BALTIMORE’S RENNERT HOTEL and BUENA VISTA’S ROBERT RENNERT MEMORIAL CHAPEL
By Joan Bittner Fry
In 1885, Robert Rennert founded the enormous Rennert Hotel in Baltimore, which boasted six stories and 150 personal rooms. Inside, Rennert filled the hotel with elaborate decor, adding everything from marble and fresco to the use of Edison’s electricity. The construction of the Rennert Hotel filled Baltimore city officials with hope and pride. Through the opening of the hotel, Rennert sought to promote the growth of the city.
Even up to the year the hotel closed in 1939, the Rennert continued to serve its staple traditional Maryland dishes, such as the essential Maryland crab cake and the Chesapeake Bay diamond-back terrapin.
In May of 1889, it was announced that a memorial chapel would be erected that season at Buena Vista Springs Hotel in memory of Robert Rennert of Baltimore by his widow, for a cost of about $5,000.
In July of 1900, the Robert Rennert Memorial Chapel at Buena Vista Springs Hotel was dedicated.
The Robert Rennert Memorial Chapel
The Robert Rennert Memorial Chapel was a small chapel located on the grounds of the Buena Vista Springs Hotel in Buena Vista, Pennsylvania—a historic mountaintop resort in Washington Township, Pennsylvania. The chapel served as a place of worship and community gatherings for guests and staff, reflecting the hotel’s role as a destination for both leisure and religious retreats.
The Chapel was named in honor of Robert Rennert, a local benefactor and community figure who had contributed to Buena Vista’s construction and endowment. In 1891, the Buena Vista Springs Improvement Company was formed by Baltimore. Financiers, Mayor F. C. Latrobe, Robert Rennert, George K. McGaw, William S. Rayner, Joseph M. Cone, and others. It hosted visitors and residents alike.
In 2026, the Robert Rennert Memorial Chapel still stands, but is in disrepair.
The Buena Vista Springs Hotel
The Buena Vista Springs Hotel opened in 1883 as a four-story wooden structure built with Georgia pine and offering modern amenities for its time. It was part of a broader 19th-century boom in Blue Ridge Summit tourism, drawing visitors such as U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and his family, Secretary of the Treasury William. G. McAdoo, Admiral of the Navy George Dewey, Actress Joan Crawford, Supreme Court Justice Pierce Butler, Maryland Governor Albert Ritchie, Maryland Governor William P. Lane, Judge M. Sopher, President of the Philippines Manuel Quezon, First Maryland National Guard Colonel John M. Heighe, and numerous Ambassadors to the United States.
The hotel was known for its scenic mountain setting, mineral springs, and recreational facilities.
The Buena Vista Springs Hotel operated for about 77 years before it was destroyed by a devastating fire on December 8, 1967. The fire marked the end of an era for the resort, which had been a prominent feature of the area’s tourism and hospitality history.
Buena Vista Springs Hotel at Buena Vista, Pennsylvania.
Buena Vista Springs Hotel prices in Pen Mar’s Heyday.
Rennert Memorial Chapel at Buena Vista, Pennsylvania.
