Endangered Places List
262 Main Street West, Girard
The oldest hotel in the borough, the Girard Hotel was built between 1855 and 1870 and served the community for more than a 100 years.
One of the more colorful stories to come from the hotel involved famed circus man Dan Rice. According to local lore, Rice frequented the hotel’s bar, and upon being kicked out one day, he returned with his circus lion to scare folks away so that he could drink in peace.
The Girard Hotel was located just outside the Girard Historic District, which was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2023.
A fire in the 1950s destroyed the third floor and mansard roof. Rather than replace the the third floor, a flat roof was installed over top of the second floor.
The Girard Hotel was closed for more than a decade, and, even though the last owner expressed interest in rehabilitating the structure, it sat vacant and was allowed to deteriorate from neglect.
An engineering study conducted in 2019 found the Girard Hotel unsound, primarily due to long-term water infiltration in the northern portion of the building, and Girard Borough Council condemned the building. The hotel was then acquired by the Erie County Land Bank, which oversaw the demolition process in 2021. As part of this process, Habitat for Humanity was invited to salvage materials from the building, and the local volunteer fire department was permitted to use it for a training exercise. Following demolition, the Erie County Land Bank transferred ownership of the vacant hotel site to Girard Borough.
During demolition, several hundred bricks from the Girard Hotel were salvaged. A selection of these bricks were engraved with “Girard Hotel 1855-2021” and sold during Dan Rice Days and other special events during 2022 as a fundraiser.
Today, Downtown Girard and Girard Borough are working collaboratively to expand the borough’s public park system and beautify the west gateway to the borough’s historic downtown by utilizing the now vacant Girard Hotel lot for use as a public park.
Updated 06/12/2025