История отеля Pierce Pennant: как Великая депрессия похоронила сеть автогостиниц

Heartland History: Pierce Pennant Motor Hotel Though today the building is vacant and unused, the Pierce Pennant Motor Hotel along I-70 was built to capitalize on the rise of automobiles. The first Pierce Pennant Motor Hotel opened in Springfield in July 1928. The complex included a bus terminal, gas station, a restaurant, a soda fountain, a 24-hour auto shop, and a car wash. Shortly after, Motor Hotels opened in Rolla and Columbia. The Columbia location included a similar list of amenities, with the addition of an underground car garage, a small hospital area with a trained nurse and ambulance service, and an information bureau for travelers. The Columbia Pierce-Pennant Motor Hotel opened on Friday, October 25th, 1929, one day after Black Thursday, the start of the stock market crash that triggered the Great Depression. In 1930, the property was included in Sinclair Refining Company’s buyout of Pierce. The motor hotels were rebranded “Sinclair-Pennant,” and the national expansion plan was abandoned by the new owners. In a citation on the NRHP application, it reads, “the onset of the Great Depression shortly after the opening of the Pierce Pennant deprived the hotel of a fair opportunity to demonstrate that it was what the traveling public wanted in a home away from home.”