Early McCook hotels

Elmer Kay

In 1883, barely one year after McCook became a town, the new little city could boast of five hotels, some free standing and some occupying the upper story of downtown business buildings.

Five hotels, for a town of its size -- a great number, but all the hotels were busy. Workers were arriving by train every day and they needed a place to stay until they could find a more permanent home -- to rent, or until they could build a home. Some of the single workers stayed in hotels for years. Plus, there were speculators, dealing in land or business lots -- and there were frequently whole trainloads of Eastern farmers, drawn to Southwest Nebraska by optimistic railroad promises of great opportunities and a rosy future for all people.

Railroad executives and representatives of the Lincoln Land Co., out of Lincoln, Nebraska, were in and out of McCook on a frequent schedule. And, of course, gamblers and hustlers were drawn to McCook, as to any booming new city. Sometimes the gamblers and hustlers, both men and women, proved to be almost more than McCook could handle.

Mr. Colvin

One of the first of McCook's Hotels was The McCook Hotel, located on the north side of what is now B St., at East First. It was convenient to the railroad station, and was thought to be quite elegant in the 1880s. One of the first managers of that McCook Hotel was Mr. S.H. Colvin, one of the Colvin brothers who had operated the old Fairview Post Office / General Store / Eating House, on the banks of the Republican River even before McCook became a town.

William Colvin was to become one of the major players in McCook real estate, dealing in town properties and farm land in the days before 1900. In a three-quarter-page ad in the "McCook Columbia Souvenir," which was widely distributed at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, promoting the 400th Anniversary of Columbus' first trip to the New World, Mr. Colvin declared that he had for sale farms from 40 acres to 2,000 acres. He also had a few "Fine Pieces of Residence Property for Sale in the City of McCook, as well as Vacant Lots."

Mr. Colvin said, "I make a Specialty of Placing Loans for Eastern parties, paying taxes, Renting farms and houses, and do a general Collecting Business." No charge for Showing Lands.

Original Commercial Hotel

Though Mr. Colvin no doubt had considerable experience with drunken cowboys during his days in Fairview, he still had occasional trouble after he became manager of the McCook Hotel. According to a McCook Tribune article in 1884, "a man, who was "wild with liquor, bellowed around town like a yearling Texas steer, occasionally discharging his .45".

Bolstered by booze and his gun, the renegade "assumed management" of the McCook Hotel. Mr. Colvin, the manager, protested, provoking "the drunken bully." The result, according to the Tribune -- was that Colvin was "slapped in the face and beaten over the head with the murderous .45."

The cowboy was arrested and fined $10. The small fine angered Tribune writers, who reported in the newspaper's next issue that the man appeared before the judge with a revolver and a belt of cartridges. After the trial the Tribune said the guilty assailant "paraded the streets, swearing and yelling, until departing on the noon train."

Second Commercial Hotel

The McCook Hotel, one of the earliest of the city's hotels, was also (almost) one of the first of McCook's commercial buildings to go up in smoke. In the fall of 1882 this hotel had a narrow escape from a very destructive fire.

At the head of the stairs, on the second floor, it was the custom to keep a kerosene lamp burning all night on a wooden table in the hallway. This lamp lighted the way for guests to find their rooms, as there were no lights in the rooms. The lamp was also used to light the lamps for guests to take to their rooms. These lamps were arrayed on the table around the larger lamp. On this particular night the large lamp exploded, and several of the smaller lamps were ignited. People outside the hotel were attracted by cries of "Fire", and a bucket brigade was quickly formed to fight the fire. The "trickle" of water was not effective, and soon guests, employees, and volunteers from the outside were fighting the fire with comforters taken from the various rooms. These proved to be more effective fighting the fire than the bucket brigade. The incident got the attention of the Lincoln Land Company. By a year later the company put in their water system. Provisions were made for ample Fire Plugs!

After a few years the McCook Hotel on East 1st changed hands and name, becoming The Arlington Hotel. The McAntee House, on W. 2nd. and B. changed to become McCook Hotel and continued in business at that location as The McCook Hotel for most of the next 100 years.

Third and final Commercial Hotel

The Commercial Hotel, at 303 Norris Ave., at the location now occupied by Brown's Shoe Fit Store, was one of McCook's earliest hotels, dating back to the days of dusty streets, grown up in weeds. That hotel made a number of quite striking upgrades over a 50 year period, no doubt, in large part, because of its favorable Main Street location.

The 1880s Commercial Hotel was rudely constructed, one of the first commercial buildings in McCook, erected in record time, with little in the way of quality touches or style. Over the next half century the Commercial Hotel was transformed twice, all at the same location, becoming one of the most elegant hotels on the Burlington line, between Lincoln and Denver, a distinction it held for the first quarter of the 20th Century, till after World War I.

In the late 1880s the original, lightly constructed frame Commercial Hotel was torn down and replaced by a much larger structure, modern (for the day), elegantly furnished, and much better suited for the city and traveling public -- under the Management of Etter & Miller. In the 1893 Columbia Souvenir the Commercial offered rooms, at $2.00 per day. It offered "All of the Modern Conveniences" and boasted "Our Tables Not Surpassed." At the bottom of their ad they offered this bit of information, "Owing to climatic conditions, this city is becoming a great resort for invalids who desire stopping over before reaching the mountain regions."

In addition to guest rooms, the Commercial Hotel boasted a ballroom, for receptions and dancing parties, very often with a traveling orchestra (via the RR) providing the music. There was a barber shop, and beauty shop for the ladies. There were meeting rooms, and display rooms, where "drummers" (salesmen) showed their wares to business men from McCook and outlying communities. There was a dining room, with an imported chef, which catered to guests, and was a popular spot for locals on Sundays and Special Occasions.

A Menu from the Commercial Hotel for Thanksgiving, 1900 survives. For appetizers -- Consomme Royal Pottage ... Blue Point Oysters with sliced lemon ... Celery, Bermuda Onions, Chow Chow ... For Entrees, Baked Lake Trout, Lyonnaise with Potato Croquettes ... Boiled Young Capon, with Financere ... Roast Prime of Beef, Au Jus ... Green Goose with Baked Apples, Turkey Stuffed, Cranberry Jelly ... Potted Quail, Jardiniere...Salmi of Duck, with Olives...Queen Regents AuVinToky...Lobster Salad, En Mayonnaise...For Vegetables -- Mashed and Boiled Potatoes...Jersey Sweets...Stringless Beans...French Peas...For Dessert -- Sliced Green Apple, Mince, or Pumpkin Pie...English Plum Pudding, Brandy or Hard Sauce, Chocolate Ice Cream...Cream Cheese, Kennedy Biscuits, Select Cake, Mixed Fruits...Followed by Café Noir. Wow, All at one meal!

In 1907 Elmer Kay, a local boy, returned to McCook with a new bride, to take over management of the Newly Remodeled Commercial Hotel as well as the Burlington Eating House, across the street from the Depot, a post he held until 1912 when he went into politics.

The Commercial Hotel continued its dominance in McCook for another 10 years. By that time the idea of a really new, modern Hotel was being floated in the community, which came into being in 1925 as the Keystone Hotel.

Source: McClelland, An Early History of McCook; Morris, The 1st 100 Years, McCook Memories Pictures from Museum of the High Plains