Woodson Hotel Contributed and transcribed by Woodson County Commissioner Bill Linde. ------------------------------------------------------------------- KSGENWEB INTERNET GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY COPYRIGHT NOTICE: In keeping with the KSGenWeb policy of providing free information on the Internet, this data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format for profit or other gain. Copying of the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. -------------------------------------------------------------- WOODSON COUNTY KANSAS HOTEL WOODSON By Ellen Steele Around the first of the year 1887, plans were drawn up for a hotel. Yates Center had three hotels, the Commercial, Western House and the Central House. The first "Inn" or eating house or boarding house was a small house moved to the new town of Yates Center from Kalida. The house was occupied by Henry Wille and was on the lot where the Woodson Hotel was later built. Before the railroad came through town, and the block where the hotel is, the entire block was an orchard. The following article appeared in the Yates Center News of February 25,. 1887; "The contract for the building the new hotel was awarded to J. T. Black of Ottawa at $10,500. The whole to be completed by October next. Mr. Black is the architect who drew up the plans. Dr. Turner has secured the contract for furnishing the stone, Lord Brothers will do the masonry work, and Jake Taylor has the job for breaking and dressing the stone." (The stone was all quarried in one of the quarries north of town.) The October 7, 1887, issue of the News. "The News takes pleasure in stating that the Hotel Woodson has been leased by Thomas L. Reid of Neosho Falls and will open to the public about the first of November. Mr. Reid has been managing the Neosho Falls Hotel. The Hotel Woodson is one of the finest buildings in this section of the state." The hotel was opened for reception on November 7, 1887, but not much was printed about that. The first ad and picture of the hotel first appeared in the News of November 25, 1887. Up until around the turn of the century there was no electricity, gas, telephone or running water in the hotel. In a letter from Edwin Guy Reid of St. Louis, whose father ran the hotel, he tells that; "In the winter you kept busy carrying in coal for 12 stoves and filling the coal box in the kitchen, taking the stoves down in the spring, and cleaning and polishing them in the fall. There was a 150 gallon hot water tank in the kitchen (the only hot water tank in the hotel.) Also a tank in the basement laundry and a washroom, next to the office. Then in the morning you would have to remove all of the sheets, pillow cases and dirty towels. Empty all the slop jars and carry all the waste water down back of the hotel and dump it on the ground. The toilets were outside and there was a stove in it that had to be kept going. Then you had to fill all of the water pitchers in the 21 rooms, and clean all of the lamp chimneys and fill all the lamps with coal oil. The lamps on the writing desks and the big lamps in the office and dining room and kitchen had to be cleaned and filled with coal oil. Also the ones in the basement. The swill and garbage had to be taken out and burned. Part of the time a wagon with a couple of barrels in it was back of the hotel where the dishwater and garbage were put in and hauled to a hog pen north of town." About 1901 natural gas was pumped into town and telephones were installed about the same time. It was around 1906 when the Opperman brothers, Charles and Fred put in a light plant and the hotel was about the first to wire for it. Many salesmen and or "drummers" of all sorts visited the hotel and displayed their wares on tables in the basement. Sometimes a medicine show or a small circus would come to town and put up at the hotel. Mr. Reid writes; "I remember Buffalo Bill coming to town with his medicine show. Three or four women and musicians were with the show." A couple of cabs from the livery stable were rented, and decorated with banners and plumes decorated the horses, as they would parade around town advertising the show. They would throw parties and fill up with booze and get pretty noisy. One time they were in the dining room and were pinching grapes and squirting them at each other. A waitress, Daisy Obanion, slipped on one of these grapes and dropped a tray full of dishes. When Thomas Reid came in to see what the commotion was about, he asked Buffalo Bill to cut it out and he deliberately squirted Dad in the eye with a grape and the old man (Dad) grabbed him by the hair and yanked him out of the chair and believe me you never saw such a fight. They wrecked the dining room office and my mother ran out in front of the hotel with an old dinner bell and started ringing it. Tom Cotter and Fred Long with several others finally got them under control. Show people had a hard time putting up at the hotel after that" (NOTE: Please help those that work so hard and help preserve this wonderful Woodson County and all of it's history. See how you can help at: http://www.ksgenweb.org/woodson/preserso.html)