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The Washington Hotel, Weiser’s original grand hotel that burned down in 1975, was far more than the city needed when built in 1911. The Weiser Hotel, then located on Commercial Street by the railroad depot, had 100 rooms and the Vendome across the street more than half that number. The town, then about 4,000, was growing with the addition of more and more irrigated acreage, but the Washington Hotel was a big city hotel, rated as the best in Idaho and one of the best in the Pacific Northwest, according to travelers who wrote about the area in newspapers like the Chicago Tribune. It was built for the future.
The Washington Hotel was not built by a hotel chain or by outside investors. The people of Weiser raised the entire $200,000 to build it locally and it was operated by a board of directors composed of prominent local businessmen and civic leaders. This would be roughly the equivalent of $12 million in today’s currency.
(Click Image for Enlargement) Inside the Hotel Lobby – 1950s
Grand Opening of the Grand Hotel – 1911
The grandWashington Hotelstood at Main & East First Street for 62 years. Its stance came as a result of civic pride and progressive entrepreneurship. Home capital of $200,000 was provided to build and furnish the bold community statement.
Prior to the grand opening of the new hotel, Manager M.J. Allton organized several committees for the event. Mr. Allton was a detail-minded manager who made sure all was ready and that the evening went as planned, much to the delight of every guest. Mrs. S.B. Varian chaired the decorating committee. It is to be noted that these ornamentations were used later in the week at another celebration in a different location in Weiser. Receiving committee members, present at both the depot and the hotel, were directed by Mr. L.I. Purcell. Other committees and heads included the inspecting committee, Mr. A.H. Keller; music, Mrs. J. Herbert Ricker; floor, Mr. Harry Wulf; cards and games, Mrs. George V. Nesbit. Perhaps another reader would understand the obligations and importance of such committees as were assigned in 1911.
The Golden Rule Store bought a quarter page in the Weiser Semi-Weekly Signal promoting the Grand Opening of the Washington Hotel along with “Xmas” suggestions for the men at “Dry Good Headquarter.”
(Click Image for Enlargement) Inside a Hotel Residence
The week of the gala, theWashington Hotel staff was busy with other proceedings scheduled for the site. On Sunday, December 10, from 5:30 to 8 P.M. dinner was served in the dining room. On Monday, December 11 a sale of FURS! was advertised to be held in the “sample rooms” of the hotel until December 13, Wednesday from 9 to 9 P.M. each of the three days of the sale. One disappointment of the week was that the bell hops’ outfits did not arrive until Wednesday, an important day late. The uniforms, when they did arrive, sported gold trimmings on the dark blue turban-style hats, as well as on the jackets and pants.
Whether the ladies were dressed in gold and furs or other beautiful gowns, each was amazed at the new Washington Hotel interior along with the several proceedings planned for the evening. By 9:30 P.M. most of the guests had arrived with festivities ready to begin. To the right of the circular desk and key racks crafted of mahogany was a “splendidly appointed ladies’ retiring room.” A walnut-paneled billiard room was located in the west wing with hardwood paneled flooring. Terra cotta walls above the plate rail surrounding this room led to the “heavy cornice in Doric style with Tryglyphes and metropodes leading to a cream ceiling. Such ostentatious details illustrate the expense and quality of the building.
As one wandered the first floor, marble public restrooms, a barber shop, as well as a “public stenographer’s stand” could be seen. Built-in phone booths, a news stand, and a bell hop room were also found on the ground floor along with the most impressive dining room.
(Click Image for Enlargement) Hotel Washington Coffee Shop – 1953
After the formal program was completed about 10:30 P.M. guests were treated to a nine-course meal of the most elaborate and excellent cuisine to be served in the colonial dining room. This room was entered to the right of the front desk. Here six massive fixtures indirectly illuminated the room, reflected in the highly polished hardwood floor. Diners were surrounded by “white enameled colonial panels filled with imperial purple plush.” Above the plate rail, a buff wall rose to a pale blue ceiling laced by white beams. Pink and white carnations graced each table which we suppose was covered in white linen and set accordingly. Off the dining room one would have found the thoroughly modern kitchen and bakery with the newest and best appliances available.
Guests of the gala were allowed to tour the upper floors as well during the evening. The grand staircase of marble sidelined by mahogany rails and “brush brass balustrades” provided one means of ascent. The other was the latest model of an Otis elevator which lifted guests to the fifth floor ballroom where official festivities began at 9:30 with the singing voices of a female sextet.
The Master of Ceremonies for the evening was Mr. Miles Canon who provided a warm welcome and introduced Mr. A.H. Keller, chairman of the board of directors of the hotel committee. Mr. Perrault of Boise praised the local community endeavor and then relinquished the platform to Governor Hawley’s chosen representative, Mr. I.C. Hatterbaugh. Mr. Moses Alexander and Les Falk, president of the Boise Commercial Club, complimented the Weiser people on their progressiveness while State Treasurer Allen brought the formal words of acknowledgement to a close.
(Click Image for Enlargement) The Hotel was also a Bus Depot
Until 5 A.M. gala guests could remain in the ballroom and enjoy specially procured dance music while gliding across the finest floor with their favorite partner. The cloak and reception rooms, as well as smoking and retiring rooms were sited on the fifth floor as well. Some diners had to wait their turn as the large number of guests took turns feasting in the first floor dining room. Others toured the other floors which were theirs for the roaming.
The second floor featured a mahogany main parlor as well as a ladies’ writing room. Many other suites on this floor featured special woods in their décor. All 100 guest rooms on the third and fourth floors were outside rooms with windows. Seventy of the rooms had adjoining bathrooms each featuring a window as well. A brass bed with the best springs and mattress available was the centerpiece of each room highlighted by Royal Wilton carpet to soften steps. Each room included a clothes closet, other furnishings, as well as steam heat, running water and a telephone! Imagine the luxury!
Filled to the brim with well-entertained guests and special emissaries, genial services and comfort, beautiful gowns, decorations and décor, theWashington Hotelwas filled with music and sweet aromas well into the gala’s morning hours. All the while, many grateful praises, slaps on the backs, smiles and laughter ushered in a promising era of good fortune and future for the Weiser-ites.
WEISER, Idaho (UPI) — Weiser Fire Chief Irvin Falconer says a bed fire may have been responsible for the blaze that destroyed the landmark Washington Hotel here.
The hotel, built in 1910, was destroyed Saturday, and two elderly people died in the flames. Nine persons were treated for smoke inhalation.
Falconer said, “It was possibly started by a bed fire, and the accompanying explosion may have been a television tube bursting.”
The building was destroyed, but damage estimates were not available.
The fire broke out on the second floor of the five-floor hotel shortly before midnight on Friday. It took 12 hours to put the blaze out, as firemen used six pumpers from Weiser, Payette, and Ontario fire departments.
The two victims were identified as Harley Benfer, about 90, and Lou Shellhaus, about 80. They both lived in the hotel.
The hotel was described by long-time Weiser residents as “the place to stay” when it first opened 63 years ago. The hotel had two beauty shops, a coffee shop, and a lounge on the first floor.
From The Times-News – Twin Falls, Idaho – Page 3
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The Washington Hotel Burns Down – 1975.
Two persons died and nine were injured today when the once plush Washington Hotel burst into flames in Weiser.
Witnesses said some of the 23 occupants leaped from windows on the lower floors, and a father, his two sons and a babysitter were rescued by firemen from a fifth-floor window.
(Click Image for Enlargement) After the Fire
Firemen said all the occupants in the hotel were accounted for this morning, but police said they earlier feared more were dead because many of the elderly residents had gone to the homes of friends and had not checked with police
The fire apparently broke out on the second and third floor of the five-story building and was accompanied by an explosion.
“I smelled smoke and heard an explosion,” said Jake Ferreira, who was reading in bed when the fire broke out at 12:30 a.m., “I heard a woman screaming, but I couldn’t get to her.”
Ferreira said he ran up and down the second floor hallway yelling and pounding on doors.
Many of the hotel residents were forced into the sub-freezing temperatures with only their night clothes on. Some were taken to the local Elks Club and the Senior Citizens Center across the street from the hotel.
Many of those in the hotel were permanent residents, but the hotel still operated on an overnight basis.
Ron Holmes, who was playing in a lounge band on the first floor of the hotel, said someone yelled “Everyone get out, the place is on fire.”
Holmes ran outside and saw the baby sitter who was watching his two sons standing by the fifth floor window of his hotel apartment. He ran back into the burning building.
“I got to the second floor and the flames and smoke were everywhere, but I kept going,” he said. “I thought I was on the fifth floor but I couldn’t see. I felt the numbers on a door and realized it was only the fourth floor so I kept going. “I could hardly make it but I yelled and the babysitter let me in the room,” Holmes said, “We then called down to firemen and police who extended a chrerypicker and a ladder.”
The woman who lived in the apartment next to Holmes perished in the flames.
“She wasn’t so lucky,” Holmes said following the rescue.
Officials said the names of the victims were being withheld pending notification of next to kin.
The nine injured persons were taken to the Weiser Memorial Hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.
The hotel, built in 1910, was described by long time Weiser residents as “the place to stay when it first opened.”
The hotel presently had two beauty shops, a coffee shop and a lounge on the first floor.
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Study: insufficient demand for hotel
by David Trigueiro
Weiserdoes not have enough travel, tourism, or convention business to justify building a 75-room hotel or motel here, according to a study by Cushman & Wakefield Inc.
The study was commissioned in early December by the Washington County Economic Development Commission and the Vendome Events Center Committee using a $20,000 rural initiatives grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Bev Johnson, WCEDC executive director, said last week there will be a public meeting in April to discuss the outcome and consider alternative ideas for providing downtown accommodation for conventions at the Vendome Center, which was the reason for the study.
“As a result of our analysis, we have formed an opinion that there is not sufficient demand to support a hotel facility in Weiser,” the study concluded. “While there are positive amenities and some demand generators, we do not see sufficient demand to justify teh development of a lodging facility in the current environment.”
The Vendome committee wants the downtown accommodation increase its midweek convention business, which it considers necessary to make the events center a paying proposition. While the center is fully booked nearly every weekend, there are not enough events booked during the week, Committee Chairman Steve Penner said when the study was commissioned.
“It becomes something of a chicken and egg question,” Johnson said, “we need the events to generate the demand and we need the hotel to get the events.”
The original idea, if the study results were positive, was to interest a national chain, like AmeriTel or Best Western, in building a hotel in Weiser. The study based its cost analysis on the Hampton Inn, Johnson said. The chains do not build facilities smaller than 75 rooms, according to Johnson.
A problem also pointed out by the Chusman & Wakefield study was location. Idealy, the new hotel would be located within walking distance of the Vendome Center, but most chains would likely have preferred to build on U.S. 95 in order to maximize occupancy. Virtually all of the lots available downtown were too close to the railroad track for quiet comfort, the study also pointed out.
Johnson said one way around the currently low demand for tourist and other accomodation is to make Weiser into a tourist destination. Currently popular with hunters and fishermen, Weiser could also attract people on day trips from the Boise area. The town has many historic buildings and neighborhoods, she said, which could be enhanced by the Weiser River Trail and the proposed bridge to bridge park along the Snake and Weiser rivers.
Weiser has a couple of Bed and Breakfast’s, as well as small comfortable motels, which would provide enough accommodation initially. As Weiser added attractions, the need for a larger hotel might become apparent.
The Washington Hotel, Weiser’s original grand hotel that burned down in 1975, was far more than the city needed when built in 1911. The Weiser Hotel, then located on Commercial Street by the railroad depot, had 100 rooms and the Vendome across the street more than half that number. The town, then about 4,000, was growing with the addition of more and more irrigated acreage, but the Washington Hotel was a big city hotel, rated as the best in Idaho and one of the best in the Pacific Northwest, according to travelers who wrote about the area in newspapers like the Chicago Tribune. It was built for the future.
The Washington Hotel was not built by a hotel chain or by outside investors. The people of Weiser raised the entire $200,000 to build it locally and it was operated by a board of directors composed of prominent local businessmen and civic leaders. This would be roughly the equivalent of $12 million in today’s currency.
FromWeiser Signal American – Weiser, Idaho – March 16, 2005
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The Washington Hotel is torn down.
(Click Image for Enlargement) Currently at the former location of the hotel
With the popularity of the automobile increasing year by year, and with many motels having been built to cater to their drivers, plus the needs of the city were so much different, it was ultimately decided that rebuilding the hotel was not in the towns best interests, so it was demolished and replaced with a restaurant and parking lot.
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