American Hotel and Bar

The American Hotel and Bar- If you look directly across the street from the park, you will see a faded green building on the corner of Main and Second Street, constructed in 1872. This former 3 story building was once visited by William Jennings Bryan in 1897. Bryan spoke from the building’s front porch to a very large crowd in the interest of Henry Chapman of Jackson who was a Democratic candidate for Governor. The structure originally consisted of three stories. As the town grew so did business as the American Hotel grew quickly, becoming the American Hotel and Bar in the early 1900s. Hotels were some of the most vital business throughout the Little Cities region. With the arrival of the railroads, this opened up the area for vast immigration. Immigrants from eastern European countries, such as Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and England coupled with others from Italy, Hungary, and Germany quickly rushed into the Hocking Valley region to fill vast mining shortages. In Shawnee, like many other communities, sports were a popular pastime. In the 1920s and 1930s America was enthralled by the sport of boxing. Naturally, the American Hotel and Bar would play host to numerous boxing matches.