{"nrhp_refnum":"89000350","name":"Penn Alto Hotel","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"12th St. and 13th Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Altoona","county":"Blair County","state":"PA","lat":40.517134793000025,"lon":-78.40215529699998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-05-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A nine-story hotel at the corner of 12th Street and 13th Avenue in downtown Altoona, Blair County, Pennsylvania, with 308 guest rooms and public spaces on the lower floors. It was built in 1921 with an upper-floor wing added in 1928.","why_significant":"The hotel is regarded as a fine, intact example of large railroad-era hotels that served passengers on the Pennsylvania Railroad main line. It is also described as the largest non-industrial construction project of the early twentieth century in Altoona and as the city's largest and most complex non-industrial development of c. 1900-1930. Its design and construction by the H. L. Stevens Co. used an integrated system that was the company's first use of this approach on a civilian project.","narrative":"Built of reinforced concrete faced with Bedford limestone and tapestry brick, the hotel rises nine stories above a basement on a 115 by 133 foot footprint in downtown Altoona. Its Italian Renaissance exterior has arched windows on the lower floors and a massive cornice. The first phase opened on September 7, 1921, with 200 rooms and public spaces, and the upper seven floors of the east wing, containing 108 rooms, opened in October 1928. The interiors include a two-story main lobby with mahogany wainscot and black and gold marble columns, a 42 by 90 foot Logan Room ballroom, and hand-decorated plaster work. The hotel was designed by the H. L. Stevens Co. for a community-financed project that served rail travelers and hosted many civic groups. It is significant for its scale, architectural richness, and its role in Altoona's rail-era economy.","period_of_significance":"1921-1939","architect_builder":"Stevens, H. L. Co.","architectural_style":"Italian Renaissance","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The Roberdeau Room dining room is currently unused, and the Alleghany Room is leased by the Blair County Library as a Media Center.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:38.027434-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/89000350.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000350/63553addf5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000350/63553addf5-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Acroterion","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Penn_Alto_Hotel_PA1.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Acroterion</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Penn_Alto_Hotel_PA1.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"92000946","name":"Downtown Altoona Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/downtown-altoona-historic-district-92000946/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71994509","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_Alto_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15265887"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/blair-county/penn-alto-hotel-89000350/"}