While researching the history of the Jarrettown Hotel, which was once an inn and now operates only as a restaurant, we uncovered a story about a tornado that touched down in the area. People took shelter from the storm in the hotel and carriage barn. Unfortunately, the carriage barn collapsed in the storm killing a man inside.
Serendipitously, during our research, our mother had a connection to someone who owned the hotel!! A small world indeed. We not only had a personal interview with him, he supplied us with invaluable images of his time at the hotel. The property has since been sold by our last documented owners. It still operates as a restaurant.
Timeline:
Tornado strikes the town of Jarretown in 1896, this was the scene of the Jarrettown Methodist Church (built in 1867)
A postcard of Irvin Rotzell's Hotel, Jarrettown PA (approx. 1940)
From the Schmitt collection, the original bar at the hotel
Schmitt collection, John Schmitt is the passenger
Part of the porch was enclosed to make a kitchen.
Everyone gathered at the General Store in Dresher to learn the news of the day. (Ambler Gazette)
Original Notes Outlining Research (we brought our Dad into the act for this one)
© 2019 History Attic Research, LLC – all rights reserved
Printed in the United States
This narrative was created based on property deeds, published histories, maps, and family genealogy sources. The information is accurate per the authors’ understanding and interpretation of the source material. No duplication or copying is permitted without History Attic Research's permission. This a summary of our findings, a full copy is available upon request. Deeds and supplementary documents are given to our clients. Source list also available upon request.