07 Tuesday Jul 2020
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The old Broadway Hotel (built in 1911) at Broadway and Date in Tooele, Utah (145 N Broadway Ave) stands majestic and abandoned for now, there has been talk over the years of restoring it but nothing happening yet. I love the big cool looking building.
10 Friday Apr 2020
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With much of the city, much of the world shut down to help stop the spread of COVID-19 it is nice to see little happy things like this – several big hotels in downtown Salt Lake City have strategically turned on certain room lights at night to create a heart.
09 Sunday Feb 2020
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The George Hotel in Kanosh was built in 1887 by James Garnder and William George.
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According to the property’s title history, Mary Jane George formally received the property in 1901 from James Gardner, although the George family had occupied the building in c. 1887 and had turned part of the dwelling into a hotel c. 1900. The upstairs of the building was left unfinished until it became a hotel at that time; the open second-story of the home was used until then as a dance floor and a space for LDS church activities until the church meetinghouse across the street was constructed. 6 Indeed, oftentimes during the late-1800s, local residences were used for church activities and other social functions in small communities in Utah prior to meetinghouses being constructed.
The property has been passed through the hands of several George family members since the original deed in 1901. Mary Jane George was listed as a hotelkeeper in the 1900 Kanosh census and husband William George was listed as the hotelkeeper in the 1900 Utah State Gazetteer; this was the first year that the George Hotel was listed. During the hotel’s operation (c. 1900 to c. 1920), being one of the very few hotels in the area, it was used largely by stagecoach passengers, tourists, hunters, businessmen, and others traveling to and from the Salt Lake City area.
The George family was part of the migration from Petersburg in 1875. They had resided in Petersburg since the 1860s, where they ran a hotel and dining establishment out of their house (setting precedence for the George Hotel in Kanosh). William George, shortly after arriving in Kanosh, became involved with the Kanosh Naduald Cooperative, operated by Albert Naduald. In 1884, William George purchased the co-op from the Naduald’s and other town members.
In 1911, shortly after the passing of her husband William George (William and Mary were married in 1868), Mary Jane George deeded the land to half-brother George A. George; where George, wife Mariah, and their eleven children resided in the building and ran the hotel. George worked as a stockman, farmer and financier; he was also one of the first directors of the State Bank of Millard County. George and Mariah’s daughter, Elizabeth George, was listed in the 1920 census as a hotelkeeper, the last year that the George Hotel was listed in the gazetteer. After 1920, the building was used solely as a residence for the large George family. In 1935, George A. George, deeded the land to Elizabeth. Elizabeth George then deeded the land to her brother Revell George in 1954, who two years later deeded the eastern half of his property to his son Van George. Part of the property left the hands of the George Family for a while, when in 1971 Revell George deeded acreage to Boyd Watts. The Watts family turned the land back over to the Georges in 1990. The entire property is currently owned by J.W. Vande Merwe, who obtained the land and vacant hotel in 2002 and is in the process of preserving and restoring the building to its early-twentieth century appearance.
The George Hotel, constructed c.1887, and located Kanosh, Millard County, Utah, is a one-and-one-half-story T-shaped crosswing-type dwelling, constructed of random sandstone ashlar masonry. The building exhibits a
combination of Classical, Gothic Revival, and Victorian Eclectic stylistic traits, with the dominant theme being Gothic Revivalism. The primary section of the house faces west onto Main Street and has a secondary wing centrally placed at the rear. The corner property contains only a few deciduous trees and is mainly open with lawn surrounding the house and fenced-in open field to the north and east. There are two contributing outbuildings remaining on the property behind the dwelling. Located north to George Hotel is the Kanosh Tithing Office (National Register listed in 1985), and across the street to the west are some early-twentieth century commercial buildings.
The principal facade of the George Hotel faces west and is symmetrically arranged in a bilateral, tripartite scheme, typical of the classicism of early Utah territorial settlement. The centrally placed main entrance features two arched 2/3-length windows below which are two square panels. The doorway is surrounded on the two sides and top by window panels below which are wood panels historically faux-grained to look like hardwood. The center panel above the door is comprised of stained glass spelling out “George Hotel;” this appears to be a nonhistoric replacement. The heavy, flat stone header is partially covered by a decorative segmental wooden arch. The door is flanked on either side by two semi-octagonal bay windows with coupled two-over-two windows on the front and single two-over-two windows on the diagonally placed sides. The foundation walls of the bay windows are made of stone, matching that of the exterior walls of the house.
The second-story fenestration mirrors that of the main story, but is much simpler. The door is similar to that on the main level. The doorway on this level appears to have accessed the roof of a porch that once covered the
primary entrance, but has since been removed. The two flanking windows are two-over-two double-hung wooden sash units with heavy flat wood lintels and thinner wood sills. These openings extend up into gabled dormers, the central one being larger that the other two. The dentillated cornice is incorporated into the gables, which do not have sidewalls.
The south facade reveals the rear T wing, which is also bilaterally symmetrical, although it only features two dormers in a bipartite scheme. The gabled dormers are incorporated into the cornice line of the roof trim, similar to the front fa9ade. The centrally placed entrance is flanked on either side by double-hung, two-overtwo windows. Similar windows are located directly above these on the second floor. All the fenestration on this and the other facades feature heavy flat stone headers. The south gable end of the front section of the house has four window openings, two equally spaced on each level, which are all two-over-two, double hung wood sash. Also visible on this portion at the apex of the roof is a brick chimney with corbelled brickwork.
The east (rear) facade features the gable end of the T wing, which has a single window on each level, one directly above the other, located to the right of the gable end. A brick chimney, similar to the two on either side of the front section projects from the ridgeline at the east end. The rear wall of the front portion is visible from this side and has no fenestration. Attached to the north side of the wing is a wood-frame shed-roof addition that connects to the rear of the front section of the house as well. This has been re-sided with plywood and the roofing replaced with standing seam metal. There is a single window in the east elevation of the addition.
The north elevation is the most visually simple. The wood-frame addition has a door located in the center with a single window to the right of the door. The gable end of the front section of the house on this facade has only two windows, one on each floor, both left of center, although not directly lined up. These are similar to all the other windows. There is also a brick chimney similar to the other two located at the ridgeline of the roof.
The interior is virtually intact historically. The main level in the front portion of the house is arranged in typical central-passage fashion. The center hall contains the staircase to the second level that runs front-to-rear. Running along the right side of the stairs is the passage leading back through a doorway to the kitchen area in the rear wing. A closet is situated under the stairs and the paneling and balustrade of the staircase is elaborately painted with faux oak and walnut graining, which is in very good condition. A single room is located on either side of the hall; both are similar in appearance, although the room to the north side has a doorway leading into a bathroom in the frame addition. The rear wing has the kitchen area as well as a pantry and bathroom at the east end of the wing. All of the woodwork on this level is in original condition and is being retained, and that which has been damaged is being restored. All the door, window, and baseboard molding is done in Eastlake fashion. Although much of it is painted, the details, such as the patera, are all faux grained to appear as hardwood. All the doors are also faux grained in elaborate patterns, with panels and framing done in contrasted grains and
colors.
The second story appears to have been expediently finished around the turn of the twentieth century. The layout reveals its use as a hotel, with several small rooms spartanly finished; prior to c. 1900 it was open and sometimes used as a dance floor for local dances before the Mormon meetinghouse was finished in 1894. The framing studs are visible in portions of the walls, and the primary wall sheathing over the framework is bead board. Until recently there is no ceiling and all the rough-sawn roof trusses were visible. It is probable that muslin was the only ceiling material since there are remnants apparent. Drywall ceilings have recently been installed. There are six rooms on the upper level, although it appears that at least one wall was removed at an unknown time. At the landing at the top of the stairway, one faces a wall to the east that has an interior window.
This opened into a long narrow room along the north side of the rear wing. It is likely that this was where guests would check their baggage when they stayed here. In the short hallway to the left of the stair landing is the entrance to one of the rooms located at the north end of the main section of the house. This room has a deep interior wall cavity used as a closet and accessed by a doorway built into the wall. This room is divided off from another room to the west, at the front of the house. On the south side of the front portion of the house, separated from the above-mentioned rooms by a hallway that runs along the stair opening, is a single large room that also has a built-in closet. Going back through the hallway to the east end (past the bag room on the left) is the rear wing, which is divided into two sections, one on the north and one on the south. One must pass into the south room to access the north room. The south room is fairly large and open. The north room (baggage room) has more recently been divided into a storage room and a bathroom.
The property retains its historical appearance, situated on an open lot with only a few small deciduous trees. Directly around the house the yard is planted with grass, the rest is untrimmed field. A post and wire fence separates the yard from open fields both to the north and east. Behind the house to the east is a large gable-roof, wood frame and plank shed that may have served as a small barn. Although somewhat dilapidated exact construction date unknown, it was constructed during the historic era, and is considered a contributing building. To the southwest of this is a smaller historic (date unknown) wood frame and plank shed, which is also a contributing building. The George Hotel is one of the largest historic buildings in this small town and sits prominently on the main road through town. It retains its historic integrity and appearances and is a contributing resource in the small town of Kanosh.
04 Tuesday Dec 2018
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Temple Square Hotel
The Temple Square Hotel, once located on this corner, opened to much fanfare in 1930. Designed by the firm of Ashton and Evans, the hotel was one of the finest in the city, featuring a private bath and built in radio in every room. A more intimate setting than the grand Hotel Utah up the street, it marked the city’s growth as a regional business center.
For decades, the Temple Square Hotel was a particularly popular venue for wedding celebrations. The hotel was renovated and renamed the Inn at Temple Square in 1990 and then demolished in 2006 to make way for the Promontory on South Temple.
13 Tuesday Nov 2018
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The Claimjumper Hotel
The Park City Hotel was built on this site after the Great Fire of 1898. It was managed by a well-liked and respected Park City resident, Mrs. Marie Hethke O’Keefe, who also owned the furnishings. After it was destroyed in another fore in 1912, a great community fund-raising effort produced $22,000 to pay for the construction of a fine brick building to be called the New Park Hotel. On November 3, 1913, Mrs. O’Keefe opened the new hotel and it quickly became a favorite stopping place for travelers. It was described as a “beautiful and commodious hostelry with a dinning room decorated in patriotic red, white, and blue.” All meals, including Sunday dinner, were 50 cents each. Guest lists, which were published in the Park Record, indicated that business was flourishing. Mrs. O’Keefe operated the New Park Hotel until 1952 when depressed economics times forced its closure. She died in 1958. After extensive remodeling and modernization in the mid-1960s, the building reopened as The Claimjumper, a hotel, restaurant, and private club. The hotel rooms were converted into offices after a fire in 1992.
Located at 573 Main Street on historic Park City Main Street in Park City, Utah.
12 Friday Aug 2016
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Haunted, Haunted Utah, historic, Historic Buildings, Hotels, Ogden, utah, Weber County
Constructed in 1927, the Bigelow/Ben Lomond Hotel is both architecturally and historically significant. Architecturally, it is an excellent and rare example of the Italian Renaissance Revival style in Utah, which was popular in America in the 1920s but seldom employed in Utah. The building is also the most notable example of the hotel type in Ogden. No other hotel in the history of the city has exceeded the Bigelow/Ben Lomond in size (number of rooms), height or elegance. The hotel is also a significant work of the Ogden/Salt Lake City architectural firm of Hodgson and McClenahan. That firm designed a number of architectural landmarks in Ogden, ranging from the Egyptian Revival style Peery’s Egyptian Theatre to three major Art Deco buildings- Ogden High School, the City and County Building, and the Regional Forest Service Building–to several Prairie School houses in the Eccles Avenue Historic District (all National Register properties). The Italian Renaissance Revival style Bigelow/Ben Lomond Hotel is yet another example of their architectural versatility and proficiency. The hotel is historically significant for its association with Ogden City’s 1920s era of growth. This building, the tallest and most lavishly designed structure in the city, symbolizes that period of optimism and economic development.
Located at 2510 South Washington Blvd in Ogden, Utah and added to the National Historic Register (#90000637) on April 19, 1990.
The Bigelow ranks as one of the three most architecturally significant hotels built in Utah’s historic period. The others, the Hotel Utah (built 1909-11 with 500 rooms) and the Newhouse Hotel (built 1911-14 with 400 rooms), both in the state’s capitol, Salt Lake City, have been converted to a new use and razed, respectively. Of the “Big 3” grand hotels from Utah’s 1900-1920s “boom” era only the Bigelow retains its original commercial and residential uses. Like the Hotel Utah, it also retains much of its architectural integrity.
At the time of the Bigelow Hotel’s construction, Ogden was Utah’s second largest city with a population of 45,000. Its growth prior to 1900 depended on its importance as a railroad and agricultural center. Nineteenth-century visitors to Ogden were accommodated in several small hotels, the largest of which was the Reed Hotel, a five story brick and stone structure built in 1891 on the site later to be occupied by the Bigelow Hotel. Considered to be one of the finest hotels in the West at the time, the Reed Hotel came into the hands of H. C. Bigelow and his Ogden State Bank in 1916. It was his son, prominent businessman and conservationist, A. P. Bigelow, who determined in 1926 to raze the Reed and replace it with a modern,
“fireproof,” first-class hotel.
Illinois born, University of Wisconsin-educated, A. P. Bigelow was co-founder and president of the Ogden State Bank (housed in the hotel) and the Bigelow Hotel. He was associated with a large number of major industrial, business, fish, game, and water conservation enterprises in Utah. He served as president of such groups as Utah Power and Light Co., Utah Taxpayer’s Association, Weber River Water Users Association, among others.
The construction of the Bigelow Hotel in 1927 culminated a 25-year period of considerable growth and expansion in Ogden. Perhaps more than any other building, the Bigelow, still the city’s highest building, symbolized the high water mark in Ogden’s development, a zenith which ended with the depression of 1929-36 and which has never been approached in Ogden since.
Following the completion of the trans-continental railroad at Promontory (northwest of Ogden) in 1869, Ogden became the region’s leading railroad center. Called the “Junction City,” Ogden at one time hosted as many as eight railroad companies, including the Union Pacific, Southern Pacific, Denver & Rio Grande,
Oregon Shortline, Utah Central and Bamberger lines. In the early twentieth century, Ogden established itself as the Intermountain West’s leader in manufacturing, jobbing, commerce, and transportation. Important secondary industries included livestock and agriculture, tourism and conventions, and government agencies. Paralleling this growth was a building boom which affected all building types, especially hotel construction.
Despite the construction of several small-to-medium sized hotels and apartments in the early twentieth century, the mid-1920s brought a community demand for a single grand hotel and convention center “to further the city’s industrial and commercial prosperity.” Built at a period of peak capital influx, the Bigelow
reflects the community’s economic optimism, it sense of civic opulence, and its fervid booster spirit.
In 1926, self-described “Boosting Circles” and A. P. Bigelow came to an agreement to construct a community-backed luxury hotel to be operated by Bigelow. Within months a new corporation with 300 stockholders and a board of directors consisting of leading business figures was formed.
The Ogden/Salt Lake City architectural firm of Hodgson and McClenahan was commissioned to prepare construction documents for the hotel. The city’s most prolific architects, the firm designed several impressive structures which would eventually be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Within a year the impressive structure was complete, and its exuberantly and voluptuously eclectic style was a monument to the taste and business mentality of the time. Visitors were to be overwhelmed by the sophistication of Ogden’*’s showplace, which included a coffee shop in the Arabian style, a ballroom that
incorporated features from a palace in Florence and a meeting room for businessmen’s clubs done in the “atmosphere of old Spain.” The English Room was done completely in old paneling, and is an adaptation of a room in Bromley Castle, England. The Shakespeare Room, with its fine murals, was intended to be the
cultural highlight, “One can almost hear the screeching of the witches in ‘Macbeth’ when he looks upon the walls of the Shakespeare Room, so excellent is the work of Le Conte Stewart, Utah artist. (The Le Conte Stewart murals are now in the possession of the North Davis Art Society.) The Georgian Room, with its Adamesque ornamentation, and strategically located across the mezzanine from a “splendid” ladies rest room, was “as feminine as one could imagine a room to be.”
Ogden considered its new premier hotel “a fit home for presidents, kings, and emperors.” There was no doubt that the Bigelow as a serious competitor with the Hotel Utah in Salt Lake City for the title of the state’s leading hotel. In 1927, the hotel was briefly the center of national attention during a convention of
Western Democrats which resulted in the creation of a Western States “Smith for President” association. This signaled to national Democratic leaders the existence of a national constituency for Alfred E. Smith and was instrumental in the selection of Smith as Democratic standard bearer in the 1928 presidential election.
In 1933, the name of the hotel was changed to the Ben Lomond when the property was acquired by Marriner S. Eccles, shortly to become Roosevelt’s Secretary of the Treasury. After passing through the hands of various corporations representing Eccles family interest, the hotel was acquired in 1965 by Woodbury Corporation of Salt Lake City. Subsequently, in 1977, it was acquired by Weber County to house administrative services. In the mid~1980s, the hotel was obtained and rehabilitated by Ben Lomond Suites, Ltd., and Ogden company.
The hotel’s period of significance extends from its construction in 1927 through the first change of ownership in 1933. At that time the name was changed to the Ben Lomond Hotel, under which it operated for over 40 years. Though the hotel is still an architectural landmark in the city and is still playing a significant role in the central business district, its historical period of significance is best defined by its date of construction (1927) and the transition to its more permanent identity as the Ben Lomond Hotel in 1933.
The architectural firm of Hodgson and McClenahan was the premier architectural firm in Ogden during the early decades of the twentieth century and was prominent on a statewide and regional basis as well. Leslie S. Hodgson, born in Utah in 1879, learned the building trades from his father then received architectural training from two of Utah’s most prominent architects, Richard Kletting and Samuel
S. Dallas, both of Salt Lake City. Hodgson gained his architect’s license in 1904, then in 1905 worked for several months in the San Diego, California, office of Hebbard and Gill. He returned to Utah in 1906 and established an architectural partnership with Julius A. Smith in Ogden. That partnership dissolved in 1910.
Leslie Hodgson and Myrl McCLenahan formed their partnership in 1919, though McClenahan had worked for Hodgson previously, beginning in 1912. The partnership lasted until McClenahan’s death in 1940.
Hodson and McClenahan produced some of Ogden’s finest and most diverse architecture. Hodgson designed a number of Prairie School style houses in the Eccles Avenue subdivision (National Register historic district) in the 1910s. The firm designed the elaborate Egyptian Revival style Peery’s Egyptian Theatre in 1927, which was the same time they were working on the Italian Renaissance Revival style Bigelow Hotel. In the 1930s came three excellent examples of the Art Deco style the Regional Forest Service Building, Ogden High School, and the City and County Building all located in Ogden and all listed in the National Register. These three buildings are the finest examples of the Art Deco style in Utah. The
firm also designed a number of other public buildings and schools in Utah and the Intermountain West. However, their best work, among which the Bigelow/Ben Lomond Hotel can be counted, was done in Ogden.
The Bigelow/Ben Lomond Hotel, constructed in 1927 and extensively renovated in the 1980s, is a three-part commercial block with a four-story rectangular base, nine-story upper ell and a two-story tower at the nexus of the ell. The hotel was built with a reinforced concrete skeletal frame infilled with hollow clay tile and veneered with pressed brick. Designed in Early 20th Century Revival styling of an eclectic Italian Renaissance mode, the exterior featured ornamental terra cotta along the four-story façade of the base, the upper story of the ell and the tower. The flat roofs were trimmed with ballustrades on parapet walls. Window types varied from the fixed, round and segmentally-arched storefronts at the street level, to double-hung sash windows in tall, flat-arched bays in the upper eleven stories. While the north and west elevations (facing 25th Street and Washington Blvd., respectively) were highly ornamented, the south and east “rear” elevations were plain, consisting only of rectangular window bays in unrelieved brick walls.
The hotel’s floor plan was arranged to provide 350 guest rooms in the ell, plus dining space for 1000 seats, ballrooms, meeting and display rooms, lounges, restrooms, retail shops and a bank, all located in the four-story base. Support functions such as kitchens, food storage, laundry, and mechanical areas were
located in the basement. The two-story tower was designed as a penthouse residence for the Bigelow family.
The interior of the hotel featured an eclectic variety of exotic decors, especially in the public spaces. The Coffee Shop was decorated in an Arabian mode while the main ballroom exhibited Roman motifs. A smaller ballroom was called the Spanish Room because of its Mediterranean furnishings. One dining room had Japanese decor, while the ladies parlor relied on a Georgian theme and Adamesque detail. The English Room displayed rich oak paneling and the Shakespeare Room was lined with hand-painted mural. Ornamental plasterwork and terra cotta existed throughout the interior. A period interest in luxury, sophistication, variety and exotic cultures was clearly apparent.
The exterior of the Bigelow/Ben Lomond Hotel retains its overall architectural integrity. Some adverse alterations of street-level commercial windows in the 1970s were remedied by more compatible modifications during a major renovation in the 1980s. Deteriorated windows were replaced with units of similar design and materials. Flags and canvas awnings were placed over the street-level, arched windows and two new metal canopies were installed on either side of the southwest corner of the hotel. Narrow, vertical stair towers that extend to the full height of the building were attached to both the south and east elevations. Both have plain stuccoed exteriors.
The interior public spaces in the four-story base remain intact, although the bank space has been re-partitioned and the main lobby has had its shops and reception areas modified. Much of the interior has been repainted and many of the original light fixtures are not longer extant. The eleven floors in the ell have experienced significant floor plan changes to accommodate fewer but larger living units and offices. This renovation was part of a certified tax project.
A three-story motel addition was attached to the east side of the building c. 1957. It is an ell-shaped, flat-roofed, brick and concrete structure with ground-level parking beneath two stories of motel units. Though its utilitarian design does not complement the hotel, it does not significantly detract from it either. The motel is located on the least visible of the hotel’s facades, the east side or rear, and the open court formed by the ell faces away from the hotel. There is no interior connection between the hotel and the motel section, though the motel functioned as an annex to the hotel (and still does).
A low, two-level parking garage was built adjacent to the southeast corner of the hotel in the early 1960s. This garage, which obscures none of the original elevations, is a non-contributing building on the property.
23 Tuesday Sep 2014
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historic, Historic Buildings, Hotels, NRHP, Springville, utah, utah county
The Johnson – Kearns Hotel at 94 W 200 S in Springville, Utah was built in 1892. It includes Late Victorian architecture. It has also been known as the Johnson Hotel, as the Kearns Hotel, the Manitou Hotel and as Valley Tavern Hotel. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.
It was one of three hotels in Springville in 1900. It was opened and operated by Moses and Ann Kearns Johnson; the Kearns family operated it during 1910-37.
11 Monday Nov 2013
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Hotel Victor
1910, David C. Dart
“Victor” sign visible up high
Constructed by Katherine Belcher, the Hotel Victor is one of a dozen hotels built in downtown Salt Lake City shortly after the completion of the city’s two major railroad depots. The second and third floors of the building served as a hotel until the 1960s.
Early on, a saloon operated by Italian immigrants occupied the first floor. In the mid-1920s, the Denver Fire-Clay Company moved into the building.
The window bays of the Hotel Victor are offset with frames of grayish raised brick. Each bay also features a decorative panel of inlaid tile. The projecting cornice is supported by large, paired brackets and adorned with a Greek key design.
“The Hotel”
This is located at 155 West on 200 South in Salt Lake City, Utah
