Geiser Grand Hotel
Encyclopedia
The Geiser Grand Hotel is a historic hotel in Baker City, Oregon
, that opened in 1889. It received a restoration and reopened in 1993 after closing in 1968. Decorations include mahogany
columns up to a high ceiling, Victorian-style chandeliers, and a stained glass ceiling. It was known as "the Queen of the Mines" during Gold Rush
times and described as being the finest hotel between Portland, Oregon
and Salt Lake City with the third elevator
built west of the Mississippi River.
Victorian architecture
style designed by architect John Bennes, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
as a contributing property
within the Baker Historic District
.
titled Baker City Has No Poor gave an account with the hotel as a setting, with the story concluding that "Baker City was the most fortunate place in the country."
In 1959 a clerk helped apprehend a pair of robbers at the hotel by complaining of arthritis
and getting the robbers to tie her up loosely and then freeing herself to call the police as they left. Country music singer Presley Wayne Spriet gave his last performance at the hotel the night before his death in 1997.
Based on various reported sightings, the hotel may be haunted.
Bennes is believed to have come from Bohemia
n stock, although he may have been born in Peru, Illinois
, and came to Baker City from Chicago ca. 1900 and designed several other buildings in the area before moving to Portland.
Baker City, Oregon
Baker City is a city in and the county seat of Baker County, Oregon, United States. It was named after Edward D. Baker. The population was 9,828 at the 2010 census.-History:...
, that opened in 1889. It received a restoration and reopened in 1993 after closing in 1968. Decorations include mahogany
Mahogany
The name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored hardwood. It is a native American word originally used for the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, known as West Indian or Cuban mahogany....
columns up to a high ceiling, Victorian-style chandeliers, and a stained glass ceiling. It was known as "the Queen of the Mines" during Gold Rush
Gold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...
times and described as being the finest hotel between Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
and Salt Lake City with the third elevator
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
built west of the Mississippi River.
Architecture
The hotel was built in an ItalianateItalianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
Victorian architecture
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
style designed by architect John Bennes, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
as a contributing property
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
within the Baker Historic District
Baker Historic District
The Baker Historic District, located in Baker City, Oregon, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places....
.
Hotel occurrences and stories
A 1906 story in the Reading EagleReading Eagle
The Reading Eagle is the major daily newspaper in Reading, Pennsylvania, in the United States. This family-owned newspaper has a daily circulation of 64,000 and a Sunday circulation of 100,000...
titled Baker City Has No Poor gave an account with the hotel as a setting, with the story concluding that "Baker City was the most fortunate place in the country."
In 1959 a clerk helped apprehend a pair of robbers at the hotel by complaining of arthritis
Arthritis
Arthritis is a form of joint disorder that involves inflammation of one or more joints....
and getting the robbers to tie her up loosely and then freeing herself to call the police as they left. Country music singer Presley Wayne Spriet gave his last performance at the hotel the night before his death in 1997.
Based on various reported sightings, the hotel may be haunted.
Bennes is believed to have come from Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
n stock, although he may have been born in Peru, Illinois
Peru, Illinois
Peru is a city in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States. The population was 10,295 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Ottawa–Streator Micropolitan Statistical Area...
, and came to Baker City from Chicago ca. 1900 and designed several other buildings in the area before moving to Portland.