The year was 1868 - one of classic elegance, horse-drawn carriages, gas lamps and top hats, and the early beginnings of The Grand Summit Hotel. Summit, New Jersey "The Hill City" was the embodiment of the late 1860's gentility.  Famous as a gracious resort area. New Yorkers flocked to Summit for its beautiful rural charm, its "pureness of atmosphere" and "salubrious climate and pure water supply."

At the heart of this idyllic setting lay The Blackburn House, an elegant country resort. In season, a picturesque parade of horses and buggies would be seen carrying hotel patrons and their servants from the nearby Lackawanna Railroad Station - the "Road of Anthracite" to The Blackburn House.

The Blackburn House offered amenities such as a bowling green, tennis court, a casino, rambling wooden verandahs, and cuisine noted to be "the best obtainable."

Many wealthy guests, so enamored with the area, eventually relocated here, building mansions and giving rise to Summit's legendary high society and its reputation as the "Newport of New Jersey."

In 1929, as a result of the growing number of visitors to Summit, the present Grand Summit Hotel was erected on the site of the original Blackburn House. Expert European craftsmen were employed to fashion the intricate exterior Tudor Mansion brickwork, the interior vaulted beamed ceiling and elaborate and exquisite Tudor details.

The Summit Suburban hotel continued as the home of celebrated life style, frequented by prominent politicians and celebrities, drawn by the hotel's park-like setting and convenient proximity to cultural and recreational attractions, historic downtown Summit and easy access to Manhattan.

The Summit Suburban thrived unchanged until 1984 when it was acquired by new owners and renamed The Grand Summit Hotel. In 1986, a comprehensive renovation followed. Over 11 million dollars have been spent to thoroughly modernize and upgrade the hotel to world class status and capture the look and feel of timeless European elegance.

Today, The Grand Summit Hotel stands as a symbol of the distinguished and colorful history of Summit, New Jersey, as well as the home of fine service, and award winning cuisine, and our continued commitment to gracious hospitality in the years to come.