Harrisburg, our dear state capital, has always seemed to have a dearth of downtown hotels for some reason. There was a time, however, when hotels dotted the streets and innkeepers had to compete for business from those wanting to stay in the city.
I found this postcard for the Columbus Hotel in Harrisburg on Cardcow--not exactly enticing to this 21st-century observer (in fact, that innkeeper's face is a little creepy) but maybe at the time it made them stand out. Once I saw the back I was amazed the postcard made it to its destination (I needed Google to figure it out):
So what happened to the Columbus Hotel? Like so many similar buildings at the time, it fell victim to a fire in the early 1900s (although I doubt most fires were started by an explosion in a neighboring hat store).
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