Another View of the Hotel Morgan

Another view of the Hotel Morgan, shown about 1890 in Carnegie, Pennsylvania. This was the hotel managed by my great-great grandfather, Thomas W. Morgan, until his death in 1897.

Walking Down Thomas W. Morgan’s Street, 1890

Now that we’ve put some necessary Geni.com bashing behind us, it’s time to launch into a year’s worth of new family history discoveries.

Can you say “holy archive-diving, Batman?”

When I first got sucked into this genealogy quest, I vowed to mine online sources as much as possible. Eventually, yes, you jump the well-worn virtual track and tromp off into the field to smell and touch history for yourself. But it’s always surprising to me just how much is floating out there in the electronic ether.

In a previous post, I shared some remarkable history book entries and local maps that showed my great-great grandfather Thomas W. Morgan’s hotel in Carnegie, Pa.

I initially stumbled upon that history book entry in a general Google search for “hotel morgan.” Not only did the article come with a great sketch of the building, but it shed some light on an ancestor who died young.

Later this week, I’ll be sharing some of the enduring mysteries from both sides of the tree. Mysteries we’ll maybe uncover in the coming months.

I also plan on launching a series of “gold oldies” — telling what I know and sharing what photos, etc., I’ve unearthed featuring our oldest ancestors.

There will also be another series on one or more families in the tree, like the articles devoted to Jonathan and Rebecca (Caldwell) Foutz’s clan last year.

Stay tuned.

Today, for your perusing pleasure, is another find from a renewed “hotel morgan” search on Google. This pic, dated about 1890, was culled from the Carnegie Signal Item by the local historical society.

At the time the caption was written, the building (later the Hotel Riley, then the Zug Building) had been torn down for about a year. Its last occupant was Miller’s Cafe.

This, best as I can figure from Google Maps, is today’s view of the site where the hotel once stood.

Corner of Chartiers and Main in Carnegie, looking just a shade north-northeast.