The first hotel in the village was originally built for a dwelling, but in the fall of 1844 it was remodeled and converted into a hotel by Nathanial and Horace Smith. It was burned in 1852, and the present Hawley House was built on the same ground, in that year by Horrace Smith. The old building had been known as the Leslie House, and, like the present one, was a frame structure. The Hawley House is now the property of Henry B. Hawley. The messrs. Smith came to Leslie in 1844, from Orleanso., N. Y. Nathanield Smith died in January, 1851, and his son is now a boot- and shoe-dealer at Leslie.

The Eagle Hotel was built also in 1852, by Hiram Austin, who conducted it for some time. It was also kept for a time by Horace Smith. It is now owned and carried on by James McDaniels, a very popular landlord, who purchased it in 1869, and who has since greatly enlarged and repaired it.

The Allen House is a find brick hotel, east of the main street of the village, and was built about 1872 by H. T. Allen & Son, a private banking-firm then in Leslie. The cost of the house, fitting the grounds, an artificial lake, an island, and bath-house, was probably $20,000. The enterprise, although a laudable one, has never proved a source of profit, and the Messrs. Allen were unfortunate in their investment. The property is not owned by David F. Dwight, of Boston, and the Allens are in Kansas.

Taken from:
"History of Ingham and Eaton Counties Michigan, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Their Prominent Men and Pioneers", by Samuel W. Durant.
Published by D. W. Ensign & Co., 1880.
Page 266