Fred M. Crosby, Prop.

1895 - 1900 [burned & never rebuilt]

Hampton, N.H.

[From a pamphlet produced by the hotel in 1899]

This little New Hampshire town is located on the Eastern Division of the Boston & Maine Railroad, forty-eight miles distant from Boston.

It has long been famous as a resort for summer tourists, as the familiar faces of its guests, returning each succeeding year, plainly testify.

It is also well know from the fact that several of the subjects of [John Greenleaf] Whittier's poems are located there.

Church-goers will find a good variety of churches, and the stores of the town are well stocked with goods to meet the requirements of summer visitors.

An electric road furnishes connections with Exeter, N.H., and Amesbury, Mass.

The Leonia is located on "Nook Lane Road," [now High Street] two miles distant from the centre of the town. It was first opened to the public in the summer of 1895, at that time being only a small house.

In 1896 the house was enlarged by the addition of sleeping apartments, new dining hall, broad piazzas, etc., and during this season and the following one of 1897, the hotel enjoyed a large patronage and came rapidly to the front as a resort house.

For the season of 1898, the house was still further enlarged by the addition of twenty-four new sleeping apartments, a large Dance and Music Hall (35x50), Card Room, Private Dining-Room and Billiard Room. A complete Electric Light Plant together with Electric Bells were also installed.

The Drainage has received special attention, and is carried to a low point far removed from the house. The Sanitary Plant has been installed under the strictest supervision, and including the plumbing has been renewed after the latest and most approved styles, making it perfect in every detail.

Tennis Courts, Croquet and Ball Grounds adjoin the house, and ample accommodation has been made for bicycles.

The large Dining Hall, seating 125 persons, and having a beautiful outlook toward the ocean on one side and the country on the other, is a feature of the house.

The easterly approach has been beautified by the addition of a fine "Portecochere." Telegraph and Long-Distance Telephone Lines, while not located at the house, are accessible in the village. The drinking water is obtained from an Artesian Well bored through solid rock 28 ft., and the water service for the house, fire apparatus, etc., is obtained from a large tank located 60 ft. in the air. Fish and Lobsters are obtained daily by a special house fisherman.

Two Mails arrive at, and depart from, the house daily.

A broad Piazza (10 ft.) encircles the house, giving a promenade of over 500 ft.

The Private Dining Hall adjoins the main dining hall, and can be used either separately or in connection with the larger.

A Laundry is in connection, where the washing of the guests can be attended to at moderate prices.

The house is only a short distance from the beach, but a coach makes trips during bathing hours which may be patronized if desired.

The Entertainment of the guests is one of the features, and hops, card parties, musicales, etc., are being continually planned, the musical part being looked after by a full orchestra.

A fine boarding and livery stable is in connection, supplied with the finest and best equipped teams along the shore. The prices are moderate and a goodly variety of turnouts is offered for selection.

North Beach, as it is known in Hampton, is comparatively a new beach to tourists, the "Leonia" being the first hotel to call it to the notice of the public in the summer of 1895. It is a smooth, hard beach, and affords fine facilities for bathing. The bath houses built by the hotel in 1896 are of the latest type. A new Government Life Saving Station adjoins the bath houses and is an object of interest to patrons of this beach.

The drives around Hampton and the adjoining towns are worthy of more than special mention. Along the shore and through the pine woods, with which this part of the state abounds, and the beautiful picturesque country, are found a great variety of drives, over smooth, hard roads, making it specially attractive for teams and bicyclists.

The hotel is located on an elevation of ground, 50 ft. above sea level.

From the piazzas and also from all rooms on east and south sides of the house, a magnificent ocean view is obtained from Cape Ann on the south to the Isles of Shoals on the north. These celebrated islands are but ten miles off shore from the hotel, and are plainly visible.

From the piazzas and from all rooms on south, west and north sides of the house an equally good country view is obtained.

Large Pine Groves are located at the rear and sides of the house.

Wild flowers and berries grow in great abundance all through this section of the country.

Owing to the fact that Ipswich Bay is located at the south, and the Atlantic Ocean on the east of the hotel, all breezes from these points are ocean breezes, making the climate during the summer months cool, agreeable and all that can be desired.

The location of the "Leonia," combining as it does both seaside and country, makes it one of the most desirable along the North Shore.

The hotel will open June 1st and close October 1st, 1899. (Approximate dates.)

Second Floor:All rooms on this floor are large, comfortable rooms, having two window to each room. Prices for months of July and August range from $5.00 to $15.00 per week.

Third Floor: Large, comfortable rooms prevail on this floor. Prices for the months of July and August range from $5.00 to $10.00 per week.

Table board (American Plan) $10.00 per week per person.

Transient rates $3.00 per day.

Special rates for June and September and to families or parties desiring to remain longer than two months.

The house is admirably adapted for house parties during June and September.

[The Leonia was destroyed by fire on July 13, 1900.]