2012: HAMILTON'S HISTORIC BROMLEY INN

Bye-bye, Bromley — We’ll miss you

The Bromley Inn in Trenton, owned and operated by Rick Roth and family, closed its doors last Friday. A long-standing and unique establishment with lots of history, it will be truly missed by its clientele.

One of my friends commented that when she entered the Bromley, she felt like it was 1920 — there were no television sets or high-volume music, which made it very conducive to the art of conversation. Located not far from the old fairgrounds, persons such as Annie Oakley and Buffalo Bill, when touring the country, were guests there, when it was an inn.

Rick’s grandfather, his father, and in recent years, his son Fredrich, made it a four-generation establishment. Rick liked to say the Bromley was not a restaurant, just a tavern that happened to serve food. Rick Roth and his wife Gloria, son Freddy and girlfriend Ivy, as well as daughter Alexandra always made it a point to greet guests warmly and make them feel right at home. Longtime employees Dee, Debbie, Uncle Stevie, Jimmie and the late George Hancock made the Bromley a place to remember.

We among many others will truly miss the old place, and we wish the best to everyone who made it so special.

-- Marie and Bob Malloy,
Columbus

I received the above email from fellow Kuser School alumnus Harry Hall regarding the closing of the Bromley Inn. Unfortunately there was very little publicity that I could find on the subject. It is my hope that another entrepreneur will renovate the historic landmark and thus preserve it as the historic treasure it is. My research finds that the earliest reference to Charles Fulkert's Bromley Inn dates back to 1897. During the prohibition era, it was known as the "FAIR-VUE INN" under the proprietorship of Mr. Tom Murphy. It was raided numerous times during the 1920's for illegal gambling and liquor violations.

Anonymous said...

I found in the History of Hamilton Township book published by the Historical Society that the Bromley Inn was built in 1888 by a man named Williamson who named it after his home in England.

Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Tom Glover said...

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THAT INFORMATION, "ANONYMOUS." I CAN FIND NO EVIDENCE THAT THE BROMLEY INN WAS BUILT IN 1888. PERHAPS THE DEED LISTS MR. WILLIAMSON AS THE OWNER OF THE LAND OR EVEN AN EXISTING BUILDING. UNTIL I RECEIVE INFORMATION AS TO THE ORIGIN OF THE BROMLEY INN, I WILL ASSUME THAT THE CLIPPING FROM 1897 ABOVE ANNOUNCING THAT BROMLEY INN HALL IS NOW OPEN FOR BUSINESS IS AT LEAST AN EARLY INDICATOR OF THE ORIGIN OF THE INN. IN YEARS PAST IT ALSO ACTED AS A MINI HOTEL WITH ROOMS ON THE UPPER FLOOR. I HAVE DONE AN EXHAUSTIVE SEARCH ON CHARLES FULKERT (SALOON OWNER AT 402 CENTRE STREET CORNER OF FEDERAL, TRENTON) WILLIAMSON, BROMLEY, AND HAVE FOUND NOTHING REGARDING THE ACTUAL ORIGIN. AS TO THE NAME "BROMLEY,"IT IS COMMON KNOWLEDGE THAT THE AREA IS NAMED FOR THE BRITISH TOWN OF "BROMLEY," I HAVE FOUND NO HISTORIC EVIDENCE THAT WILLIAMSON COINED THE NAME. PERHAPS THE ACTUAL DEED TO THE PROPERTY WILL CLEAR UP THE ORIGIN QUESTION, BUT UNFORTUNATELY I HAVE NO ACCESS TO THAT DOCUMENT.

TOM GLOVER