An undated photograph of Smith Hall in Gratz, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. This building burned to the ground in the Great Gratz Fire of 1924. It was owned by Harry Smith, who operated the facility as a restaurant, green grocery, and town hall/community center. Plays and musical events were performed here, early silent films were shown, and there were pool tables and a small store where general merchandise was sold. Also as part of the complex was Harry Smith‘s home.
Smith Hall, built about 1887, was located on the southeast corner of Center Street and South Street, also known as South Alley. On the southwest corner of the same intersection it was proposed in 1910 that the Gratz train station for the Midland Pennsylvania Railroad was to be built, but that never happened because the project went bust shortly after World War I.
After the fire of 1924, Harry Smith built a new facility on the same site and that building still stands today.
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