Bronxville, NY Hotel Gramatan Fire, Jun 1908

Hotel Gramatan Wrecked By Fire

South Wing of Bronxville Hostelry Destroyed in Night Blaze-All the Guests Escape.

Many Flee In Night Attire

Bell Boys and Cottagers Arouse Patrons-Many Narrow Escapes-Guests Come Here on Special Train.

The Hotel Gramatan, in the centre of Lawrence Park, Bronxville, one of the finest hotels north of the city line, was badly damaged by fire last night, and its 500 or more guests were turned out into the night, many of them were scantily clad. The south wing of the hotel was destroyed and the other wings slightly damaged.

For several hours the entire hotel seemed doomed, and there was a hard fight by firemen from Yonkers, Mount Vernon, Tuckahoe and Bronxville to save the big building.

So far as is known, no one was injured, although many members of the hose and engine companies of Bronxville, Tuckahoe and other near-by towns were on the roof when that part of the building crashed into the floors below.

The guests at the hotel, which remains open all Winter and is generally well filled, were warned of the fire by bell boys, who ran through the halls and by the telephones in their rooms, which were rung from the desk by Manager J.J. Lannin and his assistants. The hotel stood on a high bluff overlooking the Hudson and the country for miles around.

Many of the patrons were preparing for bed, but they hurried down the two elevators and got out in every state of undress.

Not a few lost all they had except the clothes they stood in. A special train brought many to this city, where they obtained shelter in various hotels.

The hotel was crowded with guests. Most of them had retired at 10:45 o’clock, and many of the lights were out in the place when some one in the south wing shouted fire. Bell boys ran through the corridors arousing guests, and the switchboard operator began ringing the bells in all the rooms throughout the hotel.

Soon doors were opening and scantily clad men and women were scurrying out into the corridors to see what all the commotion was about. Smoke was drifting through the floor of the entire south wing within a few minutes.

Started In An Upper Floor.

The fire is supposed to have started in one of the upper floors in the south wing. Some of those who escaped from the building say they heard a slight explosion. Others deny this, and say that it is likely that defective insulation of the electric wires probably started the flames.

Most of the guests are well-to-do New Yorkers, who had gone there for the Summer when the hotel opened on April 1 for the Summer season. It is one of the most exclusive resorts in the Bronxville section. Within ten minutes after the blaze was discovered, most of the guests were out of the south wing. Some of them remained in the apartments only long enough to dash a few things into satchels, and then flee. Others did not even wait for that, but ran for safety at once. Some used fire escapes, and others the broad stairways.

The elevators, too, carried many to the ground floor during the first few minutes after the flames started, but they were soon put out of service. The flames reached the roof with a rush, and, bursting through, mounted high in the air.

Some one sent in an alarm, other alarms followed, and in a little while the streets of Lawrence Park were noisy with fire engines. Hundreds of cottagers turned out to help in the work of rescue. Many of the rescuers were without coats or hats, but all worked with a will.

All through the other two wings and in the main building guests were hastily packing the most valuable of their effects. The freight elevators and the passenger elevators were kept going up and down as fast as they could be loaded and unloaded. Trunks were thrown from the windows or lugged down the stairs and down the steep hill into Ponfield Road and Sagamore Road, and on across the yards into places of safety. Every cottage in Lawrence Park was thrown open to the refugees.

Within ten minutes after the first alarm sounded the Bronxville Fire Department was on the scene and lines of hose were being dragged into the hotel. From the windows of the wings which the fire had not reached the firemen train their hose on the burning wing. But the water for a while seemed to have no effect. The flames had too great headway.

The glare lighted up all Lawrence Park and the country for miles around. The Mount Vernon Department closely followed the Bronxville firefighters to the scene, and the Tuckahoe and Yonkers Departments sent all their engines as fast as horses could go.

At 1 o’clock this morning the flames were still blazing, but the firemen had succeeded in keeping the fire in the south wing. The roof of the South wing fell a little before 1 o’clock, and a great shower of sparks shot high in the air. None of the near-by buildings were menaced, although the residents were ready, with buckets of water and wet blankets, to put out any stray sparks which might fall on the roofs.

Cottagers Harbor Guests.

After their escape from the burning building the Gramatan guests were either taken care of by cottagers in Lawrence Park or came to the city in automobiles or by train. A train was held at the Bronxville station for half an hour for the refugees, and reached the Grand Central Station after midnight. The refugees who came in on the train went to various city hotels for the night.

The bachelor quarters of the hotel which are in the arcade portion of the building at the foot of the hill, were not touched by fire, and lodgers there hurried through the long hall, up the long flight of marble steps and into the main section of the hotel, where they helped women and children to escape.

Some persons had narrow escape. Mr. and Mrs. Sill, who have a home in Mount Vernon, but who generally spend some of the Spring months at the Gramatan, were apprised of the fire first by the ceiling of their room suddenly falling in upon them. Fortunately the falling timbers did not strike them, and they were able to get out into the hall and thence to the arcade and the street.

With the other guests they took a special train provided by the New York Central Road and came to New York.

The Gramatan was owned by William K. Lawrence of New York, and was rented by J. J. Lannin & Co. Mr. Lawrence is now traveling in Europe. The loss to the hotel is variously estimated from $40,000 to $100,000.

The building cost about $500,000 to build. It had been very successful. It was built five years ago, to replace a smaller hotel, which was very popular and which was burned down. The original building was of wood, and the new building was erected with an idea of avoiding a fire such as destroyed the first building.
Some of the Guests.

Among the guests in the hotel were George T. Appleton, Mrs. J.W. Coffin, Mrs. A.A. Taft, Mr. and Mrs. William M. Dimlow, Miss Emily Dimlow, Mrs. E.W. Holt, C.C. Bonyge of London, England; David R. Todd, Mr. and Mrs. William J. Fanning, Mr. and Mrs. A.L. Daggat, Alexander E. Duff, J. Nichols Clark, Mr. and Mrs. Theodore W. Myers, E.A. Babcock and Miss Paula Vertu.

Owing to the high bluff on which the hotel stood it was difficult to get any water pressure, and the firemen were greatly hampered in their work.

On account of the elevation of the site of the hotel the view extended for miles around on all sides. The building was a frame structure, with stone foundations which extended well up into the first floor. While the main body of the hotel was only four stories in height, the extension, on the side of a cliff, was of much greater height.

Description of the Hotel.

The Hotel Gramatan was a beautiful hostelry. It was situated in Lawrence Park, Bronxville, and was the centre of a cottage colony. Its tall roofs and broad verandas could be seen for many miles.

The cottage settlement, of which the hotel was the centre, is one of the most exclusive in the northern outskirts, and many prominent New Yorkers made their Summer homes there. Many well known New Yorkers also lived in the Hotel Gramatan, men who are in business in the financial district and in the heart of the city.

Among the men of prominence who once lived in the Gramatan is Police Commissioner Bingham. The hotel when built several years ago was a model of modern hotel construction. In the centre of the building was a cupola, which set off the structure.

There were 260 rooms in the hotel and 110 private baths. Long distance telephones were in every bedroom. There were three electric elevators. The surroundings of the Gramatan were ideal.

Many amusements were provided for its guests. There were tennis courts and golf links. Several billiard rooms were in the hotel, also a large children’s playroom. The ballroom was one of the finest, and the Gramatan balls were events which the residents of Bronxville were always eager to attend. There were morning and evening concerts each day.

The New York Times, New York, NY 9 Jun 1908
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Transcribed by June. Thanks June!