Ephrata, PA ~ Mountain Springs Hotel Property

This photo on the left is one of my favorite. I happen to come across it the other night. I took a series of them in September 2003. It is called "the mansion". It is one of the buildings on the Mountain Springs Hotel property in Ephrata, Pa.

Have you ever been someplace and it just "felt right?" Ephrata, Pa is one of those places for me. The first time I was there was in 1992. I went to visit Donecker's Art Works. It was a huge shoe factory that was turned into offices, studios and stores for local artisans. It is an "old-fashioned" community with a main street that looks like it is from "It's a Wonderful Life." Donecker's also has a few beautiful bed & breakfast inns along with a restaurant and high end clothing, furniture and jewlery stores. It is also famous for the Cloister's- Monks who were part of one of America's earliest religious communities.

On my next stay there, in 1993 I noticed the huge Mountain Springs Hotel. I fell in love with it.

In 1848 when Joseph and Hannah Konigmacher opened the Mountain Springs Hotel it sprawled over 145 acres and boasted a popular spa with healing waters. Having more than one hundred rooms in the spacious hotel guests would shell-out a lavish amount of $1.75 a day or $8.00 for a one-week stay.

Throughout the years the hotel went through a quick succession of owners, including a spiritualist group, which claimed ownership from 1935 until 1988. The property also served as the first home of the Ephrata Community Hospital in what is referred to as the “mansion” which was built in 1804 and is still located on the corner of Main and Spring Garden Street today.

The photo below is(was) the main hotel. On this day I went up on to the grounds and took quite a few photographs. It was a little erie being there by myself on this huge property. And when the pictures came back I almost expected to see "something" ghostly in one of the windows since it has a reputation of being haunted. This must have been so amazing 160 years ago. I would love to know what the inside of it looked like and I would have jumped at the chance to go in.

In 1999 the Ephrata Economic Development Corporation (EEDC) purchased the property. Deemed a Keystone Opportunity Zone site the property is exempt from all state, local and school taxes for a period of time as a means of encouraging development. In October 2002 the EEDC received a $2.6 million dollar grant from then-governor Mark Schweiker to help spur the project along.

Right after these photos were taken the whole property was taped up and off limits. Last June 2004 when I was there they started to work on it. Everything was gone/torn down except for the mansion. I read on line that it was supposed to resemble the original hotel. Unfortunately, it doesn't. I was just there a month ago and as exciting as change is, I was extremely sad to see that it looks just like any other hotel. I wish some things could stay the same.

At the present, the Hampton Inn & Suites at Mountain Springs is well under construction. The four-story, 72 room hotel will feature a generously appointed lobby, meeting space, indoor pool, and exercise room along with 35% of the rooms being spacious king-sized studios. Opening of the hotel is scheduled for September 2005. http://www.padutchcountry.com/member_pages/hampton_inn___suites_ephrata_-_mountain_springs.asp There is a small photo of what the grounds are going to look like.

Also being built on this site is a 7,000 square foot Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar which will open November 2005 and in 2006 a 20,000 square foot corporate office building is scheduled for completion. Ephrata's Applebee's will have a "neighborhood feel" with interior decor dedicated to highlighting Ephrata and Lancaster County history. A portion will be specially dedicated to the history of Mountain Springs.

The Mansion House, the only original structure remaining on the site will house a 55-60 capacity meeting room.