The Berry Hotel
*The Berry Hotel in Athens, Ohio, is celebrated on this date in 1882. The Berry Hotel was established by African American entrepreneur Edward C. Berry and his wife Mattie. The Berry Hotel began as an ice cream shop and later a restaurant the couple operated on a lot bought in 1880 for $1,300.
In 1893, they expanded the restaurant into a hotel. Mattie Berr started the now-standard hotel conventions of placing a Bible, toiletries, and closet hangers in each room and outdated traditions like mending patrons' clothing. What began as a modest hotel grew in size and reputation over the years. According to local historian Ray Abraham, four American presidents and actor Bob Hope, poet Robert Frost, and writer Carl Sandburg stayed at the hotel.
The Berry's sold the hotel in 1921; it continued as a hotel until 1961, when Ohio University bought it to use as student housing and, later, offices. The Berry Hotel was demolished in the 1970s after being used as a dormitory for the school.
Image: Berry Hotel in 1951, Courtesy Ohio University Digital Archives Collection
