Good forHistory buffs
Colonel E.B. Morgan — a native of Aurora and co-founder of the New York Times — built the inn in 1833, when travelers arrived by coach, canal boat, and rail. It sat on the eastern shore of Cayuga Lake, in a village that had already outlasted an Indigenous settlement, a Revolutionary War expedition, and the slow decline of canal-era commerce. In 2001, Wells College alumna Pleasant Rowland partnered with the college to renovate it. The courts fought over whether that renovation should happen. It did.
Quick facts
- ·A period newspaper account, published soon after the Inn's opening, praised its 'regularity, neatness and order exhibited everywhere' and its 'uninterrupted view of the water scenery of the most enchanting kind,' documenting the Inn's early reputation for hospitality during the canal-era travel boom. (Source: Wikipedia 'Aurora Inn', verbatim quoted text.)
- ·In the early 1840s, William D. Eagles purchased the Aurora Inn and engaged his uncle, former sea captain John Eagles, to manage it for him. (Source: innsofaurora.com/history-of-the-aurora-inn, exact quote: 'William D. Eagles purchased the inn and engaged his uncle, former sea captain John Eagles, to manage it for him.' Corroborated in part by Wikipedia 'Aurora Inn', which confirms the 1840s purchase by William D. Eagles and the Eagles family portraits.)
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2 historical photographs.
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Editorial content compiled with AI assistance. Place details verified against public records.