historic landmark
A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been rec ...
located on Main Street in
Flemington, New Jersey
Flemington is a borough in and the county seat of Hunterdon County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Flemington Historic District.
First constructed by Neal Hart in 1814, it served as a gathering place for well-to-do
stagecoach
A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...
passengers and socialites throughout the 19th Century, as well as many local characters and tourists visiting the area. The exterior of the present building dates to 1878.
It gained national notoriety in the early months of 1935 when the trial of
Bruno Hauptmann
Bruno Richard Hauptmann (November 26, 1899 – April 3, 1936) was a German-born carpenter who was convicted of the abduction and murder of the 20-month-old son of aviator Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The Lindbergh kidnap ...
for the kidnapping of
Charles A. Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...
, Jr. was conducted directly across the street at the
Hunterdon County Courthouse
The Hunterdon County Courthouse is an historic site located in Flemington, New Jersey, Flemington, the county seat of Hunterdon County, New Jersey, Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States, that is best known as the site of the 1935 "Trial of t ...
and members of the national media covering the trial all stayed at the hotel.
Decades later the property was purchased by new owners, renovated, restored, and converted into what is now officially known as the Union Hotel Restaurant. The second and third floors (which once housed hotel patrons) were left empty and unoccupied, adding to the growing mythos surrounding the widely recognized
Hunterdon County
Hunterdon County is a county located in the western section of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was 128,947, making it the state's 18th-most populous county,
Murals created by Carl Ritz with the assistance of
Kurt Wiese
Kurt Wiese (April 22, 1887 – May 27, 1974) was a German-born book illustrator, who wrote and illustrated 20 children's books and illustrated another 300 for other authors.
Background
Kurt Wiese was born on April 22, 1887, in Minden, Germ ...
adorn the hotel.
2008 closure
In July 2008, managing partner John Blanos announced that the Union Hotel Restaurant would sell its liquor license but remain open. However, in August he announced that the restaurant would close, and that the liquor license would be sold to Bensi, an Italian chain restaurant soon to open elsewhere in Flemington. At a special Flemington Borough Council meeting in September 2008, the transfer of the liquor license was rejected, but Blanos nonetheless stated that the restaurant would close immediately and that he was negotiating with a potential buyer. Blanos said that the Union Hotel had been steadily losing money since he and his partners bought it in 1999.
Redevelopment
In November 2012, the Flemington Borough Council selected Flemington Union Hotel LLC to revive and restore the once prominent Union Hotel on historic Main Street. Flemington Union Hotel LLC's principals Matt McPherson and Liam Burns envision to revive the Union Hotel as a 50- to 55-room hotel that would expand into the building next door at 78 Main St. The plan calls for adding a ballroom on the back and establishing an elegant steakhouse and a casual pub on the ground floor. A special legislative bill is proposed to allow for a liquor license.
In February 2016 it was announced that the Union Hotel would be demolished and replaced with a new building on the site. This caused much controversy in and around Flemington, and despite this controversy, the Flemington council approved the plans.
In May 2017, plans to demolish the hotel were scuttled and a new plan to utilize the building was introduced.
Legends
The belief that the hotel was haunted is quite prevalent, though few members of the public were ever allotted access to levels above the dining hall where a few rooms are used by management for business purposes and
ghost
A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...
sightings or
poltergeist
In ghostlore, a poltergeist ( or ; German for "rumbling ghost" or "noisy spirit") is a type of ghost or spirit that is responsible for physical disturbances, such as loud noises and objects being moved or destroyed. Most claims or fictional descr ...
incidents have been reported by employees. One reported seeing a pair of shoes walk up a staircase all by themselves. Others have told of hearing or seeing small children in rooms despite the absence of hotel guests. The manager claimed to have felt an unseen presence in her office late one night when she knew she was all alone.