Horses and Hospitality at the Herring Run Hotel
Herring Run Hotel offered fox hunting, fishing, billiards, suppers, and the hospitality of an enterprising landlady in the mid 1880s.

The Herring Run Hotel was located along Philadelphia Road near the entrance of the Herring Run Racetrack. The hotel was where admission fees could be paid and bets could be placed on horse races at the track. The various hotel owners did not rely exclusively on the races to draw visitors, but offered an array of entertainment.

From 1840 onward, the hotel offered fox hunting, fishing, billiards, suppers, and a separate parlor for women and children. Like the Herring Run Racetrack, the hotel appears to have had its heyday in the 1870s under the direction of David E. Bishop, who reportedly made it into a “famous hostelry”.

Although advertisements promised wholesome family fun, the hotel was not entirely free of problems common to gambling establishments. In 1855, a dispute arose between former policeman John T. White and his companion, James MacDonald, as they were leaving the track. MacDonald drew a switchblade and repeatedly stabbed White, leading to a premature announcement of White’s death in the evening paper. Two days later, the Baltimore Sun printed a correction, clarifying that White was taken to the Herring Run Hotel and was recovering under the care of a local doctor.

By the 1890s, the hotel was leased by a widow named Amelia Lepper, who added a new dance pavilion and advertised “fine lunch and music.” Although drinks were not advertised, Mrs. Lepper was found guilty of selling liquor without a license at least once.
In March of 1897, a suspicious fire started in one of the hotel outbuildings, and quickly spread to the hotel itself. Mrs. Lepper and her guests were forced to flee the flames in their nightclothes. The nearest fire companies were located in Highlandtown and Canton, and despite best efforts they did not arrive in time to save the hotel. Although the racecourse continued to be used for a few years into the twentieth century, the hotel was never rebuilt.

​Sources: 
 Cooper, J. (May 16, 1840). “Herring Run Hotel”. Baltimore Sun  
 “Old Herring Run Hotel, off Philadelphia Road, burned to the ground” (March 30, 1897). Baltimore Sun