History

Set on top of a beautiful bluff overlooking the Ohio River sits the oldest operating hotel in Illinois. Built in 1812 by James McFarland who settled Elizabethtown. Elizabethtown was named after Jame’s wife, Elizabeth. It was originally ran as a tavern and a boarding house. Later it was passed down to his son and kept in the family name until 1891 when it sold to Sarah Rose.

Sarah Rose had ran the Inn since 1884 and 7 years later when she bought it from the McFarlan family, she rid of the tavern and ran the business as The Rose Hotel. Sarah conducting business, she also raised her only living daughter Charlotte Rose there. In her loving nature, also took on a male child at age 3 and other orphans, that she also reared in the home. In 1939, after her mother’s death, the hotel was passed to Charlotte Rose Gullett which was the last owner.

The Rose Hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. It is now owned by the State of Illinois, since 1989 and is operated by the current concessionaires, The Higginson Family.

The hotel is a two story “L” shaped brick structure. Originally, it was a two room structure. The additional portions were constructed in 1830 and 1848 following the Civil War. A striking veranda overlooking the Ohio River was added in 1886. A frame gazebo, called the summer house, was built in 1882 located on the front lawn overlooking the river. The final renovation was restoration and preservation that took place after the State of IL took over.

The Rose hotel has all of modern conveniences and amenities of today’s time, but walking through the doors steps you back in time. With its graceful 19th century beauty, this hotel is peaceful reminder of a world that used to be.