In memory of the historic Washington Hotel: it probably couldn't be saved fast enough

Copy of a postcard of the Washington Hotel & Museum, Greenfield, Missouri.Photo byeBay copy of postcard for sale.

It was disappointing to learn this historic building had to be torn down due to safety concerns. It would cost a lot of money to repair, replace parts, and restore this building to its original state.

The Washington Hotel was a historic structure located at 2 South Main Street in Greenfield, Missouri (Dade County). It was constructed in 1882 and additions were added in the early 1900s. The hotel was two and a half stories with painted brick exterior walls. The architectural style was Italianate at a minimum.

On October 16, 2002, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It’s common for a listing to be removed once a building is demolished. When it was nominated for the National Register, it was vacant.

The building

In its early days, the Washington Hotel was more than a hotel. As a two-part commercial building, the ground floor was a place of business including a restaurant while the upper floors were living spaces. The foundation of the building was brick and the walls were brick and stucco.

Located on the northeast corner of the courthouse square, the bricks used to build the hotel were locally made. It had tall arched windows below a bracketed cornice. The brick building was painted red and included white trim.

Early on, hotel space included 15 rooms and seven more once the additions were built on. Because the hotel had been vacant for some time, parts were beginning to deteriorate. 

The Washington Hotel used to be the only building left on the courthouse square that predated the Kansas City, Springfield, and Memphis Railroad's arrival to Greenfield in 1886. Imagine this hotel back in the day when the chief means of transportation was a horse and buggy. 

People who stayed at the hotel included traveling salesmen and theatrical groups who were going to perform at the Greenfield Opera House, a building that was also listed on the National Register in 1998. The hotel was also used as a place where residents could hold a meeting or events. 

Dade County

In 1841, Dade County was established, and Greenfield was designated as the county seat. At the time the hotel was built in 1882, the brick buildings on the square replaced the frame buildings damaged during the Civil War. In October 1863, the county’s second courthouse was burned by Confederate forces.

Construction of the Washington Hotel began in 1881 and was completed in the summer of 1882. The contractor for the building was Arch M. Long. He was commissioned by the Washington Lodge Masonic Order #87. The hotel site consisted of two lots purchased by a well-known businessman named R. S. Jacobs. Jacobs gave ownership of the hotel to the Masons. 

By 1889, there were educational facilities, businesses, and places of commerce at the square in Greenfield. The Washington Hotel was the largest hotel in the county and was considered an elegant place to stay. 

In 1888, when the Greenfield Opera House was completed, this brought more activity to the square. The popular pianist, John William “Blind” Boone, performed at the opera house. The Washington Hotel accommodated and fed the entertainers and travelers coming by train. 

The below image depicts the lot where the hotel used to be.

Photo byGoogle Maps.

The automobile era and changes

With automobiles on the scene in Greenfield, this meant for some that an overnight stay wasn’t as necessary. Instead, some were renting a room for a week or even a month. 

While the ground floor still had shops, the large parlors were converted to rooms for rent. The commercial shops lasted until the 1960s. The Masonic Lodge owned the hotel for about 30 years. In the summer of 1912, the lodge sold the hotel to Dee White and over the years, there would be various owners. 

The Washington Hotel also had a verandah that wrapped around the front. Later, for safety reasons, the verandah had to be removed, but if the hotel had been restored, it could have been rebuilt. In the early 1950s, the building no longer operated as a hotel and was thought more of an apartment building for those who wanted longer rental.  

Interestingly, there’s a belief that the hotel was built over caverns used for an underground railway and a place to store weapons during the Civil War. 

In May 1971, after years of decline, the Washington Hotel was converted into the Greenfield Hotel Museum. It is unknown when the museum ceased operating.

According to the 2020 census, the population of Greenfield was 1,220. Below is a well-made video providing a view of the community of Greenfield.

Thanks for reading.