Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: Grand View Point Hotel

Sign on building: "Grand View Point Hotel." Road sign: "Lookout Point Grand View. Allegheny Mountains, elevation 2464 ft. Lincoln Highway." Handwritten caption at bottom of photo: "Lookout Point Grand View. 17 m. W. of Bedford, U.S. 30. CEG." This is a real photo postcard showing the Grand View Point Hotel sometime between 1927, when it was built, and 1932, when it reopened after being transformed into the Ship Hotel , which became a popular tourist attraction along the Lincoln Highway . See also a cropped version of this photo for a better view of the original hotel and a later photo of it as the Ship Hotel.

For more information, see the full version of this real photo postcard.

"S. S. Grand View Point Hotel. A Steamer in the Allegheny Mountain[s]. 17 miles west of Bedford, Pa. U.S. 30. Elevation 2464 feet." An aerial view of this ship-shaped hotel, once a popular stop along the Lincoln Highway in western Pennsylvania, shows just how precariously it was perched on the side of the hill. Mouse over the image for an enlarged view of the building and the cars and trucks parked along the road. For more information about the hotel, see the Grand View Ship Hotel: A Steamer in the Allegheny Mountains, 1932 . For additional postcard views, see below.

Caption: "S. S. Grand View Point. A Steamer in the Allegany Mts. Elv. 2624 ft. 17 m. W. of Bedford, Pa. U.S. 30. 4-CEG-32." Signs and banners: "Grand View Point Hotel. Post Cards. Souvenirs. See 3 States and 7 Counties. Visitors Welcome. Free Telescope." "Restaurant. Rooms." "S.S. Grand View Point....Open for Business." This image of the famous Ship Hotel , which was a popular roadside attraction along the Lincoln Highway (U.S. Route 30) in western Pennsylvania until it burned to the ground in 2001, is a real photo postcard by Charles Elmer Gerkins (indicated by the initials "CEG" in the caption) that's dated April 1932 ("4-32"). In The Ship Hotel: A Grand View along the Lincoln Highway (Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 2010), author Brian Butko quotes a 1930s WPA guide to explain the reason that the building was shaped like a ship: "The S.S. Grand View Point Hotel was remodeled in 1931 to give the impression of an ocean liner, because the owner saw a resemblance between early morning mists rising from the valley and billowing ocean waves." After enlarging the image, I discovered that two of the banners on the building (including the one hanging on the railing just above "3 States") indicate that the "S.S. Grand View Point" is "Open for Business." Since the building was remodeled to look like a ship sometime in 1931 (the smokestacks, deck, and bow-shaped front of the building were added at that time), I wonder if this photo from April 1932 shows the building just after it reopened. See also two linen postcards that illustrate the 63-Mile View from the hotel and the Approach to the Hotel :

"Grand View Point Hotel. See 3 states and 7 counties. Pa., Md., W. Va, 63 mile view from Grand View--Ship Hotel on Lincoln Highway, U.S. 30, 17 miles west of Bedford, Pa., looking into 3 states and 7 counties, 80 miles east of Pittsburgh, Pa. 4A-H1905." Printed on back: "Distributed by H. Paulson, Grand View-Ship Hotel, Central City, Pa."

"Grand View Point Hotel. Approaching S.S. Grand View Point Hotel on the Lincoln Highway, 17 miles west of Bedford, Pa. Elevation 2,464 feet. 3A-H421." Printed on back: "Grand View Point Hotel at the most beautiful spot in U.S. Summit of Allegheny Mts., 17 miles west of Bedford, Pa., on Historic Lincoln Highway, overlooking 3 states and 7 counties. Elevation 2,464 feet. Distributed by H. Paulson, Grand View-Ship Hotel, Central City, Pa."