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History
Warwick has a longstanding tradition of hospitality dating back to 1766 and the establishment of Baird's Tavern, reputed to have entertained many famous guests including George Washington. By 1792, there were as many as nineteen taverns and inns in the Warwick Valley.
With the opening of the Warwick Valley Railroad in 1862, Warwick experienced a golden age of inn keeping. Hotels rose around town to accommodate tourists and visitors. Among those offering respites for travelers were Warwick Valley House (presently the Dispatch building); the National Hotel (now called the Demerest Building); Germania House (presently Akin's Pharmacy); Welling Hotel (presently WVT Communications); and the grandest of all, the Red Swan Inn which stood overlooking the rolling hills where the Warwick Valley Country Club is now located.
The Red Swan Inn, designed by Architect Ernest G.W. Dietrich, began welcoming guests in June 1903. The Inn was based on the ideas and imagination of the mayor at that time, Clinton Wisner and attracted many affluent families from New York City, who would summer in Warwick. The Lehigh and Hudson Railroad, walking distance from the Inn, enabled people to travel to and from the City in only and hour and fifty minutes. Fare for the round trip was $2.75.
The Inn boasted modern conveniences for its time and many appealing amenities including an immense assembly hall where nightly entertainment and the Red Swan Inn Orchestra was showcased. As a tribute to Mayor Wisner, Alice M. Sayer composed ,"The Red Swan Two-Step" for the orchestra to play. The Inn featured a restaurant serving gourmet dishes prepared from locally-grown produce and verandas from which " a never to be forgotten view" could be seen. Other offerings included an indoor amusement hall with a bowling alley, billiards, shuffleboard, photographic darkroom and more, tennis and croquet grounds, stables, a 5-acre garden, open to the public and the Warwick Country Club golf course with privileges extended to guests of the Inn.
The original sales brochure from the Inn proudly describes the hotel's location in Warwick as, "one of the most delightful spots anywhere to be found", and claimed Warwick had every advantage that the Berkshires had but was only an hour and fifty minutes from Greater New York. Efforts to attract visitors to Warwick must have been successful because local papers in the early 1900's reported the Inn as booked to capacity each season.
The elegant Red Swan Inn was named after the legendary swan from the poem, Hiawatha, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. According to Indian legend, the majestic red swan continued to swim and fly even when shot with magic arrows. Unfortunately, the Red Swan Inn was not immortal like its namesake. It was damaged by fire and disrepair and then destroyed in the 1950's, but the Inn is such a memorable symbol of Warwick's charm and hospitality, that to this day, people still remember it's place in history with respect and fondness.
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