American & Commercial Hotels

Brookville's early growth can be attributed to its strategic location along the Susquehanna and Waterford Turnpike, a toll road which was completed in 1822 from the Susquehanna River in Clearfield County northwest to Waterford in Erie County. This major overland route entered Brookville along East Main Street and originally followed Jefferson Street. As the commercial center bec[a]me firmly established on Main Street, the Turnpike was moved one block to the south to conform to the right-of-way of Main Street itself. To accommodate the traffic of drovers and stage coach passengers, a number of hotels were built along Main Street.

The Commercial Hotel occupied the site of the Royal Exchange Hotel, which was destroyed by fire in 1856. John Clements rebuilt after the fire and opened Clements House in 1858. In 1871, another fire would take the building, but not before changing names and owners twice. Rebuilt again, the Commercial Hotel was opened by Matson and Arthur in 1883. This hotel housed guests until Brookville Title and Trust rebuilt on the property in 1921. The American Hotel held rooms on the second floor of the new bank, with an elevated access passage spanning the alley between the buildings. In 1971, extensive renovation changed the building's height.

The American Hotel, located to the west of the courthouse on Main Street, was built by Elijah Heath in 1845. In 1856, a fire swept the block, destroying the original building. The American Hotel was rebuilt in 1857 and served its guests for over 106 years until being razed in 1963. This large building, in addition to the guest rooms, was home to Sterk's News Stand, the hotel dining room, the American Café, a shoe shine stand, Western Union, a barber, a billiard room, a pay telephone station, and retail spaces that Heasley and Reitz, Barrett and Reitz Clothing, and Reitz's occupied successively. In the rear, a livery and barn housed horses.

[Photo captions, clockwise from top left, read] , . Commercial Hotel Facade

. Elevated Passage Connecting the American Hotel to Rooms Above Brookville Title and Trust (Originally the Commercial Hotel), 1932

. Watching a Parade from the American Hotel

. J. A. Caldwell's Illustration of the American Hotel

. Horses Pull Sleighs Down Main Street Past the Commercial (back) and American (front) Hotels