Filling a vacancy: Old hotel ledger makes return to Hanover
Vince Martonis, left, is at the home of Ileana and Mike Restivo in Erie with the old hotel ledger. Below, owners Arthur and Catherine Beebe operated an old Hanover hotel as a bar and restaurant from 1983 to 1987. This is where Tim Hortons is today.
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- Vince Martonis, left, is at the home of Ileana and Mike Restivo in Erie with the old hotel ledger. Below, owners Arthur and Catherine Beebe operated an old Hanover hotel as a bar and restaurant from 1983 to 1987. This is where Tim Hortons is today.
Such was the case with an early 1900s hotel ledger that I first learned about back in the 1980s when Joseph Restivo of Irving showed it to me. I was the Hanover Historian then, so he wanted me to know that he had the ledger and was taking care of it. That was fine with me since I could hope that the ledger would someday be donated to the Hanover History Center.
That donation finally became a reality this year when I received a call from Ileana Restivo, Joseph’s daughter, who lived with her son Mike in Erie. A friendly visit turned out to be the highlight of my day. I spent over three hours interviewing them and taking notes for the HHC file. The ledger covered the 1914-1921 period and had hundreds of names in it. Frequent patrons were the baseball teams who stayed at the hotel when they came to town to play the Silver Creek Horseshoes baseball team. There were guests from many states and even some foreign countries.
We had such a pleasant time. I listened eagerly to their memories of the Irving area. They both remembered how interested both Joseph and his brother Anthony were in Indian artifacts and history. In fact, I well remember Joseph showing me a container of Indian artifacts he had found in the Irving area. Those artifacts are still being cared for by a family member.
Long known as the Irving Hotel, the name became the Cloverleaf Hotel about1957 when the Thruway was built through Hanover to the Pennsylvania line. It was situated on the corner of Beebe Road and Routes 5 and 20, where Tim Horton’s is today.
Since the 1940s, many known Hanover residents and others were owners: Shultz, Sniegowski, Schumaker, Beebe, Mardino, Fox, Dickinson, and Tisack. It’s not known when it ceased operations as a hotel.
The kitchen was in an addition at the back. It burned just before the Foxes bought it in 1987. They built their Foxking RV’s business behind the hotel, operated by Jim Fox and Bob Rexroat. The hotel was demolished in 1988-89.
Now in her 80s, Ileana felt strongly that she had been caretaker long enough. The ledger should go back to Hanover.
I left the Restivo home that day with a renewed affirmation that there are still people who value area history and historically important items. Thank you, Ileana. Thank you, Mike.
