The HISTORY
Since the end of the Civil War, Park Place has stood as symbol for Williamsport.
Originally built as a grand hotel, Park Place has become a multi-use facility. It is home to large and small office spaces as well as event spaces for hosting a wide range of activities including wedding receptions, corporate functions, holiday events and much more.
Between the years of 1864 and 1865, Peter Herdic commissioned architect Eber Culver to build the four story Park Home, then known as the Herdic House Hotel, to be a first class hotel to serve the travelers of the Pennsylvania Railroad who were passing through the city of Williamsport. The lavish structure stood on five acres of land with flower gardens, a fountain, gas fixtures, its own telegraph office, and in the front,a deer park that never contained less than 3 or 4 deer.
The structure itself was a square brick building with outside dimensions of 156 feet each way and the entrance was reached by an open arch. The inside of the building was made of durable white pine while the lobby and halls were lined with marble tile from the Mosquito Valley and the rooms were sumptuously furnished with accommodations for 700 guests.
As originally laid out, the hotel had two large dining rooms on the west side separated by a partition that could be partially removed. The kitchen was on the railroad side of the building, and in the basement was a restaurant chiefly patronized by passengers on trains that stopped at the station. It is said that, in his contract with the railroads, Herdic had arranged that there would be no other main station in Williamsport, and the trains arriving near mealtime would stop twenty minutes for meals.When trains stopped at the Herdic Hotel Station, the first noise heard by the passengers was the loud beating of a large gong and a fog horn voice announcing that meals were ready for serving at the hotel dining room.
