and dining facilities and room to house 225 students. It was named “Emery Hall” in a continuing tribute to Lewis Emery.
By 1972, with the local campus now located at the former Harri Emery airport, new eight-student dormitory units were built. As the UPB campus began to grow, and additional student housing built, Emery Hall was no longer needed and talks began about selling the building and converting Emery Hall into a low-income housing facility for the elderly. It would take years and several owners before Emery Towers became a reality. The 101-unit apartment complex for the elderly began accepting residents in December 1983. The official dedication of Emery Towers was held April 25, 1984.
Forty years later, the name of Emery is still an important reminder of the days of early Bradford and one man, Lewis Emery. His daughter, Grace, did indeed create a lasting monument to her father’s memory.
