The Willard Hotel
by Jurgen Lorenzen
Title
The Willard Hotel
Artist
Jurgen Lorenzen
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
The abandoned Willard hotel and the B&O railroad depot on East Main Street in Grafton, West Virginia.
Named in honor of B&O President Daniel Willard, the Willard (no connection to the famous Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C.) was built in 1911 by Grafton attorney and industrialist John T. McGraw. The contractor for both the Willard and the new B&O station was J. Walsh & Son of Baltimore, and the same granite and brick were used on both buildings.
The six-and-a-half-story hotel is Second Empire in style, with a mansard roof, cut stone trim, and brick corbeled quoins. The Willard was a thoroughly modern hotel for its time with all the amenities, and had one of the finest ballrooms in the area.
By the early 1960s ridership had declined to a trickle.
The Willard ceased to function as a hotel and was used to house train crews; by 1988 it stood vacant. The closed station is now the Grafton B&O Railroading Heritage Center.
Uploaded
July 25th, 2022
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Viewed 343 Times - Last Visitor from Fontana, CA on 04/17/2024 at 2:51 AM
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Comments (31)
Judy Vincent
Beautiful capture! Congratulations! This will be the “Abandoned and Forgotten Buildings in the US” photo of the day on the USA Photographers group home page for 5/18/23!
Alana Thrower
Beautiful capture of this majestic old hotel! Thanks for the interesting history! l/f/t
Luther Fine Art
Congratulations! Your wonderful art has been featured on the ABC Group home page from the G IS FOR GRAND week, OCTOBER 17 to OCTOBER 24, 2022. You are invited to add your wonderful art in the Features Archive!
Jurgen Lorenzen
Chad, thank you very much for the feature in the group URBEX ABANDONED IN THE WORLD!
Mary Lynn Giacomini
Artistic composition and stunning capture of The Willard Hotel Jurgen! Stunning colors, light, and clarity! LF
Marcia Colelli
Wonderful perspective image and capture of this abandoned hotel. It looks like it was quite grand at one time. L/F
Morris Finkelstein
Beautiful photo of an abandoned old hotel and the closed railroad depot with great perspective, colors, and composition, Jurgen! F/L
Holly April Harris
Beautifully captured! This is a lovely old building! Congratulations! I’m am very pleased to feature your beautiful image in the group ‘Covered Bridges and Historical Buildings.’ It’s a wonderful addition to the group! Please add it to the “2022 Third Quarter Featured Image Collection” thread in the discussions area for a permanent record of your feature. Thank you! 7/26/22
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