The Little Schuylkill Hotel was built in 1827 as Tamaqua's first hotel by the Little Schuylkill Navigation Railroad and Coal Company, which also first laid out parks for the town. It was the first stone building erected in Tamaqua. The company planned for Market Street to become the community's main business district, but that idea later failed because of public opposition. After a few years, the hotel closed and was converted to a double home, and St. John's United Church of Christ kept its parsonage there for many years.