The Genetti Hotel, A Rich History

Directors of the Willismsport Hotels Company envisioned a hotel that would last and last.

Bucky Williams well-known local contractor, is shown as the first excavation began. View of Lycoming Hotel Construction taken Nov.10, 1921 The furnished rooms

Through the years the Genetti Hotel has been the site of thousands of banquets, balls, benefits, dinners, luncheons, conventions, concerts, and meetings for the civic, social, business, and political organizations of Williamsport and surrounding cities, as well as for state and national organizations.

The Genetti has been the headquarters for the Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club, the Retail Merchants Association, Kiwanis, Lions, Advertising Club, the Community Trade Association, and Little League, the hotel has hosted luncheons and dinner meetings as well as special events for these organizations for decades. The Genetti Hotel, originally named the Lycoming Hotel, was built in 1921.

"Three full days of dinners, banquets, balls, and tours marked the opening of Williamsport's landmark hotel. The city's tallest building immediately fulfilled the vision of its founders, becoming the center of physical, social, civic, and tourist activity.

The Genetti Hotel today

At noon, on Wednesday, June 21, 1922, Edgar Munson, representing the Board of Directors, raised a large American flag to the flagpole on the roof 192 feet above West Fourth Street. Manager John F. Letton unfurled the flag to the breeze while a band played below. J.M. MacDonald, superintendent of the W.M. Sutherland Contracting Company, raised the Lycoming Hotel flag."

The Genetti Hotel today

The Genetti Hotel's elegant atmosphere has attracted many notable guests. Among the hundreds of celebrity visitors and overnight guests included Gene Kelly, Clarence Darrow, Rita Hayworth, Carl Sandburg, Bob Dylan, and dozens of politicians including Robert F. Rich, John G. Snowden, Governor Edward Martin,Alvin Bush, Robert Kennedy and Tom Ridge. The hotel continues to provide a home away from home to politicians, athletes, scholars, authors and entertainers of all kinds.