THE HOTEL CRITTENDEN

AT THE TRAFFIC LIGHT IN COUDERSPORT

At first glance the Hotel Crittenden on the main intersection in Coudersport Pennsylvania looks impressive. A neat strong clean looking building diagonal from the Potter County Courthouse. You have to stare at it as you wait for the light to change. It takes a while and the building is impressive in this small town anchored by this main intersection.

The hotel is under renovations, and there’s only four rooms available. There are not if any other accommodations in town though. They cater to the star gazing crowd at Cherry Springs State Park and on promising days when the weather looks like it will hold the hotel brims with people.

The Taproom offers an array of good beers and a menu that has a lot more on it than just hamburgers and normal pub food. There’s a smoker in the courtyard outback and the first night Janet had a brisket sandwich and I went for the pulled pork. It was very good. The second night we were there was Taco Night and because it was National Tequila Day (isn’t every day?) the bartender Kayla gave us healthy pours of Cuervo Gold for $2.50.

The room we stayed in has a bit of history. Eliot Ness, of Untouchables fame, met here, as well as in the dining room, with a ghost writer to capture his antics battling Al Capone and the Chicago mob. Ness had come to Coudersport on a business venture and eventually passed away in town in 1957. Such is the Untouchables myth that this year the first Eliot Ness Fest was held the weekend before we arrived. The festival was so well attended that the Hotel Crittenden ran out of food. The proprietor phoned us as we were driving through the fierce rains that if we arrived and she was gone, she was out getting more food.

It was a good place to stay.

THE HOTEL CRITTENDEN

Rain rain go away

So much for seeing the stars. Here we are in beautiful downtown Coudersport PA and it’s raining and the forecast calls for much more rain throughout the night. We’re holed up in our hotel, the Crittenden, located at the traffic light in Coudersport; you can’t miss it.

The rain is not just wreaking havoc on the stargazing we had expected to do at Cherry Springs State Park, a Dark Sky Park, and perhaps the best place to see the Milky Way on the east coast, but it is also putting a “damper” on the entire area. Word has it that flooding has gotten so bad that Hershey Park Amusement Park has closed down for the day and a state of emergency has been declared in several Pennsylvania towns due to flash flooding. The rain will not abate tonight…or tomorrow. I fear there were not be any stargazing on this trip.

Janet and I drove the 200+ miles to Cherry Springs today at least thankful we weren’t going this far and also have to camp in the rain. Facilities at the Park are rustic; no hot showers, etc., so early in the planning stages of this trip we opted for a hotel. On our way to Coudersport and our hotel we did stop at Cherry Springs and surveyed the grounds and the night sky public viewing area and resolved to return in the future. Even tomorrow, Tuesday night, looks bad.

UNTOUCHABLE…WHO KNEW?

Turns out the hotel we are staying at… the only hotel in Coudersport I might add… The Crittenden…. has a unique history. Eliot Ness, of the Untouchables fame, had moved to Coudersport in the mid-1950’s as part of a business venture and eventually died here of a heart attack in 1957. Prior to his death he met regularly at the Crittenden with a ghost writer to document his battles with the Chicago mob and Al Capone. Ness died before the book was finished, but the highly sensationalized account led to the myth of the Untouchables, the law enforcement agents who could not be bribed or scared off by the Chicago mob. The Ness legend endures and we are staying in room 1 at the Crittenden, the room where Ness and his ghost writer would meet.

Hotel Crittenden 

The Crittenden is being renovated, but the room is clean and neat and overlooks the traffic light with the county courthouse rising into the rain drenched sky. Thankfully there is a bar/restaurant downstairs boasting a reasonable beer list and a nice menu served with large portions and decent prices so we don't have to go hunting for food or drink. Coudersport is about 12 miles outside of Cherry Springs State Park. There were places closer to the park to stay, but the Crittenden is a good hotel with a friendly staff.

HOTEL CRITTENDEN

Eliot Ness

NESS FEST

Turns out the 1^st annual Eliot Ness Fest was held just this past weekend honoring the town’s most famous citizen. The weekend featured walking and speakeasy tours, a “bootleg booze convoy hijacking”, a parade and afterwards a reenactment of the arrest of Al Capone. Also viewings of different documentaries about Ness and the movie The Untouchables with Kevin Costner were shown at different times at the local theater. Evidently the weekend soiree was so well attended and unexpected that the Crittenden ran out of food on Sunday.

 ELIOT NESS FEST

Hopefully the rain will clear out sometime soon. 

Thanks for reading.