This Historic Hotel Burned Down in 1984 during Restoration
Dayville Hotel, Dayville Oregon
Established first as a military camp and then as a post office, Dayville is a rural, agricultural community in the Columbia plateau region of Central Oregon. Incorporated in 1914, its current population is 200.
The vicinity of the south fork of the John Day River became accessible in 1859 when Captain Henry Wallen blazed a trail from Fort Dalles on the Columbia River southeasterly to Canyon Creek at present-day Canyon City. The ultimate objective of the military trail was Fort Boise on the Snake River, deep in the interior. Initially, the road was passable only by horse and pack animals. Discovery of gold in Canyon City in 1862, however, caused the opening of the road to wagon travel. The Dalles-Canyon City stage line went into operation in 1864 as gold excitement spread.
The first Euro-American occupation of the site of present-day Dayville occurred on March 15th, 1864, when Camp Lincoln was established. The location of the site was described as being "on the south fork of the John Day River, along the Military Road". Established by Lieutenant James A. Waymire under orders of General Benjamin Alvord, commander of the Department of Oregon, the camp facilitated the investigation of reports of Indian uprisings and raids. The camp was abandoned on May 1st, 1864, when Waymire left to join Captain Drake, commanding an expedition against the Snake Indians.
Grant County, established as a consequence of the discovery of gold in Canyon City, was formed from Wasco and Umatilla Counties on October 14th, 1864, and was named for General Ulysses S. Grant, who had earlier served in the Military Department of Oregon. Following the Civil War, of course, Grant was elected President of the United States.
On December 8th, 1868, a Dayville post office was established three miles south of the location of present-day Dayville. In 1884, the post office was moved to a point within the present city limits. Dayville began to develop as the surrounding area was settled by Scots and English stockmen who came to Central Oregon to raise cattle and sheep.
The discovery of gold in Canyon City in 1862 acted as a catalyst in the development of Grant County. It has also been shown that, besides the discovery of gold, other events assisted the settlement and development of Grant County and specifically the town of Dayville. Between 1867 and 1868, the United States Congress enacted legislation that aided the construction of a military road in the state of Oregon and granted to The Dalles Military Road Company the license to build the new road. The route of the proposed military wagon road was from Fort Boise on the Snake River, past Ironside Mountain in Malheur County, into Grant County to Camp Logan near Strawberry Creek, down along the John Day River to Canyon City, and to Camp Lincoln, the present site of Dayville. The road continued from Camp Lincoln to Antone on Rock Creek, where it followed the John Day River through Antelope to Fort Dalles.
Years later, it was the stage and freight travel along the former military route that led Andy Litch, a bachelor, to construct the Dayville Hotel at its present location. Before the construction of the hotel, a saloon stood on the site.
As originally constructed in 1901, Litch's building was a dry goods store with three separate living quarters on the second floor, but the volume of traffic on the road caused Litch to convert the place to a roadhouse providing meals and lodging exclusively. Rooms on the second floor were subdivided, and the attic area was finished. Meals were served on the first floor.
Litch ran the hotel until about 1911, when he sold the property to Margaret Glover. Changing the name to Glover's Hotel, Mrs. Glover ran the hotel until her retirement in 1927. At that point, Eugene Roope, a Dayville sheep and cattle rancher, purchased the hotel and rented it to various managers over the years. Following his retirement, Roope continued to rent out the hotel and lived in a small cabin behind the hotel.
By 1943, meals were no longer being served at the hotel, but rooms were still being rented. Dayville's population was dwindling. Dayville and the Dayville Hotel were revived by growth of the timber industry following the Second World War. Soon, the Dayville area had three sawmills, a box factory, and a growing population.
At about the time Dayville's economy revived, Roope's daughter, Aileen Grindstaff, returned from Canada. Grindstaff took over management of the hotel with Gladys Munjar. Munjar had managed the hotel and its cafe from time to time in earlier years.
Eventually, Gladys Munjar retired and Aileen Grindstaff continued to manage the hotel until 1960, at which time the hotel was sold to the Schulls of Portland. The Schulls ran the hotel until their deaths in the late 1960s. In 1968, the hotel closed, and it has remained closed since. Plans of the current owner call for rehabilitation and re-opening of the hotel and restaurant.
The building was destroyed by fire on June 7th, 1984.
Building Description
The Dayville Hotel occupies a .44-acre tract alongside Highway 26 at the east end of Dayville, which is situated on the south fork of the John Day River. The town is located in the Columbia Plateau region of Central Oregon, 80 miles east of Prineville and approximately 30 miles west of John Day and Canyon City.
The Dayville Hotel is rectangular in plan, measuring 37 by 52 feet, with an ell measuring 14 by 18 feet. The hotel is oriented with its main axis from east to west. Its 52-foot long facade faces north onto Dayville's main street. The hotel is, in fact, the focal point of the vista along Franklin Street (Highway 26) from the north. At a right angle to the main axis of the gable roof are cross-axial gables at the east and west ends. Brick stove chimneys break the roofline at the intersection of roof ridges at either end of the building. Wall dormers are centered between the cross-axial gables on the front and rear facades. The hotel rests on a native stone foundation. Of balloon frame construction, it is two and a half stories in height. The exterior is clad with shiplap siding. A two-story veranda extends the full length of the facade, supported by square posts and finished with railings on either deck with plain, square balusters between top and bottom rails. Single-story, shed-roofed porches wrap around the northeast and northwest corners of the building.
As originally constructed in 1901, the hotel had no central dormer on its facade. A porch with a deck extended across the easterly two-thirds of the facade, supported by chamfered posts. The upper deck railing was made of solid slats with cut-out work. Earth was mounded around the west end of the building to create a root cellar of the westerly third of the ground story. Major alterations date from 1914, the year a fire occurred, and include the addition of the front and rear central dormers and a two-story veranda, or double piazza with its single-story porches wrapping around east and west ends. The ell was added at this time, also. Later, bathrooms were added over a rear porch, and the exterior was covered with asbestos siding, which was recently removed to reveal the original weatherboard siding.
The current owner plans restoration of the Dayville Hotel to its appearance as of 1914.
Door and window openings, with their plain trim, are unchanged, except that one of the second-story windows has been enlarged as a door. Typical windows are fitted with double-hung wood sash with two lights over two. The wood-paneled doors have varying patterns.
The main entrance at the east end of the ground story retains its original three-paneled double-leaf door. In the facade, openings are identically arranged in either section of the upper and lower stories. In the west section, as well as the east, windows flank central doorways. Windows also light the attic spaces in either cross-axial gable. Over the years various alterations were undertaken. Minor interior alterations were made by Andy Litch when he converted the structure to a hotel shortly after its opening. Major changes to the structure, however, occurred shortly after a fire that damaged the hotel in 1914.
At the time of the fire, the hotel was owned by Mrs. Margaret Glover, who ran the hotel from 1911 to 1927. It was under the direction of Mrs. Glover that the porch with the deck was supplanted by a two-story veranda. The ell was added at the southeast corner, and wall dormers were centered in front and near facades.
Later changes included the addition of bathrooms over a rear porch and asbestos siding.
In the summer of 1981, the Dayville Hotel was acquired by Ben Westlund. Under the direction of Lori Madrigal and Randy Franks, the asbestos siding was promptly removed, window and door castings were removed and stored for reuse, the roof was taken off the structure, interiors were cleaned out, and the 1914 ell was scheduled for removal due to dry rot and substandard construction. Unlike the original volume, which sits on a massive stone foundation, the 1914 addition has a post and beam foundation. It will be reconstructed using the original and replacement materials during the rehabilitation planned for the spring of 1983.
The intent of the current owner was to restore the Dayville Hotel to its appearance of 1914 to retain existing features and materials.
When rehabilitated, the hotel was to provide a restaurant, bar, and sleeping accommodation.
The building was destroyed by fire on June 7th, 1984.
