History
In 1803 and 1804, David Cook and James Anderson began developing two towns side by side along the Susquehanna River. Eight years later, they agreed to join the two communities and by combining the names of their wives Mary and Henrietta, called the new town Marietta.
Marietta soon became a vital river town for lumbering and transportation. The Railroad House was built between 1820 and 1823 to provide accommodations, food and drink for the river canal traffic of the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal (running from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh by way of the Portage Railroad.) The canal ran directly in front of the hotel.
The hotel became a haven for river men who worked along the scenic Susquehanna and history records the hotels’ "walls reverberated with inebriate good cheer, an occasional brawl, and all the violence and immorality of the roughest classes."
When the Pennsylvania Standard Railroad replaced the canal, the waiting room and ticket office were located in our building until the Marietta Train Station was constructed across the street from the Railroad House in 1869. The old train station is now part of the Railroad House property and awaits restoration as a museum, chapel, and banquet hall and conference center.
In the late 1890's, Colonel Thomas Scott, who was the Assistant Secretary of War for Lincoln and a famous president of the PA Railroad, owned the Railroad House.
The hotel, known as the Railroad House, flourished until the 1930's, when the Depression and the flood of 1936 helped the deterioration of the building. It sat vacant except for squatters until the federal government acquired the property and sold it at auction in the late 1950's. Restoration began in the 1960's and the basement was a psychedelic coffee house. After the flood of 1972, the building changed hands, continued restoration and became a gourmet restaurant and popular discothèque.
From 1989 - 2005, under the stewardship of Richard and Donna Chambers, the property was more fully utilized as a Bed & Breakfast and the original hotel rooms were restored. The restaurant expanded its fine dining reputation and the dining rooms were freshened while preserving the traditional hand-stenciled walls.
In October 2005 Raphael Aguon, a Californian living in Washington, DC became the Railroad House’s owner and proprietor.