(Zanesville Times Recorder 3/11/1975)

Rogge Will Benefits Memorial Foundation
The will of Mrs. Cora W. Rogge, who died March 11 and was widow of Zanesville hotel operator, was filed Monday in Probate Court with the bulk of the estate to go to Rogge Memorial Foundation.

Individual annual gifts follow: $1000 to Mount Olive Cemetery trustees for the care and upkeep of Rogge-Smith Mausoleum and five Rogge lots; $1000 to Muskingum County Humane and Animal Shelter Society.

Two thousand dollars to St. Vincent de Paul Society at St. Nicholas Catholic Church, $1000 to Zanesville Community Center, $5000 to Rosecrans High School for maintenance of Rogge Gymnasium, $5000 to St. Nicholas Church, $5000 to St. Thomas Church.

Fifteen per cent of the estate is earmarked for Good Samaritan Medical Center, a similar sum to Rosecrans High School and 15 per cent to St. Nicholas Grade School.

Atty. J. Donald Kincaid and Msgr. Linus J. Dury were named executors of the estate, according to the will written July 19, 1972.

Mrs. Rogge directed at least one-half the balance of income after the other bequests, should be turned over to charitable, educational or religious organizations with a tax-free status.

Executors are to have the right to sell or exchange any part of the estate, to invest any money in the trust estate, to pay all taxes or other bills and to reorganize, consolidate or readjust the financial structure of the estate.

Citizens National Bank is to hold the trust for the memorial foundation.

(Zanesville Times Recorder 10/6/1974)

Hotel Rogge, one of Zanesville’s favorite landmarks, disintegrated under the terrific blows of the wreckers’ equipment last week.

Changes in modern life style seem to demand the destruction of well-known buildings – Leffler’s old store at Fifth and Main, ,the Starr store, Zane Motor Inn and the County Jail, which was named to the National Register of Historic Places in July, 1973.

And Zanesville’s skyline will undergo more changes. Plans of been announced for demolition of the First Trust Bank and the Liberty Theatre, built in 1927.

Motels have replaced hotels and people watch TV instead of attending movie theatres. When buildings are outmoded and unprofitable, owners reluctantly sell them to be razed in spite of protests against changing the image of the city.

Henry Rogge started to change that image when he arrived from Germany in 1857. He built a restaurant on the site of the hotel that was demolished last week.

On that corner the Zanesville Glass Manufacturing Company began operation in 1815. It was also called the White Glass Works because it made clear glass in contrast with the green glass made on Wayne avenue. Bottles, flasks and pitchers made at Third and Market streets bring high prices today.

A few Zanesvillians probably shook their heads in protest when Henry Rogge built his restaurant on the site of the glass plant just as some of us deplore the razing of Hotel Rogge 117 years later.

Rogge Was Shrewd
But Rogge was shrewd . the Central Ohio Railroad, now the B. and O., had bee completed through this city only four years earlier. Passengers stopped at Rogge’s restaurant instead of walking to the old Zane Hotel on the Kresge site at Fifth and Main streets.

The old Zane had been a stagecoach stop. Henry Rogge foresaw a change in life style from stagecoach to railroad transportation. For more than a century his establishment across Second street from the railroad stations prospered under the management of his family.

Within a few year Henry Rogge added a frame hotel building to his restaurant and named it the St. Charles. That name continued to be listed in city directories until 1895.

Henry Rogge did not live to see more than 60 passenger trains arrive across the street from his hotel every 24 hours. He died in 1871. For ten years his widow managed the business.

Young Son Took Over
In 1880, his son, 16-year-old Albert P. Rogge quit school to manage the family enterprise.

The Zanesville Sunday News said in 1881: “This hotel has always had an enviable reputation, but its popularity under the present genial and efficient manager, Mr. A. P. Rogge, is greater than ever before.”

At that date young Rogge had just secured the services of a French cook named Jonial Costantina from New York.

Young Albert’s mother appreciated her son’s devotion to duty and his business ability. On his 18th birthday she presented him with a horse and buggy. That was equivalent to a Lincoln Continental today.

Perhaps the young man’s mother thought he would go courting in this “turn-out.” But young Albert’s motto was “Business first.” He sold the horse and buggy and used the money to to buy a new-fangled piece of equipment called a cash register.

The bell of that cash register jangled continuously and the cash drawer was filled every day. By the 1890’s 66 passenger trains arrived t Zanesville station on lower Market street daily. Many of the passengers patronized the St. Charles.

The original Rogge restaurant stood on the west end of the lot near the railroad tracks. On the corner Dollison Brothers sold buggies and Angelo Meola displayed fresh fruit for sale.

New Brick Hotel
A. P. Rogge saw that his frame hotel was not adequate for accommodating the railroad patrons. He acquired the Dollison lot and in 1900 built the four-story brick hotel that was demolished last Sunday.

It was built with Ohio Press Brick Company brick and was equipped with elevators, steam heat, electric lights, hot and cold water and complete telephone system.

In the lobby at the west end Rogge installed an elaborate mosaic fireplace made by the Mosaic Tile Company. It featured the Rogge coat of arms with helmet and crown and a large letter R.

Salvaging anything in a building today costs more that demolishing it and hauling it away. What could be done about that mosaic fireplace? Only stand there in the lobby made dark with boarded windows and feel sad and have the fireplace recorded on film.

In 1900 no one envisaged the thousands of autos on super-highways that would force passenger trains to quit running. Zanesville could boast only one car – S. A. Weller’s electric.

Railroad Traffic Increased
Railroad passenger traffic increased. Rogge’s 1900 building lacked space to serve enough meals for his patrons. In 1904 he enlarged the restaurant 25 fee.

Seventy years ago he discretely built a partition across the dining room to provide privacy for the women’s side. Women’s lib was to develop more than half a century later.

Also in 1904 Rogge furnished a grill room 18 x 25 feet in size in the style of an old English tavern. Two fire escapes were added.

In 1918 Rogge paid $125,000 for the Clarendon Hotel and leased it to several chains until 1961. Then Thomas Trexler was employed to manage both hotels.

Railroads still had a monopoly of passenger service when Rogge bought the Clarendon. Civic leaders urged construction of a union railroad station.

As the number of autos increased, travelers patronized hotels. The number of cars owned in Muskingum County increased from 1,709 in 1916 to 17,000 in 1926. But, except for a few drivers who camped along the road, most travelers stopped at hotels.

Added 50 New Rooms
The recently demolished Zane was built in 1925. A year later Rogge added 50 new fireproof rooms on the west end of his lot. This section contained facilities for the express company.

The Hotel Rogge dining room was a popular place of luncheons and dinners.

No record was kept of prominent patrons. On March 23, 1935 the Signal reported that Amelia Earhart had spent the night there and recalled that she had delivered a lecture at the high school a year earlier. Mrs. Rogge recalled that Warren G. Harding stopped at the Rogge when he was campaigning for the presidency.

In 1936 Rogge employed Ivan Stockdale to decorate the Zane Grey room of the hotel. He also painted the Minuet Room in peach, blue and silver.

For several years the Business and Professional Women’s Club held their antique shows in the Minuet Room.

When the Ohio Power Company took the cottage of the Roges about 30 years ago, they bought the former James Ross home for a summer home. They liked it so well they made it their permanent residence and did not return to the family home on Third street.

Hotel Business Declines
As more motels were built, hotel business declined. In recent years both the Clarendon and the Rogge were occupied by senior citizens.

In November, 1972, the state fire Marshall ruled that both the Clarendon and the Rogge were unsafe and demanded rewiring and installation of sprinkling systems. Conforming to these demands would have been prohibitive in cost.

The Rogge was boarded up on December 13, 1972 and the Clarendon was padlocked on December 23.

Recently the Bloomer Candy Company acquired the property from its North Third street building to the Market street corner, including the Hotel Rogge. The company demolished the hotel to use the site for a parking lot.

Three generations of the Barry family now work in the Bloomer Candy Company. William G. Barry, son of one of the founders, supervises the making of chocolates for four or five months before Christmas. His son William S. Barry supervises rebagging. And Patrick and Teresa, children of William S. Barry, are employed part time.

While construction costs remain high, the site of Hotel Rogge will be used for parking with possible future use as a building site.

(Zanesville Times Recorder 6/23/1963)

THE Rogge family has been engaged in the restaurant and hotel business in Zanesville for 106 years.

Henry F. Rogge established the business in 1857. His son, A. P. Rogge, built the brick hotel at Third and Market streets in 1900.

Henry Rogge came from Germany to Zanesville in 1857. At that time the Central Ohio Railroad, later the Baltimore & Ohio had been completed to Cambridge only three years. For the next half century railroad traffic increase rapidly at the foot of Market street.

Henry Rogge could not have foreseen the phenomenal growth of railroad travel. But his first place of business was ideally located to take advantage of the growth. When A. P. Rogge built the present hotel in 1900, railroad travel was still happening.

THE FIRST Rogge restaurant stood at the west end of the present hotel, diagonally across the street from the railroad depot.

As the restaurant prospered, Henry Rogge added a frame hotel building. He called it the St. Charles. That name was used until 1895.

A. P. Rogge was born July 21, 1863. When he was six years old, his father died. The founder’s widow managed the business for 10 more years. Then about 1880 when Albert Rogge was only 15 years old he quit school to take charge of the family business.

The Zanesville city directory for 1882 has his first entry: “Rogge, Albert P. proprietor, St. Charles Hotel, 28 Market.”

A story in the Sunday News of 1881 has this to say about St. Charles: “ This hotel has always had an enviable reputation, but its popularity under its present genial and efficient manager, Mr. A. P. Rogge, is greater than ever before. Under his supervision the whole house has just been thoroughly renovated at considerable expense.

“Mr. Rogge has just secured the services of a skilled French cook, Mr. Jonial Constantine lately of New York, who will always be ready to serve patrons with all of the latest French or American dishes.”

THOMAS W. Lewis wrote as follows about Rogge’s early entrance to the facility business to help his mother: “To lighten her burden Alberts assumed full chare while a mere boy. He had the qualities which spelled success then and which have since enabled him to develop to high state of excellence the entertainment of hotel guests and the refreshment of the inner man.”

“Back of these qualities were the affection experience and counsel of his mother, and Mr. Rogge freely pays tribute thereto with the declaration that his mother’s constant advice laid the foundation of such success as he has won in life.”

Rogge’s mother appreciated her son’s giving up boyhood pleasures to assume business responsibilities. To show her appreciation she gave him a horse and buggy on his 18th birthday.

Young Rogge enjoyed the gift. But cash registers were coming into use. With an eye more to business than pleasure, Rogge sold the horse and buggy and bought a cash register.

YOUNG Rogge saw a great increase in railroad travel. Thomas W. Lewis said in 1895: “Sixty-six passenger trains reach and leave Zanesville’s four stations every 24 hours.” The two largest stations, the B & O and Cincinnati & Muskingum Valley poured out their passengers across Market street from the St. Charles.

That old frame structure could no longer accommodate the increased patronage. Rogge acquired land eastward to Third street. Dollison brothers sold buggies on the corner for several years. Next to them Angelo Meola, an Italian, sold fruit. Later he moved to the former Palace hotel building.

On Aug. 8 1890, the Courier reported that “A. P. Rogge has decided to erect a fine three-story hotel building at the foot of Market street.” He was considering construction of a new building at that time, but the plan was not carried out for a decade.

THE FOUR-story brick Rogge Hotel was opened on June 4, 1900. The Times Recorder described the event as follows: “The plans and specifications have been the ideas of Mr. Rogge, assisted by William Kimmell, superintendent of construction, and are the results of experience and much consideration.

“This city is to be congratulated not only upon the addition of the modern hotel to the accommodations of the place, but on the fact that nearly all the material entering into the construction has been obtained from the city manufactories’ and home capital and labor have been beneficiaries.

The Times Recorder story described the lobby as follows, “At one end is a natural gas fireplace, constructed in the quaint German style, with the mantel in mosaic designs, the principal one of which is the Rogge coat of arms, of helmet and crown, with the letters R. H. beneath.”

In 1944 the automobile had not yet decreased the number of trains, and the railroads were still providing thousands of hotel patrons. The Times Recorder again reported improvements at the Rogge.

THE RESTAURANT was made 25 feet longer. A partition was built across the women’s lunchroom to give it more privacy. A grill room, 18 by 25 feet in size, was furnished in the style of an old English tavern. Two fire escapes were being erected.

On June 22, 1918, the Signal told its readers that Rogge had purchased the Clarendon Hotel for $125,000. The Clarendon was leased to several chains until 1961. Since that year Thomas Trexler has managed both hotels for Mrs. A. P. Rogge.

In the 1920s the hotel business was still prospering. The Zane was opened in December, 1923. At the same time Rogge was building 50 new rooms on the west end of his hotel where the original family restaurant formerly stood. He was also having bathrooms added to the section built in 1900. The fireproof addition completed in 1926 contained facilities for the express company.

About 1920 the Rogge Hotel Company had been formed with employees as members. In February, 1926, A. P. Rogge acquired all the holdings of the company.

THE SIGNAL said on March 23, 1936, that Amelia Earhart had spent the night at the Rogge. The story recalled that Miss Earhart had delivered an address at Lash High School a year earlier under the auspices of the Women’s Federated Clubs.

Mrs. A. P. Rogge recalls that Warren G. Harding stopped at the Rogge when he was campaigning for president.

In 1936 Rogge employed Ivan Stockdale to decorate the walls of the Zane Grey room and the Minuet Room. Stockdale also decorated the Rogge residence on South River road.

A. P. Rogge died o Sept. 7, 1946. In addition to managing his two hotels, he served as president of the Ohio Ice Company, vice president of the Zanesville Provision Company and treasurer of Ohio Hotels Association. He is also remembered for his liberal patronage of professional baseball here.

The Rogge and Clarendon Hotels were leased to Arthur Packard in 1945. In 1953 the Hickory Hotel Company acquired the lease. Mrs. Rogge resumed management of the Rogge in 1953 and the Clarendon in 1951.

Motels have seriously affected the hotel business. Transient trade has declined sharply. All through operation is no longer profitable, Mrs. Rogge feels a responsibility to the 55 permanent residents of the two hotels. And she does not like to think of the only alternative to closing, which would be tearing down the buildings for parking lots.