This is the only known reference to the hotel on the internet. Pike County, along with many areas of Illinois, has a strong connection with Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln practiced law and made campaign stops in Pike County, and it was a Pike County Newspaper, The Free Press, that first suggested he was presidential material. John Nicolay, who wrote the editorial, would later become one of President Lincoln's personal secretaries. John Hay, another Pike County associate, also was a personal secretary to Lincoln and later served as Secretary of State.
Pike County has a history of many unique towns and villages.
Among them is New Philadelphia, the first town in the entire U.S. to be settled by an African-American. Pike County was also home to an early Mormon settlement. To better understand the heritage of Pike's people, read the Lakeside Classic, A True Picture of Emigration. This book is narrated by early pioneer Rebecca Burlend. The story is typical of early settlement, but unique in that it is told by a woman.