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Luzerne County screening applications for vacant election director job

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<p>A unique shaped hotel that hosted many political gatherings, dinners, wedding receptions and events once stood at the corners of South Main, Ross and Hazle streets in Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>Ross and Hazle streets don&#8217;t meet but they once did resulting in a five lane intersection where the parking lot of the U.S. Post Office is located today.</p><p>The Flat Iron Hotel was built in 1906 and was considered one of the most curious structures in the Wyoming Valley because of its triangular shape. It measured 100 feet on East Ross Street, 100 feet on Hazle Street, 60 feet wide at the rear and 10 feet wide in the front facing South Main Street.</p><p>According to a Times Leader story published June 28, 1975, the Flat Iron Hotel was built on the site of another well-known hotel called Little Delmonico, which was built in 1869 by Leopold Keiper. In 1891, Henry German, a restaurant owner, became the proprietor. </p><p>German sold the Little Delmonico to Hugh Lawson, who changed the name to the Lawson Hotel with the restaurant being named Lawson&#8217;s Delmonico.</p><p>The restaurant served imported and domestic cheeses, sardines, ham, crabs, lobsters, clams, steaks and sandwiches of all kind, according to advertisements in the Wilkes-Barre Record during 1905.</p><p>In 1906, Lawson razed the Lawson Hotel to provide for the building of the Flat Iron Hotel.</p><p>&#8220;The new building is to be a handsome one and on account of its peculiar shape will be known after its completion as the Flatiron Hotel. It will be four stories in height and will be what is known as gray pressed brick of Indiana limestone,&#8221; the Wilkes-Barre Record reported on July 19, 1906.</p><p>A barroom was on the first floor with the dining room on the second floor, with hotel rooms on the top two floors. Stairs circled the electric elevator used for guests. A service elevator was also built into the structure.</p><p>The Flat Iron Hotel was built by Henry J. Melan at a cost of $26,715, the Wilkes-Barre Times newspaper reported Aug. 9, 1906.</p><p>After nine months of construction, the barroom and dining room opened on March 9, 1907, with the hotel open for overnight guests on April 1, 1907.</p><p>&#8220;This wonderful hotel, restaurant and cafe is now open to the public. It is the largest in this city and the most complete in the country. You can get anything to eat you want, hot or cold. You can have anything to drink or smoke that is made, but you get the best only,&#8221; read an advertisement in the Wilkes-Barre Times on April 5, 1907.</p><p>Several months after its opening, Lawson had a roof garden installed, which was considered the fifth floor, where guests dined on steaks and seafood.</p><p>The Flat Iron Hotel was razed in May 1965 after it was obtained by the Wilkes-Barre Redevelopment Authority for $56,500. Nine other buildings in the area were demolished as part of the Hazle Street Redevelopment Project that realigned several streets, the Times Leader reported May 12, 1965.</p><p>&#8220;From 1906 to World War I, it was one of the noted spots of &#8216;high living&#8217; in Wilkes-Barre. The four-story structure was noted for its wine cellar, fine food and large dining room. Food was also served in a roof garden,&#8221; the Times Leader reported of the hotel&#8217;s demolition.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_Flat-Iron-Hotel-TL-05121965.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Picture published in Times Leader May 12, 1965 </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_Flat-Iron-Hotel-TL-05121965.jpg</photo0><caption0>Picture published in Times Leader May 12, 1965 </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_Flat-Iron-Hotel-TL.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Published in the Times Leader June 10, 1907 </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_Flat-Iron-Hotel-TL.jpg</photo1><caption1>Published in the Times Leader June 10, 1907 </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Ed Lewis</p><p>elewis@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

Look back: Flat Iron Hotel razed as part of city redevelopment