The hotel site hosted visitors such as President Woodrow Wilson, Mark Twain, Alexander Graham Bell and W.E.B. Du Bois.
Town leaders and the developers did not always agree on how to move the project forward. Among the disputes were public rights of way and how much traffic the new development would bring to the tiny town.
The Washington Post summarized the disputes that have caused a bitter divide in the community.
“For the past 13 years, the town has been riven by disputes over the new hotel’s size and its design; its parking and sewage needs; and the effects of an influx of clientele for its $500-a-night rooms, underground golf simulator and restaurant overseen by celebrity chef José Andrés. Project consultants have quit in disgust. The owners, Fred and Karen Schaufeld, who live in Northern Virginia, have left the table and come back to it, only to leave again,” the Post reported.
More information at http://www.hilltophousehotel.com/harpersferry/