The Chronicles Of Grant County
The Keystone Hotel was located at the corner of Main Street and Yankie Street in Silver City. This same property was later known as the "Tremont Hotel." (The above image is part of a larger image of the General Land Office of the Bureau of Land Management of the U S Department of Interior was provided through the courtesy of The National Archives and Records Administration.)
One of the earliest businesses in the Town of Silver City was the Keystone Hotel, also known as the "Keystone House." A few years after its founding in 1871, the hotel's name was changed to the "Tremont Hotel" and the "Tremont House." This lodging establishment was located at the intersection of Main and Yankie Streets. Today, the former site of this hotel is part of the Big Ditch Park. Flooding literally helped destroy this business.
"The Keystone House, yes, that's the place to get your money's worth," stated a letter to the editor of The Daily New Mexican on December 5, 1872; it was written by Elifalet Snodgrass. "It is kept by E. S. [Enos Slossen] Culver, who is just the boy who knows how to keep a hotel. There are capitalists here who will bet that he can and does..."
Ownership of the hotel changed in 1873. The Daily New Mexican noted in a news article dated April 17, 1873, that "The Keystone House has...changed hands, Joseph…[Yankie] now being its proprietor. He is one of the old residents here and is very popular. His house is so crowded with guests that even the lounges in the sitting room are occupied as beds."
The name of the hotel changed, perhaps officially in early 1877.
According to a news article in The Daily New Mexican on January 26, 1877, a new brick addition had been built on to the Tremont House. The hotel encouraged people to visit Silver City and stay at this hotel by placing advertisements in a number of newspapers in the region, including in the edition of The Mesilla Valley Independent on September 22, 1877: "The undersigned hereby informs the public that he has made large additions to the late Keystone House, and is now prepared to accommodate the traveling public with all the COMFORTS OF A HOME. No pains will be spared to accommodate guests with well furnished rooms and clean, comfortable beds. This house will hereafter be known as the Tremont House. Peter Ott, Proprietor."
A few weeks later, on October 6, 1877, a different type of advertisement appeared in that same newspaper. Under the headline of "Hotel For Sale," an advertisement indicated that Mr. Ott was now seeking to sell the property: "This is the most desirable property of the kind in Southern New Mexico: the house has an Established Reputation as a first rate Hotel, and a fair run of business: it is well furnished with all the appliances necessary, to conduct it in a first class manner; in the hands of a person who understands this business it can be made to pay Large Profits." The reason for the sale was noted in the advertisement: "I will dispose of the premises and good will on very Reasonable and Easy Terms, as I am compelled to withdraw from the business on account o. [of] sickness. This is an opportunity that seldom occurs for a good investment, by the right kind of a man."
At some point, ownership of the hotel did change hands. In an advertisement in the Rio Grande Republican in Las Cruces dated August 27, 1881, the proprietors of the Tremont House were listed as "Evans & Holt." But a year later, in an advertisement dated August 12, 1882, in the same newspaper, "P. Ott" was listed as the proprietor again of the Tremont House.
Mr. Ott, though, did not remain as proprietor for long. On July 14, 1883, the Rio Grande Republican reported that "by the bursting of an over-loaded gun, which be discharged, Peter Ott of the Tremont House, Silver City, shattered his right arm so badly that he soon afterwards died of the wound, refusing to have the member amputated. He was buried with masonic honors."
Even with his death, the hotel remained within the Ott family. An advertisement on July 4, 1885, in the Rio Grande Republican noted that Mrs. P. Ott was the proprietor of the Tremont House and J. J. Nicholson was the Manager. The hotel's slogan was the "Headquarters for Mining Men." Daily rates were listed at $2 and $2.50. An advertisement in the same newspaper later that same year included an expanded slogan that indicated that the Tremont House was the "Headquarters for Mining and Stock Men." At the time of this ad on November 14, 1885, D. C. Hobart was the proprietor.
The Tremont House passed to "the control of Alex. Morehead," according to a news article in Rio Grande Republican on April 10, 1891. An advertisement a few weeks later in The Deming Headlight – dated May 2, 1891 – indicated the "Tremont House [was the] Longest Established and Best Hotel in Silver City, Alexander Morehead, Lessee." It continued by indicating that "Uncle Alex. understands the art of catering to guests and under the new management of the Tremont is daily becoming more popular. He has brought his fine herd of Jersey cows into requisition, and serves pure fresh milk in unlimited quantities..."
"Having taken charge of this well known and popular hotel I shall endeavor not only to keep it up to its old standard, but to improve it in every way possible," Mr. Morehead wrote in an advertisement that was printed in the Western Liberal on June 19, 1891. "A herd of milch cows [dairy cows] will be kept to supply fresh milk and butter. The tables will be set with the best the market affords. With good cooks in the kitchen good waiters in the dining room and good attendance throughout the house, I am satisfied I will please my patrons."
"Uncle Alex." only controlled the hotel for a short time. The Southwest Sentinel of Silver City carried an advertisement on April 11, 1893, that indicated that John Beckner was now the proprietor of The Tremont House. The proprietorship of Mr. Beckner did not last long either, with D. C. Hobart eventually again becoming proprietor of the Tremont Hotel.
Life was not always exciting in Grant County, at least according to one news article in a newspaper based in the territorial capital: "Several of the ladies of the Tremont House, impatient at the dullness of life here, and tired of sitting at the windows, or of sewing, have had a number of informal dances in the dining room lately," stated a news article in the Santa Fe Daily New Mexican dated February 25, 1882.
The mining industry was the key market for the Tremont House. The industry's growth and development helped the hotel prosper through the years. On September 14, 1888, the Santa Fe Daily New Mexican reprinted a news article from the Silver City Sentinel that detailed "A large chunk [of ore] weighing about 1,500 pounds was brought to town and is on exhibition at the Tremont house."
Flooding impacted this hotel in major ways through the years.
The Southwest Sentinel of Silver City reported on November 22, 1892, that "The repairs which have been made on Main street since the floods last summer are substantial and it is not probable that much work will be required on that street below Yankie street for some years to come." As noted, the Tremont House was located at Main and Yankie Streets.
The Summer of 1895 brought more floods to Grant County.
"D. C. Hobart, proprietor of the Tremont hotel in Silver City, came up from the south last night," stated a news article in the Albuquerque Morning Democrat dated August 4, 1895. "He was one of the chief sufferers in the recent flood, but takes his loss with good grace."
According to a news article two days later in the Santa Fe Daily New Mexican, "Mr. D. C. Hobart, secretary of the territorial board of equalization and proprietor of the Tremont hotel at Silver City, tells the New Mexican that accounts of the damage by the recent flood at Silver City have been greatly overdrawn. He thinks that the damage will not exceed $60,000 and that most of the sufferers will soon recover their feet. The sum of $1,400 was quickly raised to clean up the streets, and this has been so expended that evidences of the flood have nearly all been removed."
Those thoughts and prayers were for naught, though. The end for the hotel came a few years later.
The Las Vegas Daily Optic reported on August 25, 1899, that "The Tremont hotel building at Silver City, which has been condemned by the city council, and which will be torn down, has been bought by John Burnside."
Several newspapers indicated that "John Burnside" was the name of the Tax Collector of Grant County at that time. It is not certain if this was the same "John Burnside" that purchased the site of the Tremont Hotel. It is also not certain if the site was purchased by Mr. Burnside as a private purchase or if the site was purchased on behalf of the community by the local tax collector. John Burnside – the Tax Collector – later incorporated The Silver City Independent Publishing Company with two other people. He also became a very prominent business person in the region. By the time of his wedding on Thanksgiving Day in 1901, Mr. Burnside was "the largest stock holder of the Clifton Copper company" according to the El Paso Daily Herald in a news article dated November 26, 1901.
On September 22, 1899, the Albuquerque Journal-Democrat quoted a news article from the Silver City Independent that "The old Tremont house, recently condemned by the city council as being unsafe, is being torn down by Laird & Matthews. Prior to the big flood in 1895, the Tremont was the most popular hotel in the city. Its location on the main business street, its beautiful surroundings and the management, made it a pleasant place at which to stop. But the big flood wrecked the building in a great measure and our last flood rendered it unsafe. It is an old landmark of this city and many recollections of banquets and pleasant times there remain with our older inhabitants. The material of the building will be used in the construction of the Fleming building on south Bullard [Street]."
"The work of tearing down and removing the old Tremont hotel is about completed," detailed The Las Vegas Daily Optic on October 6, 1899. "That portion of town looks unfamiliar with this old landmark gone."
In 2021, the site of the Keystone Hotel/Tremont Hotel is now part of the landscape of the Big Ditch Park in Downtown Silver City.
The former location of the Keystone Hotel/Tremont Hotel is now part of the Big Ditch Park; the red circle shows the site on this map. (The above image was provided through the courtesy of the United States Geological Survey.)
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© 2021 Richard McDonough