The Mizpah
That unusual hotel in an unique building, the Mizpah, happened in this way. Levi S. Chapman was very much interested in the erection of the new Y. M. C. A. building in Montgomery Street. He was also a Baptist. In 1920 the First Baptist and the Central Baptist churches were united, and the new church at Montgomery and Jefferson streets was coming on. Mr. Chapman had the idea of a combination church edifice with an income producing structure. This corner site was too valuable for just a church. Yet the building was required to look like a church. This was the problem put up to the architects, and Gordon Wright solved it. But the original wasn't to build a hotel above the Gothic structure - it was to provide one hundred and twenty rooms in order to increase the dormitory capacity of the Y. M. C. A., with which it was connected by an enclosed bridge. Then came the hotel shortage and the remarkable plan which has made this hotel a source of conversation from coast to coast. The building itself was dedicated as a church on May 31, 1914. Since 1915 the Mizpah has been advertised as the "Inn Beautiful," with L. G. Abbott as manager.
Text Source: Syracuse Convention City, Printed by Hyde-Baumler, Inc., Syracuse, NY
The Mizpah Inn is unique in that it is housed in the building of the First Baptist Church. It has 125 rooms and has given excellent service to conventions.
Submitted 3 April 2006 by Pamela Priest