Gadsden Hotel

Gadsden Hotel
Lobby, Gadsden Hotel
Location 1046 G. Ave., Douglas, Arizona
Coordinates 31°20′43″N 109°33′15″W / 31.34528°N 109.55417°W / 31.34528; -109.55417Coordinates: 31°20′43″N 109°33′15″W / 31.34528°N 109.55417°W / 31.34528; -109.55417
Built 1907
Architect Trost & Trost
NRHP reference # 76000371[1]
Added to NRHP July 30, 1976

The Gadsden Hotel is a historic building in Douglas, Arizona. It was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1976.[1] Since July 2013, the hotel is operated by Peak Hospitality Management of Albuquerque, New Mexico.[2][3]

History

The hotel opened in 1907. Named for the Gadsden Purchase, the stately five-story, 160-room hotel became a home away from home for cattlemen, ranchers, miners, and businessmen.[4] The hotel was leveled by fire and rebuilt in 1929.[5] The Gadsden's spacious main lobby is majestically set with a solid white Italian marble staircase and four soaring marble columns.[4] An authentic Tiffany & Co. stained glass mural extends forty-two feet across one wall of the massive mezzanine.[6] An impressive oil painting by Audley Dean Nichols is just below the Tiffany window. The hotel's vaulted stained glass skylights run the full length of the lobby.[7]

The hotel is said to be haunted, especially in Room 333, and has been in "ghost" shows on television, such as an episode of Sightings in 1995.[4][5][6][7] The Gadsden Hotel has also been in several movies, including The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean with Paul Newman, Terminal Velocity with Charlie Sheen and Nastassja Kinski, and Ruby Jean and Joe with Tom Selleck.[6]

The Gadsden was featured on Hotel Impossible on August 26, 2013.[8] The hotel was turned over to a management company which renovated the first floor in 2013 and completed renovation of second-floor guest rooms in March 2014. Third-floor rooms were "dressed up" but not fully renovated and are now marketed as the "Historic Rooms".[3]

Notable guests

  • Thornton Wilder, whose overnight stay in May 1962 for a car repair extended to two months—he liked both the hotel and the area.[9]
  • Effie Anderson Smith, known during her lifetime as The Dean of Arizona Women Artists, stayed at the Gadsden Hotel frequently during the 1930s. She resided in the hotel during the 1940s and completed several paintings there, including a view of the Swisshelms as seen from her room at the Gadsden. One of her paintings of the Grand Canyon hung in the lobby of the Gadsden Hotel for 11 years.[10]
  • Eleanor Roosevelt[4]

References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2008-04-15). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. ↑ Maldonado, Trisha (July 24, 2013). "Gadsden Hotel under new management". Douglas Dispatch. Douglas, AZ. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  3. 1 2 Maldonado, Trisha (February 26, 2014). "Gadsden renovation almost complete". Douglas Dispatch. Douglas, AZ. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Rotstein, Arthur H. (July 23, 1995). "Gadsden Hotel Echoes With Ghostly Pancho Villa Tales". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles: Tribune Company. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  5. 1 2 Gaynor, Tim (October 31, 2012). "Ghosts said to mingle with guests at haunted Arizona hotel". Reuters. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 Conn, Sam (October 31, 2008). "Gadsden Hotel adds mystique to Douglas, Ariz". Deming Headline. Deming, NM: MediaNews Group. Archived from the original on March 11, 2014. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  7. 1 2 Creno, Glen (October 30, 2010). "Gadsden Hotel in Douglas has ghostly guests". The Arizona Republic. Phoenix, AZ: Gannett. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  8. ↑ Maldonado, Trisha (September 4, 2013). "Gadsden Hotel featured on Hotel Impossible". Douglas Dispatch. Douglas, AZ. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
  9. ↑ Miller, Tom (July 2009). "Thornton Wilder's Desert Oasis". Smithsonian. pp. 80–86. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  10. ↑ Douglas Daily Dispatch, 1948
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