By NANCY WHITAKER

Progress Staff Writer

On Jan. 15, the old Hotel Barnes was leveled by a fire leaving only memories of better days. The hotel, built in 1893, was the top of the line back in the day.

Jack Moore of Paulding can remember his grandfather, Henry Geyer, being a barber in a barbershop located at the hotel. Geyer and his wife resided on West Harrison Street across from Frank Young who was also a barber.

Henry learned to cut hair and shave beards with a straight razor. In those days one did not need a license or schooling to cut and shave hair in a barbershop. Geyer was also a rural mail carrier and delivered mail by horse and buggy.

In approximately 1896, William McKinley was campaigning for the presidency and stopped over in Paulding. He stayed at the then-prestigious Hotel Barnes, which was only three years old at the time.