Blog Mirror: Wyoming’s Iconic The Virginian Hotel Has New Out-Of-State Owners

Wyoming’s Iconic The Virginian Hotel Has New Out-Of-State Owners

Southern Rockies Nature Blog: Life, Death, and Coffee in Clayton, New Mexico

Southern Rockies Nature Blog: Life, Death, and Coffee in Clayton, New Mexico: No one is ever on the sidewalks in Clayton, New Mexico. Its population has trended down since 1960 , and if you want to visit a store or oth...

The Virginian, Medince Bow, Wyoming.

 

Hotel Crescent, Sheridan Wyoming

This is a photograph of the Hotel Crescent sign on what was formerly that hotel, in Sheridan Wyoming.

Sheridan has one of the best preserved old downtown's in Wyoming.  It never really fell into a state of disrepair and the old buildings largely remain in use, if not in their original uses.  For that reason, if this blog was done correctly, there's be a large number of Sheridan photographs here.  For whatever reason, however, whenever I'm in Sheridan I tend to be a bit pressed for time, so I've never taken the time to photograph the numerous old buildings that deserve to be here on this site.  I've done better, in regard to Sheridan, with our Churches of the West blog.

Holscher's Hub: Echos of Parco. Sinclair Wyoming.

From our companion blog; Holscher's Hub: Echos of Parco. Sinclair Wyoming.:

This is linked over here as it fits in quite well with the theme of the blog.  Parco was a company town, as noted below, built by a refining company in 1924-25.  The luxury hotel  was built by the company on the then fairly new Lincoln Highway, and the town no doubt benefited as it was also a stop on the Union Pacific.  Only seven miles away from the larger and older town of Rawlins, the Interstate Highway bypasses it and its a remnant of its former self.

Not too many people stop at Sinclair who are just passing through.  But at one time that wasn't true.  And that's why the town has what was once a luxury hotel (now a Baptist church), a spacious park, really nice tennis courts, and the like.  Only the sign on the hotel remains, as well as a historical monument, to remind us that Sinclair is the town's second name.  It was originally Parco, a company town founded by the founder of what is now the Sinclair Refinery, the Producers & Refiners Corporation.

Barth Hotel, Denver Colorado

I don't know anything about it, other than that the Barth Hotel is located in Lower Downtown Denver.

Plaza Hotel and Montgomery Wards, Rock Springs Wyoming

A lot of the photos I take on this blog are taken on the way to, or from, a work function. So it's frequently the case that I can't really frame them like I would if I had more time in which to do it.  So, to some degree, you catch these buildings the way a hurried pedestrian would.

That makes for a lot of bad photos that get posted here, but it also sometimes means you have something illustrated that you wouldn't otherwise, and here is such an example.  This shows the purpose of painting these large signs on the side of a building.

The building shown in the distance in this photo is the former Plaza Hotel and Montgomery Wards in Rock Springs, Wyoming.  The hotel sign is clearly visible, the Montgomery Wards sign less so.  This hotel was an old Rock Springs hotel on a main street downtown, but like most such hotels, it's now used for other businesses.

Van Gilder Hotel, Seward Alaska

The Van Gilder Hotel in Seward Alaska, which dates from 1916.

Hotel Virginia (Natrona County Annex), Casper Wyoming

This century old building in Casper Wyoming was most recently used as Natrona County's County Annex, a government administrative building, but it had its origins as a hotel.  It's currently under renovations which will convert it into apartments, which is somewhat similar to its original use as a hotel.

I don't  know what the original name of the hotel was, and how many names it may have operated under, but sandblasting on the building has revealed a "ghost sign" for a hotel.  Unfortunately, I can't read anything other than "hotel" on the sign.  The current owner intends to market the apartments under the name Hotel Virginia, but I do not know if that's what this sign said, or if parts of more than one sign are visible.

The Royal Hawaiian

This is the Royal Hawaiian on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu.  It's one of the original luxury hotels on Oahu, and is famous for its distinctive pink color.

The hotel has an interesting history, as it started prior to air service made travel to Hawaii easy, and therefore, for the most part, travel to the islands was a luxury in and of itself.  It was taken over by the U.S. Navy during World War Two, and operated as a rest facility for submariners.  It resumed operation as a hotel post war, and remains a well known hotel today.

Lex Anteinternet: Railhead: Arminto Wyoming

Lex Anteinternet: Railhead: Arminto Wyoming:

This thread includes, through the generosity of Ray Galutia, the only photographs on the web of Arminto Wyoming during the height of its existence, in the 1940s.

Guest Post #2: Thompson Falls, Montana

Some more photos sent by our friend, Sandy:

These are from Thompson Falls, Montana along Rt 200, which follows the Flat Head River to its confluence with the Clark Fork River and on to Lake Pend Oreille.

"Cafe-Hotel" Buffalo Wyoming

Capitol Hotel, Buffalo Wyoming

The Capitol Hotel building on Main Street, Buffalo Wyoming.

Occidental Hotel, Buffalo Wyoming

This depicts Main Street, downtown Buffalo Wyoming. The building in the foreground is the Occidental Hotel, a very old Buffalo Hotel that has seen such varied occupants as Theodore Roosevelt and Butch Cassidy. Another Buffalo hotel is seen further up the street.

The Townsend Hotel--Townsend Justice Center

A building figuring in several posts below has now entered new service, but with its old painted signs intact.

What was once the Townsend Hotel, a Casper hotel from the golden age of hotels, at one time, and a flop house later on, is now the Natrona County Townsend Justice Center.

Townsend Ghost Signs Get Reprieve

As it turns out, the Townsend Hotel sign will remain after all. . . sort of.

Actually, it's being repainted. The bricks of the building have recently been treated with something, so they look nearly new. The sign will stay, but apparently it will be repainted too.

I'm not sure what to make of that. I like the idea of keeping the sign, but repainting it seems odd. Not as bad as removing it, but not as good as just leaving it alone.

Townsend "Ghost" sign to be no more.

As reported in today's Casper Star Tribune, the Downtown Development Commission has decided that the old sign doesn't comport to the building's new role of being a courthouse. So the sign will be covered.

I suppose there's something to that view, but I'll be sad to see the old sign go.

The Townsend Hotel

This is the Townsend Hotel, in Casper. The building was built as a substantial, modern hotel, in the 1920s, but fell into disrepair and dilapidation by the late 1970s. It's a classic example of a typical midwestern mid 20th Century hotel. It features prominently in many pre 1950 photographs, as viable in our flagship photo above.

This building was abandoned in the early 1980s, but it is currently under renovation and is being converted to a courthouse for Natrona County. The project has been somewhat controversial, and efforts to expand courthouse facilities in general have not been popular with the voters in the county, who rejected tax levies for the project. The existing 1930s vintage courthouse is across the street, but is not featured here, as it doesn't fit within this blog's mission.

This sign advertises not only the hotel, but the cafe. The cafe in the hotel was one of the last things operating in it, and was still in use up until the early 80s. Where the large excavation is in these photographs, there was once a private club, the Petroleum Club, which could be accessed through the hotel. The Petroleum Club still exists, but moved out of this location over twenty years ago.

In the historic photos, showing the Townsend in its heyday, this view would not have been possible. A Greek revival style office building, The Sinclair Building, would have blocked the view. It was removed in the early 1990s.