| Birth: | unknown
Nova Scotia, Canada | | Death: | Feb., 1932
Georgetown
Clear Creek County
Colorado, USA | 
Canadian Sarah Harrison moved to Georgetown, Colorado when she was 18 years old. She began working as a waitress at the Ennis House, which "catered to a large and excellent class of trade."
In 1887, Sarah married James Harvey Burkholder. They had two children, James Edward and Hazel Mary Helen. Sarah became proprietor of the Elliott House, by some considered the leading hotel of Georgetown and one of the best in Clear Creek County. Her success was shown by the large patronage. It was said she spared no effort to cater to the comfort of her guests.
In 1903, Sarah and husband James purchased Hotel de Paris after the death of housekeeper and proprietor Marie Sophie (Bladier) Gally. Because they were also owners of Burkholder Hardware, it was convenient for the couple to make changes to the hotel, including the installation of new plumbing, including "noiseless" toilets. They also repainted the kitchen red, white, and blue in honor of France (the home country of Hotel de Paris founder Louis Dupuy).
In 1905, Sarah "threw [sic] open the dining room of Hotel de Paris," which had been mostly closed since Dupuy's death in 1900. About that time, she also remodeled rooms in the Annex building and removed two toilet rooms to provide access to double porches where her guests could enjoy views said to rival those of Switzerland. Plans for tennis courts on an adjacent lot were not realized.
Sarah also owned and personally managed an opera house in Georgetown (possibly on the 3rd floor of the Cushman Block). Always entrepreneurial, she advertised Hotel de Paris and other businesses on hand-painted signs to the sides of the movie screen.
Daughter Hazel Burkholder McAdams inherited the hotel upon her mother's death and ran the property until 1954, the year it was acquired by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Colorado as a museum.
www.hoteldeparismuseum.org
Family links:
Spouse:
James Harvey Burkholder (1856 - 1906)*
Children:
James Edward Burkholder (1888 - 1945)*
Hazel Mary Helen Burkholder McAdams (1889 - 1966)*
*Calculated relationship
Note: Buried with her husband and children in unmarked graves | | | Burial:
Fairmount Cemetery
Denver
Denver County
Colorado, USA
Plot: Lot No. 45, Block No. 2 |
Created by: Kevin Kuharic
Record added: Nov 01, 2010
Find A Grave Memorial# 60970654 |
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