On Easter Sunday, 1901,a special excursion train from Chicago, Beloit, and Janesville marked the grand opening of the Royal Hotel. Built of red brick shipped in by rail, the hotel’s design was considered extravagant for the time. The hotel was the first in Mineral Point to offer individual bathrooms, telephones in the bedrooms, central steam heat, and electric lights. Most of the furnishings came from Marshall Field’s in Chicago.
In May, 1935, someone who was in Mineral Point for a funeral noted in the Orchard Lawn guest book: “Registered at Royal Hotel and occupied room No. 1. Price $1.00.”
This image shows the hotel soon after it opened. The bathtub shaped trough in front of the pump in the center of the image was used to water horses. Source: Historic Mineral Point Architectural Walking Tours printed by the Mineral Point Chamber of Commerce.
Community
Mineral Point;
County
Iowa County
State
Wisconsin;
LCTGM Subject
Hotels; Architectural & site components;
Subject
Businesses;
Category
High Street Buildings;
Submitting Institution
Mineral Point Historical Society
Collection
Glass Plate Negative Collection
Copyright and Use Statement
Copyright to this resource is held by the Mineral Point Historical Society and is provided here for educational purposes only. Commercial use or distribution of the image or content is not permitted without prior permission of the Mineral Point Historical Society. Please contact the Mineral Point Historical Society at MPHS@mineralpointhistory.org for permission to use the digital image or content.
