The Ashland Hotel

“Hotel Opens its Doors to the Public.”
While today such a headline would hardly be newsworthy, in January of 1889 it was just about the most exciting event to occur in Ashland, Oregon…maybe ever!
The Hotel Oregon, later named the Ashland Hotel, was opening its doors to the public for the first time. The hotel covered an entire city block and, as one report described it, “…was a blaze of light from the office to the attic.”
The beautiful hotel boasted electricity, hot and cold running water, and 46 rooms furnished with solid oak bedroom sets, Brussels floral carpets, and tapestries. Best yet, every room had a window and some even had a closet.
Within the hotel there were several parlors, a barbershop, bar, reading room, billiard room, and a washhouse. Outside, a stable was at the ready to meet the transportation needs of the guests. 
Among the more famous of the hotel’s guests were William Taft, Jack London, William Jennings Bryan, and Joaquin Miller. 
The hotel was razed in the early 1960s to make room for a Wells Fargo Bank that today still occupies the block where the original hotel stood.