Fortunately, no lives were lost that night. Much of the building was lost in February 1998 to one of the worst fires in town history, which began next door at the old Whaler's Wharf. Staniford Sorrentino reopened it as the Crown & Anchor Motor Inn in 1962, when Bobby Short played a two-week gig. 'This house has accommodations for about 75 guests, has a fine billiard and pool-room attached, ladies' parlor and sitting-room, gents' reading and smoking-room, fronts the principal street of the town, while from the veranda at the rear a fine view of the harbor and its shipping can be obtained the facilities for bathing are also good.' The Central's charms were described as follows in the late 19th century: Reed, the town customs officer, who conducted business 'from a room fitted in the building for that purpose.'

Reed was succeeded in 1881 by his son, James A. Johnson built the Central House (its first name) as a public hall for shows and entertainment, a bowling alley and-quite as important-a saloon.Īllen Reed purchased the Central from Johnson's heirs in 1868, enlarged it, added sleeping rooms and attached a bowling alley, so that the Central was the largest hotel in town, extending over the water on pilings. The hotel business is a sideline this is the town's 'largest entertainment complex,' true to its roots in the mid-19th century, when Timothy P. Not only is it one of P-town's most prominent facades, with its grand columned portico and tower, but performers from the Cabaret-usually in drag-boisterously regale passers-by. On a summer's night, the Crown & Anchor can't be missed.

The anchoring of a crown