Ford Hotel now Richford Arms on State Street in Erie, PA

Ford Hotel postcard courtesy of Dr. Barbara Chambers.

The Ford Hotel at 515 State Street in Erie, PA opened to the public on May 12, 1928. This grand hotel had 400 rooms, some of which overlooked Perry Square. Rooms on West 4th Street offered a view of the Bayfront.

Richard T. Ford, president of the Ford Hotels Company, attended the grand opening, as did Erie Mayor Joseph C. Williams. J. Foster Warner designed the ten-story hotel.

"The old underground restroom entrances on the corner of North Park Row and State are visible here," said Joanne Marchant Heim. "The building to the right of the Richford housed the old Prozan Drapery and Furniture Upholstery shop. The old Brown House Hotel, which burned down in 1840, was located where the Richford now stands. After the Brown burnt down, the Ellsworth was built, and later the Ford (Richford) replaced it."

The old Ford Hotel still stands and is now known as Richford Arms.

Read all sorts of historical facts about Erie, Pennsylvania at Old Time Erie