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Preservation |
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Rehabilitation 1 |
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Rehabilitation 2 |
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Restoration |
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Reconstruction |
FOCUS ON
Geiser Grand Hotel
1932 Main Street
An elegant hotel for the times. The Washauer Hotel, built in 1889 at the cost of $65,000, was a vast expense for its time. A 3-story brick building with a volcanic tuff foundation, the hotel featured plate glass windows, electric lights and bells, baths, and an elevator. Its dining room seated 200 guests. Czechoslovakian-born architect, John Benes, included elaborate decorative features on both exterior and interior, including frieze pilasters, Romanesque jambs and sashes, extensive decorative tin work pediments, ornamental keystones, cornices, chimney caps, and decorative scrolls. A corner cupola with an illuminated clock was perhaps the most distinctive feature of the hotel. It could be seen up and down Main Street.
Soon after construction, in 1895, the Geiser family acquired the building
and changed the name to the Geiser Grand Hotel. John Geiser and his son,
Albert, were major mining investors, and owned the Bonanza, the Brazos,
the Pyx, and the Worley Mines. By 1902, Albert Geiser was director of
the Baker City Gas and Electric Company, owner of the Geiser Grand Hotel
and owner of other real estate in the city. The Geisers made minor changes
to the building, for example, stuccoing the brick exterior, then took
the hotel into a period of unprecedented wealth and activity in Baker
City, from 1899 to 1920.
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Left: This color post card from 1955-65 shows Baker City, Oregon, in a celebratory mood around the 4th of July, but also documents the loss of Geiser Grand Hotel's cupola and clock tower. Right: The hotel in the late 1970s, continuing to deteriorate. |
Loss and change over time. The Great Depression and WWII both took their toll on Baker City’s commercial enterprises, including the hotel. The Geiser Grand went steadily downhill through the 30s, 40s and 50s, finally closing in 1968.
By 1978, when Baker Historic District was listed in the National Register, the Geiser Grand Hotel had already fallen into serious disrepair. Without ongoing maintenance and care, the roof had failed; portions of the exterior were severely cracked; the distinctive cupola, clock tower, decorative cornices and chimneys were gone; windows had been altered; and bays filled in. Demolition for a parking lot was considered a reasonable option. That never happened, of course, but it would be a full 30 years between the hotel’s closure and its grand re-opening in 1998.
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