El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-05-29
.0LD ASTOR HOUSE
/. CLOSES ITS DOORS
New Subway in New York
Causes Famous Landmark
to Be Abandoned.

New York, May z9--Flans IOE
che new subway call for an eX-
4 cavatfon underneath the old Ast9r
Z house and as result lhLS ANU -
mark, probably the nus 100 -
/ hotel in America, has Oeen cIOseu anu
. - fe practically certain IhdI It's uoOLs
Z will never be opened as a hoSlslIy
I AGAIN In all probability lile Du-lllllF
: will be torn down ana d HloueLH 81 "
! rura erected on its site ~LAS. - o-ls
I ~ +ba most valuable in the city.
: THE property is owned jointly Dy
Z Vincent Aston and William w aldorI
( Aston Vincent owning the souIheIn
4 balf while the northern half belongs 70
! - cousin II has been suggested that
D the latter might purchase the soulAeI "a
{ half and erect a hotel on the property
( after the completion of the SUBWAY
as the need of good holeI III 'laI ~
! cality is strongly 1elt-
The Aston house was built by the
| ORIGINAL John Jacob Aston, who mad
his little fur store around the corner
] on Vesev street. To build the hoIel ne
I secured the property from various
! owners whose homes occupied the site
Z The men who owned the plot then were
Rufus King, Cornelius RooseVelt, ttlcn-
ard Harrison, Major John kutherIord.
begun in 1892 and finished in 1896,
when in May Of that year, the doors
of the finest hotel in America, at that
time. were thrown open 1I mad cost
s35O.O00 TO build, an enormous sum
for those days, but small compared
I with modern times, when the cost OF
the erection of sCsne of our skyscrap-
ers runs far into the millions
The house was first known as the
{ Park hotel and although there was not
a room with a private bath in the
house. it was considered to be the last
word in elegance and luxury.
For twenty years after its opening
the hotel continued to be the head
. W.. n q
York. Foreign nOblemen. who came
here. prominent politicians and states
men Of our country and the social elite
all stopped at the AstOr house. Daniel
Webster was frequently registered at
the hotel; John c. Calhoun. Silas
Wright Franklin Pierce. Martin Van
Buren,. James Buchanan, Zachary Tay-
Tor. William G.. Seward. Stephen A.
Douglas, Lewis Cass, jefferson Davis.
+ Horatio Seymour and Henry Clay were
all registered at the hotel at one time
or another.
President Lincoln stopped there on
his first visit to New York, and Louis
kOSSuth bid farewell TO America from
the steps of the hotel The monster
meeting TO arrange for the reception
Of Charles Dickens on the occasion of
his visit TO this country was held here.
Many public dinners of note chief
among them the dinner in honor Of the
I Prince de Joinvile in 1891. were held
in the dining room Gen. Fremont and
his family lived there during the pres
ldential campaign of 1856. and Admir-
ais Farragut and Porter were frequent
guests after the war Unfortunately.
some Of the old registers in which these
men wrote their names have been lost
me 11rSt manager of the hotel was
frederick Boyden and the second was
CHARLES A. SterSon- who came to the
{ hotel with BOydeu as a clerk. In 1871
SretSon retired and was succeeded by
/ his son. who met with financial re-
verses IN 1873 and the hotel fell under
I the auctloneers hammer. The house
was closed for four months. the only
II was renovated and reODeDed by +.
I ]. Allen and a T. Dam. who soon re-
J tired and left the management to Al
len
Allen continued to manage the place
successfully until 1901. when he died
Ills widow anc her nephew. A H
Ihurstou, then took over the man
! agement and upon the death of Mrs.
Allen four years ago Mr. ThursfOn
formed the present company. which
consists of Mr.. ThurstOn and his sister
( and Is known as A. H ThUrston and
company.
At the beginning Of this month when
II became certain that the old hotel
would have TO be closed. Mr.. Thurston
noJIed the employees that they had
better seek other Jobs. Several OF
the employees have been with the house
Tor 20 years or more Invariably the
walters at the AstOr house have been
Irlshmen- At the conference when Mr.
Ihurston told the employees that the
place would have to be closed. many
Of those who had grown up in ser
wee at the old hosiery left the room
in tears