An undated picture post card of the Union House Hotel, Gratz, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania,
This hotel was located on the southwest corner of Market Street and Center Street, the central square of the town. It was built about 1886 to replace an earlier hotel on this site that was destroyed by fire. In the “Great Gratz Fire of 1924,” this hotel was also destroyed by a fire which was believed to have started in the ice house behind the building. The cause of the fire was said to be “suspicious.” In addition to the Union House several other buildings were destroyed on or near the main intersection, including Smith’s Pool Hall and Restaurant, which was a main social gathering place where films, plays, concerts and other amusements were featured weekly.
After the site was leveled by the 1924 the fire, it took many years before something was erected here.
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