White Swan Apartments are a tribute to Uniontown’s heyday
Herald-Standard
White Swan senior housing complex on West Main Street in downtown Uniontown.
Herald-Standard
Pictured is the view of downtown Uniontown outside a window at one of 47 units inside White Swan Apartments, a senior housing complex.
Herald-Standard
A plaque from the White Swan Hotel in Uniontown that operated during the 20th century.
Herald-Standard
The original U.S. mail slot inside White Swan Apartments in Uniontown is one of the few historical details preserved after the building was converted into individual apartments.
Herald-Standard
Pictured is the former hotel ballroom and now community room at the White Swan Apartments on West Main Street in Uniontown.
The former White Swan Hotel in Uniontown has been given new life for the third time, with the historic landmark transformed into a senior housing complex.
The original White Swan Hotel was built around 1900 and became a popular spot for wealthy travelers along the National Road, said Christine Buckelew, President of the Fayette County Historical Society. The original structure, a tavern, was torn down and rebuilt in homage to the original building.
In 1966, the Fayette County Housing Authority purchased the White Swan Hotel and converted it into a senior living complex, but it fell into disrepair over the years. So the authority took on an ambitious $13 million project in 2017 made possible with low-income housing tax credits. The renovation saved the building from demolition and restored many of its most iconic areas to their original glory while providing spacious living areas for seniors in a 47-unit apartment building.
“We were very pleased that it was saved, because we were really worried that it would have been lost,” Buckelew said. “I think it serves a good purpose.”
The prominent Brownfield family owned the White Swan Hotel. Nathaniel Brownfield was the last tavern keeper, she said.
“They were a very ambitious family, hardworking,” Buckelew said.
Buckelew said the history of the Brownfield family is centered around the hotel, which was built to be a destination in the heyday of Uniontown and the National Road.
“The thought was to build a grand hotel, because in those days, they were going up all over,” Buckelew said.
Famous guests reportedly stayed at the White Swan Hotel, including President William Howard Taft and General George C. Marshall.
“It was very elegant,” Buckelew said. “Girls and women would wear their white gloves when eating there.”
Historical artifacts from the White Swan Hotel were donated to the Fayette County Historical Society, said Buckelew, including a flag that flew in the rotunda in 1925, a rare glass bowl and goblets etched with the White Swan insignia.
The existing structure commemorates the historic nature of the building, with the renovations completed in a “historically correct” manner. For example, a ballroom where prominent families once dined is now a large community room with an adjoining kitchen, and limestone was restored on the building’s facade.