Beers Hotel

Researched and compiled by Bricktown PA · September 28, 2026

The Beers Hotel stood at Shirley and Jefferson streets, but its story reached well beyond a room for the night. A bank began in one of its corner rooms. Merchants sold clothing, medicines and jewelry downstairs. People gathered for meals, meetings and family celebrations. Across changes of ownership and two major fires, the building remained woven into Mount Union’s downtown life.

From a house to the Seibert Hotel

Charles Howard Welch’s local history traces the property to a frame dwelling associated with Belle Shaver, built in the early 1860s. William Seibert enlarged it in 1881 and opened a hotel. After his death, his widow continued the establishment. A later centennial account places the original dwelling in the 1850s, so its exact construction year remains unsettled. [1] [2]

Welch dates the sale to Anderson Beers to 1889, the year the family came to Mount Union. His separate biography of Anderson adds that the family first operated the American House on Water Street, then moved to the Seibert House in April 1890. Those may be different purchase and occupancy milestones; the surviving accounts do not settle the distinction. The hotel was also known as the Commercial House or Commercial Hotel. [1]

Mary and Edward Beers carry it forward

After Anderson’s death, his widow, Mary E. Parsons Beers, and son Edward M. Beers continued the hotel. Edward also operated a substantial livery. By around 1910, Welch described an enlarged, remodeled establishment with 45 rooms, steam heat, electric lighting and dining accommodations. W. T. Howard was its clerk. The building had grown through additions rather than appearing all at once in its final form. [1]

Edward’s public career took him from borough office to the Huntingdon County bench and then Congress, where he served from March 4, 1923, until his death on April 21, 1932. His sister Martha Beers Clark managed the hotel during his congressional years while he remained its owner. [3] [4]

Martha’s life reached beyond Mount Union. Her obituary describes her marriage to Charles Clark and their ranch near Great Falls, Montana. After his death she returned to Mount Union, while continuing western business visits. She died at the hotel on August 10, 1933. Her management, along with Mary Beers’s earlier work, makes the women of the family central to the hotel’s history. [5]

A business block within downtown

The First National Bank opened in a corner room of the hotel on October 1, 1902, and moved to its new building on January 23, 1909. C. T. F. Hadley’s jewelry store subsequently occupied the former banking room. Other businesses made the hotel block a place for everyday errands as well as travel. These names represent different periods, not a single moment when all operated together. [1]

Worship, wedding dinners and hired horses

The hotel also supplied meeting space. A centennial history of First Baptist Church says the congregation rented a second-floor room on October 14, 1903, after finding its earlier quarters in the Odd Fellows hall inadequately heated. Later recollections describe Rotary and Lions meetings in the upstairs dining room. [6] [14]

On September 10, 1913, Theresa Peduzzi and Fred Dughi celebrated their wedding with a dinner at the hotel and a later band serenade. The family connection continued in other ways: the nearby Luna Theatre’s opening was interrupted by the December fire, and Guido Peduzzi raised the alarm during the 1929 blaze. [16] [7] [9] Read the Peduzzi family history.

Helen Hollingshead’s Do You Remember? preserves another side of the business: the Beers livery, hired horses and sleighs, and a stable along Jefferson Street at the alley where Saxe’s later building stood. These are memories recorded in 1950, offering a glimpse of the hotel’s place in travel before automobiles became commonplace. [17]

December 1, 1913: fire and rebuilding

A major fire broke out around eight in the evening on December 1, 1913. The contemporary report places the apparent beginning in the third-floor laundry area above the kitchen. Firefighters under Charles Wenzel worked to contain it while the nearby Luna Theatre evacuated its opening-night audience. [7]

At that time Edward and his mother owned the building, while H. J. Forney operated the hotel. The fire damaged the hotel and businesses below, but it did not end the establishment. By February 6, 1914, the newspaper reported it had reopened, with commercial-room repairs still continuing. [7] [8]

Operators changed over time. A January 1916 notice announced that John Ashman of Orbisonia would take over after February 1, having bought furnishings and arranged to rent the building. Mr. and Mrs. D. F. Pincin were then in charge. The notice describes an operating-business transfer and lease, rather than establishing a sale of the real estate. [11]

October 6, 1929: another major blaze

The second major fire came early on October 6, 1929. Guest Morley Queen awoke to smoke around five in the morning, and Guido Peduzzi called firemen after seeing smoke from across the street. Guests and Martha Beers Clark required ladder rescues. Lower-level businesses sustained damage, and Edward’s second-floor office suffered smoke and water damage. [9]

The newspaper reported an apparent origin in the basement beneath the fruit store. Lawrence Prestenpino subsequently faced arson-related charges, but a jury found him not guilty, as reported that December. The accusation must not be mistaken for an established explanation of who caused the fire. [9] [10]

The Alesi Hotel years

On May 6, 1947, Mr. and Mrs. John Alesi purchased the hotel from Mr. and Mrs. Cloyd G. Beers for a reported $39,000. The newspaper described approximately 40 rooms combining hotel and apartment uses, upstairs dining and kitchen facilities, and plans for renovation. The building became known as the Alesi Hotel. [12]

The next generation also helped operate it. Lena A. (Alesi) Rispigliati, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Zinobile) Alesi and wife of Alfred Rispigliati, was manager and operator of the hotel and restaurant when she died on January 21, 1978, aged 59. Her obituary establishes that role, although it does not say when she first assumed it. [13]

The building’s final chapter

In January 1986, Dominic Saia had entered an agreement with Unitas National Bank to purchase the former Beers Hotel. He told the newspaper his plans were undecided and disputed rumors that the building had been condemned. The report and accompanying photograph establish that it was still standing then. [14]

By April 1989, its demolition had prompted Dr. Robert Fleming to recall the businesses and meetings associated with the landmark. A June 7 report described a new Uni-Mart under construction on the former hotel site. Together, those dated accounts place the demolition in the 1989 redevelopment story, rather than the approximate 1985 date repeated in a later district history. The exact demolition day remains to be established. [15]