We researched the list of names in the register of the hotel, we encountered several challenges in the process thereof. First, deciphering century old cursive script was...interesting to say the least. Second, not much information was available for the Moore House itself so we had to use the Inter-Library loan program to order two books: Hotel: An American History by A.K. Sandoval-Strausz to research hotels in industrial 19th century towns, and Oil Boom Architecture: Titusville, Pithole, and Petroleum Center, which is part of the Images of America series. The final challenge was realizing that we needed to refocus our research from the names, to why this register is important and the house was important. After mining the books for info, we learned that hotels like the Moore House were not just for overnight travelers like Mr. Rockefeller, but essentially apartments for workers who could not afford a house of their own, and served as a social space for the town, thus we can state that while the Moore House is gone, the register(s) can tell us what sections of society came to town.
Comentarios