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Reaching the SummitSummit Inn, PABy Sandra Scott
Summit Inn is located on the National Road. The National
Road was built between 1811 and 1834 to connect Cumberland, Maryland to the Ohio
River,
Visitors arriving at Summit Inn truly understand the
meaning of “summit,” especially when approaching from the west on the National
Road. The upgrade has long been a test of a car’s power and often earned the
owners bragging rights about the power of their vehicle.
And the traditions continue. On Sunday, June 25, 2006 the
Great Road Race will once again go rumbling by on the second stage of the race
on their way to the pit stop in nearby Uniontown, Pa.
Images by Sandra Scott and Summit Inn |
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TM
My
husband and I were taking a picture of the 1930 Buick in front of the Summit Inn
near Farmington, PA, when the Inn’s owner, Randall Harris, pulled up in his
Russo Red 2002 Porsche. Then a guest arrived in a 1951 Hudson Hornet. What a
metaphor for the Inn. The inn has spanned nearly 100 years and cars have been
part of the history since the beginning. 
earning
the nickname "The Main Street of America." Before the Inn was built huge
Conestoga wagons rumbled over the summit as settlers made their way west.
Summit Inn was built in 1907 and grew in size and popularity as the automobile
worked its way into everyday life and the National Road became US 40 and part of
a coast-to-coast highway. 
George
Washington never slept at the Summit Inn but he would have had it been built
during his time. Washington, in his pre-president days, helped to secure this
part of the frontier before the Revolutionary War. Even if Washington never
stayed there many notables have. The Summit Inn has hosted many famous in the
history of the automobile including Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, and Barney
Oldfield. They liked to bring their newest vehicles along to test its strengths
and weaknesses on Summit Mountain. 
It
was easy to envision the 1930 Buick and other vehicles chugging up Summit
Mountain in record time and their owners entering the Inn lobby, with its grand
staircase and Stickley furnishings, ready to regale other Summit Inn’s guest
with their car’s performance. 
Today’s
owners, Karen and Randall Harris, are just as proud of the past as they are of
the present. They are carrying on a family tradition started by Karen’s father
who purchased the rapidly deteriorating property in 1958 and restored it to its
former glory. 
The
Summit Inn, with one of the few wide, grand hotel porches is sure to full of car
enthusiasts cheering on their favorite racer. Long after the racers have passed
by Summit Inn guests will be sitting in their high back rockers discussing the
race as they look down in the valley at Uniontown. After the lights of
Uniontown come on they will adjourn to the inn’s Great Hall and sit in front of
the large stone fireplace and talk cars… the Porsche, the Hudson, and the Buick
will surely be part of the conversation.