The National Hotel

[LanasCountry]

Oh thas' OK, Wilma..I love reading your post and thank you for the
welcome. I have a disabled husband, and it is hard for me to travel.
I travel on here!!

[frenchtowner]

Ranee,

I didn't see your first post. I only read your last one. If it was made a conference center maybe there would be a place in town for some community meetings, or garden club meetings, or once a year Best of Frenchtown Awards [have been done before, but the tradition should be restarted] or a yearly benefit shindig to raise funds for a community center for the children and teenagers of Frenchtown.

Oh yeah, I forgot, it the hotel was made a conference center, the Frenchtown Lions Club would also have their old meeting place back.

FT

[frenchtowner]

Apparently the answer is yes, but all of us are on different pages, [webpages that is]. I just happened to stumble across this post about the National Hotel. I got there from the homepage of Frenchtown.com.



The story is by Chris Poh on his Pub Talk Blog. It seems that Chris is just as outraged by the situation at the National as we are. It is good to know that somebody is at home in Frenchtown and that someone else cares.

That just means that there are only 1498 others [Frenchtown NJ population of around 1500] that couldn't be bothered!

FT

[frenchtowner]

The National is still for sale and it appears as if nothing much has changed there. I have noticed a few people looking at the hotel recently and there are rumors that quite a few offers have been made by prospective buyers, but this sad story just grinds on as that end of town just withers up and dies out.

Can someone please come along and rescue this business and this town! You can see the listing by clicking here or on the image above or the highlighted text in the previous paragraph.

FT

[frenchtowner]

In the December 27th edition of the Hunterdon County Democrat, The National Hotel was the subject of an article on the front page titled "Ray of Hope Seen For National Hotel; Councilman Tells About Investor". Local writer John Monteith relays the story about a mysterious investor who has plans for our grand old hotel in the middle of town. The source of the story is Frenchtown Borough Councilman Chris Poh.

Frenchtowner.com and the Frenchtown Forum just want to set the record straight here. The original source of this development was this forum and this discussion in particular. This mystery man first talked to me before he talked to anyone mentioned in the Democrat's article. He found our forum and he wanted to get some inside information about the hotel and about town. It was through me, John Stringfellow, that this man got introduced to Chris Poh, former owner Nancy Blackwell and some local real estate agents. I do not know if Chris just forgot to mention this at the council meeting or if Mr. Monteith just neglected to mention this in his article.

I am relating this story because I know that this forum has made a positive contribution to this situation. This forum and this discussion has reached a person who could end up making this situation better. This forum might just help bring back this business that is a cornerstone of our local economy and our community.

I wish the hotel and town all the best in the world. I practice affirmations for my town and it's economy all the time. This is my affirmation and my prayer for the hotel:

I see that the National Hotel of Frenchtown New Jersey as a place of warmth, love, hospitality, friendship, history, romance, prosperity and community. Let it be. Let it be in 2009.

Photo credit: Frenchtown's Ray of Hope [photo by John Stringfellow of a scene near the Delaware River along the Nishisakawick Creek in the spring of this year]