US hotels combine hospitality with history as America turns 250
As America celebrates its 250th anniversary, some of the nation's most remarkable stories aren't just found in museums, but preserved inside historic hotels where art collections, treasured memorabilia and the families who care for them help safeguard the country's living history.
Recognition by Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, goes beyond age alone. It aims to honor properties across the U.S. that preserve cultural legacy while continuing to shape the American story.
Katherine Orr, the organization's director of communications, told ABC News that hotels have to meet specific standards to be accepted into the program, such as being over 50 years old, offering an elevated level of service and emphasizing the historic experience.
Whether it's a coastal getaway at the La Valencia Hotel, an 11-story Spanish-tiled tower and designated San Diego Historic Landmark celebrating its centennial, or the Concord Inn in Massachusetts that dates back to the Revolutionary War, Orr said "there are so many different experiences you can look at" among the 290 listed properties.
"A hotel might be operating out of a historic building, but we want that hotel to be giving guests something more than just historic architecture -- we want there to be some connection to the legacy that the hotel holds," Orr said.
One such property she noted from their list, Nemacolin, began as an old hunting lodge in the Laurel Highlands of Fayette County, Pennsylvania. It was purchased out of a bankruptcy auction in 1987 by American businessman and WWII veteran Joseph Hardy three decades after he started 84 Lumber -- the largest private building materials supplier in the U.S.
"What's key to a successful historic hotel is an immersive experience, something that's authentic to a location and to the region and to the people that have been there working there for decades," Orr said. "I think Nemacolin delivers that in a really dynamic way."
Since its origins, the family-owned-and-operated resort has expanded to three hotels on a property across 2,200 acres, run by owner and CEO Maggie Hardy and her son, PJ Magerko Liquorice who have curated an expansive collection of Americana history from art to aviation.
"We're able to establish a historical landmark and improve it. My purpose here is the custodian of what we have," Maggie Hardy told ABC News.
The American art collections on display for guests throughout the property includes original Norman Rockwell paintings, Alexander Calder sculptures, original Tiffany and Co. stained-glass lamps and more.
"There's different collections and different artists that mean a lot to us, and we have them all on display for guests to see," Liquorice told ABC News.
Among the iconic historic items that guests can enjoy are a 1920s wooden carousel that Hardy had restored and hand painted to its former glory where kids and families now ride and enjoy for free. There's also a fully functioning 1931 PA-8 Pitcairn Super Mailwing -- the only surviving aircraft of the five models ever made, previously owned by Hollywood icon Steve McQueen -- on which a pilot regularly takes guests for flights off the private airstrip.
"The Pride and Joy airplane hangar has some of America's most iconic aviation history," Liquorice said, adding that the hangar includes letters from the presidential office of Franklin D. Roosevelt, photographs of Neil Armstrong and two additional aircraft, including a 1938 DH87B de Havilland Hornet Moth.
The family also opened a Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired boutique hotel, Falling Rock, in 2004 that was designed by his protege David Merritt and inspired by nearby American architectural marvel, Fallingwater.
"We had 32 rooms at the beginning -- we thought it was so grand at the time -- it was an old, fuddy-duddy hunting lodge," Hardy recalled of first seeing the property her dad had set out to find as a plot for her to enjoy fishing. "We brought it back to life."
Her son, who serves as the chief experiences officer, added that the refurbished Grand Lodge, which has earned AAA Five Diamond hotels and Forbes Four-Star hotels awards, "gave my mom a pursuit big enough to channel her endless energy into building their American dream to share with the world."
Celebrating 250 years of America as the second-generation owner comes with an extra sense of pride and patriotism for Hardy.
"I can remember celebrating 200 years, the feeling I got of patriotism and knowing my dad served in World War II, and seeing how patriotic he was. But to be here now for the 250th -- it is exceptional," she said. "It's a time for America to shine, to be proud. I certainly am, because any other place in the world, we wouldn't have been able to be so successful with a family-owned company. So I'm so grateful to the country."
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