of
Muscatine County Iowa
1911
| History of Muscatine County Iowa 1911 | |
Source: History of Muscatine County Iowa, Volume I, 1911, pages 301-302
OGILVIE HOUSE, NOW THE COMMERCIAL HOTEL. The present Commercial Hotel, formerly the Ogilvie House, was first started in 1849 by Adam Ogilvie and Brinton Darlington. It was not completed until 1851, and cost about $15,000. It was opened in the spring of 1852 by D. W. Clover. In 1854 the proprietors were Usher & Thayer, and in 1856, Lowe & Eichelberger. It would be tedious to give all the names of the proprietors of this hotel. In 1875, R. M. Baker, proprietor of the Ogilvie, changed the name of the hotel to the Commercial House. In 1883 many changes were made in remodeling the building and refurnishing its rooms. At that time J. J. Phillips took charge. In 1885 Willis G. Jackson of Chicago, bought the building of R. M. Baker"and it was again remodeled as it now appears. At that time a banquet was given, attended by the elite of Muscatine and many invited guests from abroad. George W. Van Home, then editor of the Tribune, on that occasion in part said: "I am not certain when the foundation was laid, but the ancient structure gave tone to our first inhabitants at a very early day. When the railroad came here its walls heard the welcoming address 0£ Mayor J. H. Wallace and the response 0£ the mayor of Chicago. But it has heard other sounds and seen other sights. It witnessed the departure of the soldiers during the Civil war, the sad partings, the glad welcomings, the sobs of the widow and orphan. The place is also hallowed for other things. It has harbored Joseph Cook, Ingersoll, Swing and Patten, Mrs. Livermore and Siddons, Emerson and Twain, Anna Dickinson and Eliza Young, Wendell Phillips and Fred Douglas, T. Starr King and Talmage, Proctor and Parton, Saxe and Pierpont and governors and senators almost without number." There have been many landlords in the Commercial House. The present proprietor is P. P. Potter.
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