Millerton Hotel

This is a view of the rear of the tidy Millerton Hotel, built in 1852 by Alexander Trowbridge, Alexander Holley and James Winchell only a year after the railroad reached Millerton.

The picture was taken in 1910, copyrighted by Lorin J. Eggleston, postmaster and merchant. The first of the big hotels, the Millerton Hotel, was located on Main Street near the rail station and what is today the Oakhurst Diner.

Soon after the Central New England Railroad was built, connecting Boston with Poughkeepsie and the Hudson River, Millerton became a commercial and agricultural hub.

Millerton prospered as a commercial center as industrialists and farmers shipped their goods to the cities and urban dwellers took advantage of the train system to escape the cities’ summer heat.

Country hotels flourished and Millerton became home to three of them. The Millerton Hotel was joined by George Greathead’s Central Hotel in 1865 and the Brick Block Hotel was erected by James Conlan in 1872.

Visitors to the village were also served by smaller hostelries such as Mrs. Sitzer’s Home Hotel, located at the junction of Main Street and Route 22.

The Sitzer Home Hotel, formerly a doctor’s home, was opened in 1910 in a frame house that no longer exists. It was known for the gracious hospitality of its owners and for Mrs. Sitzer’s delicious meals.