Century Inn finally welcoming guests again

The front door groans a familiar creak as owner Megin Harrington swings it open to reveal a new soul inside the Century Inn , the old bones in the heart of Scenery Hill and one of Western Pennsylvania's most-storied sites.

Several paces ahead, past the inviting staircase, lies a stone step hollowed by the tread of visitors who've crossed it for nearly 225 years — among them former U.S. presidents George Washington, Andrew Jackson and James Polk, Revolutionary War military officer Marquis de Lafayette, Mexican President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna and Indian Chief Black Hawk.

Regardless of how far they might have traveled by stagecoach to get to the village in North Bethlehem, Washington County, none journeyed as far as the historic inn has in less than three years — from almost being felled by a devastating fire to its rebirth.

“It has, I am told, the same feel,” Harrington says while seated inside the property's McCune Saloon — one of the longest-operating taverns in the United States and a descendant of Hill's Stone Tavern, which opened in 1794. “That's what I wanted. I wanted that feel.”

Behind Harrington hangs the inn's famous Whiskey Rebellion flag, which her son plucked from the wall as he and his mother fled the fire in August 2015 . The framed banner, which depicts an eagle and 13 stars, is the only known survivor from the region's 1790s uprising over a federal excise tax on distilled spirits.

Included among the countless items lost in the fire were various pieces of art and antiques collected over decades, such as a highboy cabinet believed to date to 1750, century-old hair wreaths people once weaved in family members' honor and a collection of 18th- and 19th-century cross-stitched alphabet samplers.

From the morning after the fire, Harrington vowed to reopen the inn that her late husband's parents bought in 1945 and which had been in the continuing care of the family over the decades since.

“There was a grieving process. I felt like I had let down my in-laws...,” Harrington says. “I'd worked my whole time, 40-some years, collecting, refining and getting the inn in as good of shape as I could. And that was all gone. Starting from scratch was discouraging initially, then it became exciting.”

The process of going over architectural plans and then overseeing restoration efforts took nearly two years . All the while, Harrington spent a lot of her time combing auctions and antique shops trying to acquire replacements for all the items lost. Many now help fill the renovated property, including the new dining rooms, sitting areas and seven overnight rooms — all with private baths, gas-fireplaces and central air/heat.

The restaurant reopened quietly in time for Valentine's Day, and the Century Inn began welcoming guests shortly after.

First, though, Harrington and her family opened the property to select friends and the people of Scenery Hill — who serve as the Century Inn's extended family.

“People would say, ‘We are home,' and that just meant the world to me,” Harrington says.

And for her? She peered up momentarily, pondering her thoughts in silence.

“I feel like I am almost home,” she finally offers with polite honesty and a smile.

Jason Cato is an assistant city editor with the Tribune-Review. He can be reached at 724-850-1289 or jcato@tribweb.com.