top of page

Our History

      Various writings date a tavern and inn was established on the property located at 39 W. Main St. in the year 1823. In 1839 or 1840, the established business known as the “American House” came under the ownership of David D. Dowd. The 1850 census identifies him as a “hotel keeper”. In about 1851, David Dowd constructed an addition on the east side of this Seville Temperance House. The south addition was also built c. 1851, based on its design.

​

       “American House” possibly came back into use as a name for the hotel during roughly the 1870’s. A. R. Miller was the hotel keeper in 1874 and the 1874 Medina County atlas refers to the present site of the American House, in the village of Seville. By 1880, the hotel was owned and operated by Christian Roth and his wife Jane. They took in boarders along with transient guests.

​

​

     Fires and accidents were a weekly occurrence in the 1890’s. The villages had fire departments with all the advanced equipment, but in many cases that was just not enough. Seville and Spencer suffered the most damage of the decade. In 1895, flames threatened the south side of Seville’s Main Street. It started at the hotel, and Seville volunteers responded with a hand-pumped engine. In anticipation of the worst, they telegraphed Medina’s company to come to the rescue; after all, it was Seville’s volunteers who came north to Medina to help in 1870. Medina’s fire team put their heavy equipment on a railroad flatcar, climbed into empty coal cars, and headed south. There was an eight-minute delay at Chippewa Lake while a passenger train passed through, but they made it in fairly good time to Seville. Excitement ran high, but when they arrived, the hotel fire had been extinguished with most of the building destroyed.

     By 1895, Thomas Hetherington had become the hotel owner and operator. He was responsible for erecting the existing 1895 building after the fire. We believe the foundation was original to the 1833 structure. The 1851 south addition was placed behind the new building. There is an opening in the ceiling where you can still view the charred beams and original tin ceiling. Hetherington ran the inn with his wife and daughter. The 1900 census indicated the hotel was completely available to transient guests. It is believed his wife’s death in 1902 influenced Hetherington to sell the hotel in 1905. He and his daughter, Elizabeth, remained in Seville where they operated a notions store. They are all buried in Mound Hill Cemetery.

     George O. Morton purchased the property in 1905. He renamed the business “Hotel Morton”. George operated the hotel, while his wife Sarah managed the kitchen. They had one boarder with the rest of the rooms being available to transient guests. The 1895 building with a first-floor dining room and the use of the 1851 section for a kitchen enabled them to offer food service and gatherings, i.e., business, family events, etc. 1920 newspaper ads mentioned Hotel Morton as hosting these types of events. The restaurant space was advertised as “The Oasis”. Sarah died in 1952 and both are buried in Mound Hill Cemetery.

     There were many different owners throughout the 1900’s with two of note – The Inn was sold in 1960 to Robert H. Myers and his wife Mildred. Robert was a descendant of Henry Hosmer, the founder of Seville. (4 greats). They were inspired by the success of the Golden Lamb in Lebanon, Ohio. They reopened the building as a hotel and restaurant and purchased back many of the antique furnishings that had been sold at auction years earlier, paying a “tourists” price. An article noted that “with its brass agleam and woodwork polished, the Inn is as charming as a tune from a 19 th century music box. The 56-seat capacity colonial dining room offered daily evening meals, plus Saturday and Sunday hours. The reopened hotel offered a total of ten bedrooms and 4.5 baths. The restaurant had a reputation for excellent food.

     In 1967 the Inn was sold to Herle and Frances Hewit. They expanded with an addition on the east side that same year. They lived in the building, offered rooms to transient guests, and moved their existing restaurant on Main Street, “The Hubbard Valley Country Kitchen”, into the building. The addition was used as a 50-seat coffee shop, with seating for an additional 125 persons when the first-floor hotel space was opened for dining on weekends or private parties. B&O freight train crews parked the train next to the hotel to stop and eat. Owners added a “B&O Burger” to the menu for them. They wanted to retire and listed the Inn for sale in late 1971. They ended transient guest lodging in 1972 or early 1973 and the five rooms became occupied by renters.

     In May of 1976, Paul Lenos purchased the Seville Inn from “Belle’s Colonial Restaurant”. His brother, George, ran the restaurant for 6 months after which Paul’s son, Nick, moved upstairs with his family and ran it for approximately 3 years. Paul’s other son, Steve, took over the restaurant in early 1980 and ran it until 1994. Steve and his wife, Janine, lived in the upstairs during that time. The Inn was known during that time for it’s Friday night beer batter fish and fried chicken, along with Swiss steak, baked chicken, homemade soups, and a salad bar. Two different restaurants were run here through the balance of the 1990’s. Since then, a couple of churches, and retail operations occupied the Inn.

     As of early 2023, there are no more retail operations in the 1895 portion of the building. We were able to secure a listing on the “National Register of Historic Places” in late 2019. We have restored the building as best we can to retain the historical integrity. We have unearthed the brick pathway and flower garden in the courtyard and replanted crabapple trees that were there in the past. We have updated the outside to reflect the colors of the time period and added cresting on the roof as reflected in photos of the Hotel Morton. Inside, we have restored the wood doors and baseboards upstairs, along with the original wood floors. Wallpaper, as was common during that time period, has also been brought back. We love the history of the building and Seville and are proud to be a part of the community.

39 W Main Street,
Seville, OH 44273  |  216-435-1904

  • Twitter Basic Black
  • Facebook Basic Black
  • Black Instagram Icon

© 2023 by The Historic Seville Inn

bottom of page