This Hotel was built in the shell of the Windsor Hotel which had burned

Tweet

The President Hotel, located in Mount Vernon in Skagit County, Washington, is prominently situated on the city's main business thoroughfare, First Street, and, at five stories, has the distinction of being the tallest building in downtown Mount Vernon. The building rose out of the ashes of the earlier Windsor Hotel, which was built in 1909. A fire in the Windsor Hotel in 1926 damaged the structure significantly. Construction of a new hotel by the same owners began later that same year and was completed by the end of 1926. The hotel re-opened in January of 1927 with great fanfare as the President Hotel. Portions of the original 1909 brick exterior walls were saved and incorporated into the new building.

The hotel provided the finest lodging in Mount Vernon for decades, catering to travelers and business people. The building also housed the Mount Vernon State Bank, which occupied the prominent corner storefront, the same location it had in the Windsor Hotel. The Bank moved out in 1948.

The Windsor Hotel (1909 - 1926)

Because the President Hotel was built from the ashes of the Windsor Hotel after the devastating 1926 fire, the complete story of the President Hotel begins with its earlier incarnation. The Windsor Hotel was built by a group of investors under the name, Mount Vernon Hotel Co., a company created in 1909 to construct, own, and operate a hotel. Trustees of the corporation included Mount Vernon residents Ole Gunderson, Thomas F. Costello, Arthur Wood, and R.L. Davis. Gunderson and Davis were already in business together-the former as Vice President of the Mount Vernon State Bank (later Mount Vernon National Bank) and the latter as Cashier. Davis came to Mount Vernon in 1906 from Red Lodge, Montana. He and Ferdinand Freiman, also of Red Lodge, formed Mount Vernon State Bank in March of 1906 with an original capital of $25,000. Freiman served as President. The bank had acquired a corner lot at First and Myrtle Streets, to erect a new bank building-the officers and directors no longer wished to lease space. The opportunity arose to partner with Costello and Wood who wanted to build a hotel on the adjacent lots that surrounded the small corner lot the bank owned. This unusual ownership arrangement resulted in the construction of a three-story building that appeared to be one structure but was owned by two entities. This ownership structure continues to this day but with two different entities.

Excavation for the foundation of the hotel building was underway in April 1909 at the southeast corner of First and Myrtle Streets. As described in the Mount Vernon Argus, "The Mt. Vernon State Bank is jointly building the structure with the hotel company, the former owning the corner lot on First and Myrtle Streets. The hotel will use the entire space of the upper floors and will have the entire ground area next to the bank on First Street with two entrances on that street, into office and dining room, and also a Myrtle Street entrance." The Mount Vernon State Bank occupied the first story with corner storefronts and the basement area underneath. These spaces were completely separated on the interior from the hotel area. The bank was solidly built with concrete ceilings and walls that separated it from the hotel. No access was provided between the bank and the hotel on the interior, though by all appearances, the bank space appeared to be part of the hotel as a whole.

The Windsor Hotel's contractor was Seattle builder Charles L. Williams and the concrete foundation contractor was Dunn & Dunn, a Seattle civil hydraulic engineer and building company. The brick-clad building measured 75' x 100' and contained fifty rooms on the second and third floors. The hotel's first floor offered a lobby, office, dining room, and bar. A parlor was located on the second floor. The basement contained the boiler and fuel room, restaurant cellar, and bar storage. The Mount Vernon Argus described the hotel as one of the finest north of Seattle and the "appointments and finish" of the bank and hotel room as strictly modern." When the Windsor Hotel opened in late 1909, it joined five other existing hotels in Mount Vernon. The new hotel was considered the best in town and, at three stories, it was amongst the tallest buildings. The estimated cost of construction was $35,000.

The Mount Vernon State Bank's new home was one of the best-appointed and finely furnished bank interiors in town. As a financial institution, it was solid and well-respected. As described in the Mount Vernon Argus, "It is one of the finest business structures in Skagit County. This splendid monument is evidence of stability and the responsibility of its promoters. It eloquently tells the story of the substantial growth of a solid prosperous town." In 1916, the bank received a national charter and the name was changed to Mount Vernon National Bank. By 1921, thirty of the leading stockholders of the bank were wealthy ranch owners of the county, their interests constituting a large majority of owners of stock of the institution.

Costello and Wood, original investors in the Mount Vernon Hotel Co., served as proprietors of the Windsor Hotel. Their long partnership ended in 1922 when Costello sold his interests in the hotel business and the building to Jerry Foster, who operated a popular confectionary store in town. Foster would manage the hotel with Wood. Their Mount Vernon Hotel Co. also purchased from the Mount Vernon National Bank that portion of the Windsor Hotel building above the bank. The hotel had been leasing this part from the bank. By May of 1922, plans were underway to enlarge the hotel from three to five stories and add an elevator. The estimated cost of the addition was $48,000. With the addition, the Windsor Hotel would become downtown Mount Vernon's first five-story building. As described in the Mount Vernon Argus, "These improvements and additions have long been under consideration and are much needed for there is hardly a night but transient visitors find it impossible to secure a room here. The additional two stories will provide 50 rooms, many of which will have private baths, and will give the Windsor Hotel 100 guest rooms in all."

Foster took on the role of the daily management of the Windsor Hotel while Wood was busy in Everett (south of Mount Vernon in Snohomish County) developing the Monte Cristo Hotel (built in 1925). In the midst of this great success, disaster struck the Windsor Hotel on the morning of March 23^rd, 1926, when a fire in the elevator shaft in the basement broke out and leaped out of control. Mount Vernon's only "skyscraper" was in ruins. 117 guests were in the hotel at the time; none were harmed. The fire threatened adjacent buildings, which were mostly frame structures.

Fire departments from the nearby communities of La Conner, Anacortes, Burlington, Sedro-Woolley, and Bellingham were called in to help extinguish the fire. The fire was finally under control around noontime, four hours after it had started. The Mount Vernon Daily Herald's evening newspaper featured huge headlines about the fire-the entire front page was devoted to feature stories related to the disaster. Damage to the building included collapsing walls and roof. The interior was completely destroyed, first by fire, then by water damage. Only portions of the north and west exterior walls and brick storefront piers remained. These elements would be incorporated into the new hotel building. Amazingly, the Mount Vernon National Bank suffered no damage in the fire and reopened rather quickly. When the Windsor Hotel was constructed, the bank portion was built with a heavy firewall surrounding the bank and a concrete ceiling.

The President Hotel

Six days after the fire destroyed the Windsor Hotel, workers began clearing away the debris. Plans to construct a new, five-story hotel were underway with the goal of reopening as soon as possible. Alexander & MacNeil served as the contractor for clearing the site and for constructing the new building. Jerry Foster oversaw the entire project. Bellingham architect Thornton F. Doan was in Mount Vernon and witnessed the fire, he offered his services free of charge and produced architectural plans for the new building immediately. The new design incorporated a portion of the first three stories of the old Windsor Hotel's north and west brick-clad facades including the brick piers separating the storefronts. The stringcourse between the first and second stories was also adapted from the Windsor. All storefront windows, transoms, and entrances/doors were new. The bay windows of the Windsor Hotel were not included in the President Hotel's design, they were of an earlier time and did not appear modern. The brick facade was painted a cream color originally and was a design choice of the time, the color made the building appear more "metropolitan." The corner entrance for the bank that existed in the old Windsor Hotel was eliminated to provide for more interior space for the Mount Vernon National Bank. Its space was built as solidly in the new hotel as it was in the old Windsor. It remained a separate parcel as it was originally. The cost of the new structure was estimated at $200,000. Construction was completed in late December of 1926, nine months after the fire.

The new hotel, named the President Hotel, officially reopened with great fanfare on January 8^th, 1927 with an elaborate dinner and dance affair attended by about 175 people. Hotel rooms were already half occupied the first night the hotel opened. Its design was described as lending a "metropolitan appearance" to the city. At five stories, the tallest in Mount Vernon, it stood as a monument to commerce in the city. The interior was "Italian" and "Spanish" in design, as described by the Mount Vernon Daily Herald. Mediterranean Revival was a popular style in the 1920s and the new hotel reflected this design trend on the interior. Guests entered the building through the main entrance at the center of the building on First Street. This led into the inviting lobby. The local paper described the lobby, "Facing on First Street, the lobby commands the attention of guests through its luxurious furnishings and effective lighting. The Italian influence is reflected throughout the room with its rich tapestries and hangings. Overstuffed davenports and chairs and handsome rugs add to the luxuriousness of the lobby, yet the atmosphere of cordiality prevails." The dining room was finished in a "Spanish" design with textured plaster walls and frescoed ceiling beams. Ornamented columns added to the aesthetic of the space. The dining room was separated from the banquet room on the mezzanine by French doors rich draperies and a wrought iron railing. The dining and banquet rooms could be combined to accommodate as many as 200 guests. The mezzanine extended across the entire rear of the dining room and was reached by elevator or stairs. A coffee shop on the first floor, accessed by the Myrtle Street entrance, had an "Egyptian" influenced design.

The hotel rooms were nicely appointed. Most rooms were connected with baths and toilets and each room included a telephone. First-floor retail shops included Gazans' Men's Furnishings, the President Beauty Parlor, the President Barber Shop, President Coffee Shop, and a cigar stand in the hotel lobby. The beauty parlor, barbershop, coffee shop, and cigar stand would become longtime establishments in the building. The Mount Vernon National Bank was a mainstay in the building and made an easy transition from the Windsor Hotel to the President Hotel. In 1929, months before the stock market crash in October, the Mount Vernon National Bank and the Skagit National Bank merged to create a stronger bank, becoming the Skagit National Bank of Mount Vernon. The bank was sold in 1934 and became the Mount Vernon branch of Seattle-First National Bank. This bank operated from the old Mount Vernon State Bank space through about 1948.

Jerry Foster, president of the hotel company, managed the President Hotel. His staff consisted of men with extensive hotel experience in other cities. The secretary of the hotel company was S.W. Thurston of the Maltby & Thurston hotel chain based in Seattle. The management consistently purchased advertisement space for the President Hotel in the Polk's City Directory for Mount Vernon or Skagit County through the early 1940s. A full-page ad in the 1929-1930 directory featured a sketch of the hotel. The ad was directed to tourists and "traveling men." It offered the traveler "All That is Best in Comfort and Service." Harry W. Himmelman was the manager by then and the hotel was operated under the direction of Maltby & Thurston Hotel Co. which also operated the Monte Cristo in Everett, the Benjamin Franklin and Waldorf Hotels in Seattle, the Lewis-Clark Hotel in Centralia, the Columbia and Wenatchee Hotels in Wenatchee, and the Marcus Whitman Hotel in Walla Walla.

The President Hotel was one of five or six hotels in Mount Vernon through the 1920s and 1930s and was considered the finest among them. The number of hotels in the city started to decrease in the 1940s. By 1941, only the President, Louvre, and Olympic Hotels remained. This decrease coincided with the Great Depression. In 1948, only the President and the Louvre Hotels were left. This remained the case through the 1950s and early 1960s. The hotel's rooms were converted to apartments around the 1950s, thus changing the building from a hotel to an apartment/hotel while keeping the same name. After the Mount Vernon branch of Seattle-First National Bank vacated its space in ca. 1948, a jewelry store moved in around 1950. The space continues to house a jewelry shop to this day but under different ownership. There is no listing in the 1965 city directory for either the President Hotel or the Louvre Hotel, but there is a listing for a "Town House Apartments and Hotel" at 320 Myrtle Street. The address for the President Hotel is 310 Myrtle Street so most likely the building was renamed. By the late 1960s or early 1970s, the building was listed as the President Hotel and Apartments and continued as such throughout the 1980s, although it had been renting out apartments since the 1950s. President Investors purchased the building in 1972 and sold it to the Dickerson Family Limited Partnership in 1993. The Skagit County Housing Authority acquired the building in 1995 and is the current owner.

Builder: Alexander & MacNeil

Worth Alexander and Thomas D. MacNeil were well-known contractors in Skagit County and Puget Sound. MacNeil (who was also an engineer) was one of the organizers of the Skagit Construction Company (founded in 1913) along with J.E. Kimball and W.S. Stevens. The company worked on many large-scale projects in the region including the erection of bridges, buildings, grading and paving roads, etc. In 1917, with the death of Kimball and the retirement of MacNeil, Worth Alexander (who served as Skagit County Auditor for four years) acquired their interests and went into partnership with Stevens. In 1921, the company paved over 7.5 miles of the Pacific Highway, which became the principal roadway into and out of Mount Vernon until Interstate 5 was built in the 1960s. It is unknown when the Skagit Construction Company dissolved, but Alexander continued in the contracting business and MacNeil came out of retirement in the 1920s to form a new company-Alexander & MacNeil." With their extensive experience, they soon found themselves working on many Skagit County projects, including the President Hotel in Mount Vernon. The firm was the contractor for the Lincoln Theatre (1926) in Mount Vernon.

Historical Development of Skagit County

Mount Vernon is a community situated along the banks of the Skagit River in Skagit County in northwest Washington. Seattle is sixty miles to the south; Bellingham is twenty-eight miles to the north; to the east are hills, heavily forested terrain, and the North Cascade Mountains; and to the west are the Skagit flats-populated with farms that give the region its agricultural prominence. Puget Sound and its various bays, inlets, and passages lie farther west. Interstate 5 (running north-south) divides the flat part of Mount Vernon to the west from the hilly areas of the east where most of the residential neighborhoods are located.

The Skagit Valley has been inhabited for nearly ten thousand years by indigenous peoples. According to Theresa Trebon in her book, First Views, An Early History of Skagit County: 1850-1899, "...the 'Skaadchet' villages...were at the epicenter of a territory inhabited by these Indians. Whites oftentimes grouped the valley's Indians and those from offshore islands as 'Skagits,' a term that included distinctly different bands such as the Swinomish, Lower Skagit, Samish, Kikiallus, Noo-what-ah, and those from the upper Skagit River. These communities, each unique cultural units unto themselves, affiliated each other according to need. Their inhabitants traveled widely in their seasonal search for food and trade goods, interacting with Indians from southern British Columbia, the Central Washington Plateau, and southern Puget Sound."

European exploration of the northwest coast began in the late 1700s. British and American explorers attempted to lay claim to the area by 1818. By the 1840s, the region was mapped, and fur traders and trappers followed. By the mid-1850s, the impact of British and American settlement on the first peoples of the Skagit was already significant. Following the signing of the Point of Elliot Treaty in 1855, the Upper Skagit, Lower Skagit, Swinomish, and other tribes were forced to leave their traditional lands and relocate to reservation lands.

The treaty opened lands for Euro-American settlement. The early settlers found the Skagit Valley to be densely forested with red cedar, Douglas fir, hemlock, and other tree species beyond the marshy flats near present-day La Conner. The first dike was built in 1863, making it possible to farm the land after clearing the timber. The construction of more dikes followed, gradually transforming the landscape. The valley's fertile soil attracted newcomers but growth was relatively slow. What is now Skagit County was once part of Whatcom County and previous to that, Island County. After quite a struggle with Whatcom County, Skagit Valley leaders achieved its mission of forming its own county on November 30^th, 1883, when the bill creating Skagit County (carved out of the southern portion of Whatcom County) became a law.

The Birth, Growth, and Development of Mount Vernon

Euro-American settlement first occurred in 1870 when Jasper Gates, followed shortly by Joseph F. Dwelley, built homes upon the land that would later become Mount Vernon. Jasper Gates, a distinguished Civil War veteran and native of Missouri, was engaged in farming pursuits with his father back in his home state. He and his wife, Clarinda Kimble, came to Skagit Valley in 1870 where they homesteaded a quarter section of land where Mount Vernon is located. As pioneer settlers, they stayed in the community and became prominent citizens. They would see Mount Vernon grow and prosper through the early 1900s.

Joseph F. Dwelley, a native of Maine, was also a Civil War veteran. He first came to Whidbey Island (located west of Mount Vernon across Skagit Bay) in February of 1870 and worked as a carpenter before settling in Skagit Valley where he filed a pre-emption claim on part of which Mount Vernon now stands. By 1875, he had cleared much of his land of its thicket of trees and sold the property, and moved to the nearby town of La Conner, the oldest town in Skagit Valley, founded in the 1860s.

Within a year of the arrival of Gates and Dwelley, several other settlers joined them and by 1872, more pioneering families came, creating a need for a school, one of the necessities of an emerging community. However, it was not until 1877 when the town of Mount Vernon was formally founded by two newcomers from the East-Harrison Clothier and Edward G. English.

Harrison Clothier was a native New Yorker who moved to the Midwest (Wisconsin and Minnesota) as a young man where he taught school and farmed. The call of the West beckoned-first San Francisco, then Puget Sound (with short-term stops in Seattle, La Conner, Oregon's Willamette Valley, and Walla Walla in eastern Washington). Having traveled through a significant swath of the Pacific Northwest, Clothier finally decided to settle along the Skagit River. As described in the Illustrated History of Skagit and Snohomish Counties, "In February in 1877, deciding that there was a good opening for a store on the river, and perhaps even a town, he joined with an old Wisconsin pupil, E.G. English, and together they purchased ten acres of land of Jasper Gates for $100 and erected thereon a small store."

Naming the new town "Mount Vernon" in honor of George Washington, Clothier and English laid out the first town plat consisting of two tiers of blocks-the street along the river was Front Street and the next street to the east was Main Street. The town site was densely covered with timber and brush that would eventually be cleared away for development. The usual establishments of frontier towns began to form including restaurants, saloons, and hotels-all housed in primitive, wood-framed structures. The Clothier & English store was a mercantile business that dealt primarily in the fur trade. Transportation in the area was limited as Mount Vernon was accessible only by water via the Skagit River. Steamboats and canoes traveled along the river but could not get much farther beyond Mount Vernon due to logjams at the riverbend. In 1878, a channel was cut through the logjam permitting travel upriver, greatly improving accessibility to the town. The permanent population of Mount Vernon in 1881 was only seventy-five people.

But change and more people would come soon. When Skagit County was formed in 1883 (carved out of the southern portion of Whatcom County), La Conner was named the first county seat. A year later in November of 1884, voters of the county chose Mount Vernon as the permanent county seat, thus securing the town's future. It competed with La Conner and Anacortes for this distinction, offering its central location as the advantage. Mount Vernon was closer to the mining, logging, and farming communities of the eastern and central part of the county. It did not have the advantage of being right on the sound, but the Skagit River made the town sufficiently accessible.

Clothier and English never formally filed the plat of the original town site, so in 1885, a new plat was made and filed. The mid-to-late 1880s brought more business enterprises to Mount Vernon. The R.L. Polk Puget Sound Directory of 1888 gives a glimpse of Mount Vernon in this description: "A village on Skagit river and the county seat of Skagit county, 80 miles north of Seattle, with which there is a direct communication by steamer four times a week; La Conner is the nearest banking point. Settled in 1872, it has two churches, two hotels, a public school and several general stores. A weekly newspaper, the Skagit News, is issued. Exports lumber, grain and general farm products. Population, 250. Tel., Pacific Postal. Express, Northwestern. Mail, semi-weekly. Charles D. Kimball, postmaster."

One of the most important enterprises was the Skagit Sawmill and Manufacturing Company, founded in 1887. Original investors included Clothier, English, and Gates among several others. This business venture took a few years to come to fruition. By 1890, the mill would have a capacity of producing 40,000 feet of lumber a day, employing forty-four men and helping to spur an increase in business in Mount Vernon. The partnership between Clothier and English dissolved in 1891, thus ending an era in Mount Vernon's early history. Edward English would go on to become one of the largest timber owners and logging operators in Puget Sound, well into the 1920s until his death in 1930. Clothier pursued his own business interests after the dissolution and died in 1906.

The earliest Sanborn Fire Insurance Co. map for Mount Vernon dates from July of 1890 (population: 800). The map provides a view of the town, which consisted of sixteen blocks, with development concentrated along the river on Front Street. Main Street and First Street to the east were sparsely developed. The town's two hotels-Washington Hotel and Mount Vernon Hotel (a Clothier, English & Klement project) were both well situated on the east side of Front Street facing the Skagit River. The usual array of business establishments included general stores (Clothier & English's store was on Front Street, north of the Mount Vernon Hotel), drugstores, saloons, a meat market, a livery, a bank, a hardware store, and a boarding house. County business was conducted in the I.O.O.F. building. Frame dwellings and cabins were interspersed throughout town. The first brick building in Mount Vernon (and in Skagit County) was erected in the summer of 1889 for $8,000. More brick buildings were built in the next year, some by Clothier, English, and Gates. However, the majority of building stock was constructed of rough lumber with dressed lumber on the front facade. Buildings were typically one or two stories in height.

Mount Vernon's population steadily increased. More growth was on the horizon. Washington gained statehood in November of 1889. This was sure to open up the region to more people. Incorporation was the next natural stage of development for the town, allowing for more improvements to its infrastructure and more controlled growth and development of the city to benefit all. Mount Vernon held its first city election on June 27^th, 1890, where, by a vote of 87 to 25, voters chose to incorporate. 1890 and 1891 saw additional enterprises including the First National Bank of Mount Vernon, Skagit Sawmill and Manufacturing Company (its plant cost $30,000 to build), Grand Hotel, Great Northern Hotel, Hotel Brooklyn, the Mount Vernon Chronicle (a new newspaper), and eleven new commercial buildings housing many new businesses. 101 new residences were erected at total cost of $85,000. While the private sector and individuals focused on increasing commerce and building more housing in Mount Vernon, city government invested in its infrastructure by grading streets and adding sidewalks, transforming the rough town into a more desirable place to live.

As Mount Vernon was experiencing a building boom, disaster fell upon the city in the form of its first big fire. This story is far too often told in other cities; Seattle and Spokane both experienced great fires in 1889, which destroyed much of their respective central business districts. In the early morning of July 13^th, 1891, a fire originating in the north wing of the Washington Hotel on Front Street destroyed the hotel along with fifteen business buildings and two residences in Mount Vernon's oldest commercial district. The fire, although devastating, would be a temporary setback. The citizenry would rebuild, focusing on developing the blocks east of Front Street, farther away from the river. The city was also anticipating the coming of the railroad, which would arrive a month after the fire.

The people of Mount Vernon redirected their energy toward the completion of the Seattle & Montana Railroad spur line controlled by the Great Northern Railroad. Most business and community leaders of Western towns in the 1880s and 1890s worked to bring railroad transportation to their cities. Mount Vernon was no different. Having rail in addition to water transportation was crucial if Mount Vernon was to increase its commercial enterprises and attract more residents and businesses. Their dream would come true on August 12^th, 1891, just one month after the big fire. An Illustrated History of Skagit and Snohomish Counties described the coming of the railroad to Mount Vernon, "The track-laying machine had entered city limits the night before and at ten o'clock of that day the rails were laid across Kincaid Street, the principal thoroughfare of the city. Just as the first rail crossed the street a signal was given, the fire alarm turn on, the church bells ran and thirty steam whistles added their wild toots to the general burst of sound. From the throats of the assembled and excited hundreds there went up a general shout of jubilation at the long-expected fulfillment of the dream of railway connection with the world." The Great Northern Railroad constructed a one-story passenger depot five blocks east of the riverfront on Kincaid Street and Fourth Street (this depot station is no longer extant; the current Amtrak Skagit Station is located across Fourth Street, northeast of the old depot).

City blocks were filling in and expanding east and south, rather than concentrating on the riverfront. Periodic flooding of the Skagit River was a serious problem so locating principal businesses away from the river was a strategic move for the survival of the town. A few decades later, Front Street would eventually wash away and a revetment was built for flood control. The city grew steadily and did not experience the wild speculative growth that many other Puget Sound communities experienced during the boom years of the late 1880s to early 1890s. The more typical boom and bust cycles of other places did not play out as dramatically in Mount Vernon. It weathered the "Panic of 1893" better than other communities. The city's original settlers not only established a foundation upon which to grow, but they continued to invest and improve the community and its infrastructure as permanent residents and business leaders. Almost ten years after becoming county seat, Mount Vernon finally had a courthouse. An impressive, two-and-a-half-story, brick-clad courthouse was constructed in 1893 at the southeast corner of First and Pine Streets. 1894 brought the construction of a new dike after a great flood that same year submerged the lower parts of the town and caused damage to farms on the flats. The dike connected with other existing dikes, forming a continuous levee to the mouth of the Skagit River.

Mount Vernon experienced disaster once again in 1900 and 1903 when two fires destroyed important downtown buildings. As described in An Illustrated History of Skagit and Snohomish Counties, "On September 28^th, 1900, the old original town of Mount Vernon was entirely destroyed. The historic Clothier & English store, the Ruby house and the Mount Vernon house were the victims of this fire." The Ruby and Mount Vernon were among the town's original hotels. The 1903 fire threatened the entire town but ultimately, only three buildings were destroyed.

Despite fire and flood, newcomers continued to be attracted to Mount Vernon and all it had to offer. Upon entering the twentieth century, Mount Vernon would experience its greatest decade of population growth, mirroring the same pattern in almost every city in Washington state. The population of Mount Vernon in 1900 was 1,120. By 1910, it had reached 2,381, an increase of 112.6%. In 1920, the population was 3,341, a sizeable increase of 40.3%, but nowhere near the growth of the first decade. Mount Vernon's population has steadily increased every decade since to the current estimated population of 31,000.

The early twentieth-century growth in Mount Vernon coincided with the rise of diversified farming and the dairy industry. Mining and logging first attracted pioneers to the Skagit Valley. The logging industry dominated Mount Vernon's economy for decades through the early twentieth century. When the once plentiful adjacent forests were depleted, agriculture became a more sustainable industry. The clearing of land and the building of a system of dikes for reclaiming tidelands made it possible to farm on a larger scale. Immense crops of oats and hay were first produced in the 1880s and 1890s, and continued well into the twentieth century.

Then dairy farming became a popular and lucrative pursuit in the rural areas outside of Mount Vernon in the early twentieth century farmers discovered that dairying adapted well to the character of the climate and soil. In 1905, the Mount Vernon Creamery was built on the east bank of the Skagit River, quickly followed by the Pacific Coast Condensed Milk Company (later the Carnation Company). The Skagit County Dairymen's Association was organized in 1916. By 1940, dairy production was estimated at over $3,500,000 annually in the Skagit Valley, where more than 20,000 dairy cows graze on green pastures. Although dairy farming was dominant, diversified farming interests helped give Skagit County a fine reputation for agriculture. Poultry was the biggest enterprise after dairying. Strawberries and other small fruits and berries were grown here and became a lucrative business. Bulb farming was a new farm enterprise in 1940, with tulips and daffodils grown extensively. This is big business today as many make the annual trip to the Skagit Valley to see the vast and colorful tulip fields in April and enjoy the Tulip Festival. Skagit Valley bulbs are shipped all over the world. This diversified farming approach continues today, as agriculture is still the number one industry in Skagit County producing $300 million of crops, livestock, and dairy products on 100,000 acres of land.

As described earlier, the first decade of the twentieth century brought the largest population boom to Mount Vernon. 1908 and 1909 were also record building construction years in the city. More than 100 business, institutional, industrial, and religious structures and private residences were built in 1908. Most of the residences (from stately homes to cottages and small bungalows) were built in the south end of town, with some being erected up the hill east of downtown. A July 30^th, 1909 article in the Mount Vernon Argus described Mount Vernon's increasing building activity, noting the record year of 1908 but also predicting 1909 would surpass the previous year's record given the pace of activity it was witnessing. By July of 1909, ten business structures in Mount Vernon's central business district were built or were in the process of construction, including the Windsor Hotel, described in the article as "the three story brick and cement hotel and bank structure in process of construction on the corner of First and Myrtle streets". As a city experiencing unprecedented growth, downtown establishments were needed to keep pace. Fine lodging was in demand for travelers and business people conducting business in the county seat. It was in this atmosphere of growth in 1909 that the Windsor Hotel (precursor to the President Hotel) was built.

Building Description

Built in 1926, the President Hotel is located in the historic commercial core of Mount Vernon in Skagit County, Washington. The building is prominently situated at the southeast corner of South First Street and Myrtle Street (310 Myrtle Street). At five stories, it is the tallest building in the central business district. Only the Skagit County Courthouse building to the south (designed by the same architect as the President Hotel) strikes a more commanding presence downtown. The President Hotel stands out amongst the collection of late nineteenth to early twentieth-century buildings, mostly one-story to three stories in height (with the majority standing at two stories). Many facades of these buildings were changed over the decades to reflect more "modern" styles. Infill buildings from the 1950s through the present and surface parking lots can be found throughout downtown.

Mount Vernon is a community situated along the banks of the Skagit River. The city is defined by the river to the west; Interstate 5 and the hilly neighborhoods on the east; a significant number of surface parking lots, institutional buildings, and older residential neighborhoods to the south: and commercial and industrial buildings to the north. The north end of Mount Vernon narrows considerably due to the location of Interstate 5. Division Street forms the northern boundary of downtown Mount Vernon. Traveling west on Division takes one over the bridge across the Skagit River to West Mount Vernon and toward the vast fields of farmland in what is known as the Skagit flats.

Downtown Mount Vernon's topography is flat. Its street grid is long and narrow which forms a compact central business district that is only three blocks wide. The President Hotel is surrounded by commercial buildings, all built in the early twentieth century. To the north is a two-story structure across Myrtle Street (originally built for the First National Bank); one-story structures are located to the south and east, and one and two-story structures are situated to the west across South First Street. First Street has retained the most intact historic streetscape in Mount Vernon.

The five-story plus basement, two-part block, President Hotel building stands on a flat, rectangular corner lot and measures 93'-3" x 75'-10". The building is rectangular in plan on the first floor but U-shaped in plan from the second through fifth stories because of a light well on the south side. Oriented to the north and west, the building rises from a poured concrete foundation. There are concrete beams at the ceiling of the basement supporting the first floor, and at the ceiling of the mezzanine portion of the northernmost commercial areas, supporting a portion of the second floor. Steel beams at the ceiling of the first-floor support the second floor. The internal structure of the upper floors is wood framing with heavy joists.

The President Hotel building does not have a strong architectural style. It is a rather stripped-down commercial building that exhibits some Colonial Revival or Classical Revival style features such as quoins, pilasters, and a cornice with egg-and-dart molding.

The building's roof is flat and contains the usual array of mechanical equipment as well as the elevator and stair penthouses, which are set back and not visible from the street level.

The building's exterior walls on all four facades are brick, extending to the parapet. The red brick was originally painted a cream color in 1926 when the structure was built. It is currently painted in an off-white color. Primary facades are on the north and west; secondary facades are on the east (facing the alley) and south. The south facade is only visible from the third story up since it is adjacent to another structure.

The President Hotel was built in 1926 after a fire destroyed most of the old Windsor Hotel on the same site. The Windsor Hotel was built in 1909 as a three-story building and two stories were added in 1922. When it was rebuilt and renamed the President Hotel, portions of the old building were incorporated into the new building. From historic photo documentation, it appears much of the first story's exterior was retained as well as the second and third-story exterior at the northwest corner of the building. The raised brick quoins (original to the 1909 Windsor Hotel) were retained and this design was carried through to the fourth and fifth stories at the corner and repeated on the upper stories on the north facade at the east corner. The raised brick motif of the quoins were also used as decorative features beyond the corners.

The building is typical of early twentieth-century commercial architecture in the United States, with its two-part block form in which the structure is horizontally divided into two distinct zones. The street-level spaces house retail uses and are public in nature, while the upper floors are reserved for more private spaces-apartment units.

The original sheet metal cornice with egg and dart course beneath the cornice characterizes the top of the building on the primary facades. A low brick parapet capped with metal flashing extends above the cornice.

The first and second stories are divided by a historic metal cornice that wraps around the primary facades. Hugging closely beneath this lower-level cornice is an egg and dart design. The date of construction (A.D. 1909) of the earlier Windsor Hotel is indicated on the sign band near the corner on the west facade. A ghost print of the old "BANK" sign is visible on the sign band on the north facade, a reminder of the bank that originally occupied the corner space. Raised circle motifs spaced evenly above brick pilasters are also featured on the sign band.

The east (alley) facade has a metal fire escape at the south end. A large transformer dominates this facade at the north end. The lightwell opening is partially visible on the south facade. Otherwise, this facade is not visible or accessible because it is adjacent to another building.

Other exterior features that were retained from the old Windsor Hotel when the President Hotel was built are the brick pilasters that separate the storefront bays. The pilasters are characterized by capitals and a tasseled leaf motif. The same number and location of the storefront bays were also retained from the earlier Windsor Hotel. The first three storefront bays on the north facade viewed from the west end appear to date from the Windsor Hotel time, they retain their historic wood bulkheads, transoms, wood frame, and storefront windows. The remaining storefronts on the north and west facades have been altered to reflect different tastes and changing times from the 1950s through 1970s. The transom areas on the west storefronts are covered over. The existing flat metal canopy above the west facade storefronts was added in ca. 1930s. There are additions such as brick infill, smaller windows, aluminum storefront system, and 11-11 siding. Changes to storefronts are common in commercial buildings of this vintage.

The building's windows on the second through fifth stories are non-historic, aluminum with a fixed upper sash and sliding lower sash. The original windows were three-over-one, double-hung, wood sash. The windows were most likely replaced in the 1960s or 1970s. Several replacement windows have been more recently installed. Those on the south side are one-over-one, wood sash. Several vinyl casements have been added to the east (alley) facade.

Two, recessed, entrances to the building are located in the easternmost bay of the north facade. This bay has been altered and filled in with Roman brick walls. An awning provides shelter for the entrances. The double doors lead into an office. The other entrance is the main entrance into the building. Two historic entrances with wood doors are located on the east (alley) facade at the south end. They provide access to the basement and the first floor. Each of the four retail spaces on the north and west facades has its own separate entrance. The original main entrance was in the center bay on the west facade, which led into the hotel lobby. This bay is now a vacant retail storefront, occasionally used by the property owner for meetings.

The President Hotel reflects the apartment use of the building rather than the hotel use. However, it retains its original corridor configuration, plaster walls and ceilings, and some features from its earlier years such as wrought iron details in the mezzanine, textured plaster walls, pilaster and molding details, beamed ceiling in former lobby space, wood railing, and stairs.

The full basement is unfinished and serves a utilitarian purpose. It is used for storage and as a workroom. Mechanical and electrical systems are housed in the basement. The floor and most walls are concrete. In some places, the walls are brick with a parge coating. Concrete beams at the ceiling of the basement support the first floor. The historic, purple-color, glass, prism lights on the sidewalk are visible from the areaway underneath, allowing minimal natural light into the basement.

The first floor contains the retail spaces for the building. It originally housed the lobby for the hotel, a restaurant, a barbershop, a beauty shop, and a cigar store. One retail space (a rock and gem shop) has an entrance on Myrtle Street-it occupies a portion of the former bank space and retains a bank vault. Three retail spaces (including the jewelry shop on the corner) open onto South First Street. The jewelry shop is in the former bank space and also retains an original bank vault. The jewelry shop and rock/gem shop have wall-to-wall carpet and drop ceilings. It is unknown whether any original floor or ceiling finishes are intact.

The center retail space was originally the lobby and is currently vacant, but is occasionally used for meetings and presentations by the property owner, the Skagit County Housing Authority. The space is a large volume with high plaster ceilings and wall-to-wall carpet. Partitions separate spaces but these walls do not reach the ceiling, thus retaining the volume of the original lobby. A non-historic mezzanine was added in the last ten to twenty years. Original decorative features and details of the historic lobby are intact, including textured plaster walls, ceiling beams, molding with leaf design, and pilasters capped with double ionic capitals flanking bay leaf and shield details.

A partition divides this center retail space with the current elevator lobby to the east. The original hotel lobby once extended all the way to this area. Ornamental column capitals and molding details are carried through into this space. Other intact original features include the terrazzo stairs with wrought iron railing that lead up to the mezzanine level and the archways over the stairs and over the corridor.

The southernmost retail space on South First Street is occupied by a tenant that sells products catering to the local Latino population. The only decorative details visible in this space are portions of ceiling brackets with classical details. These features are partially covered by a sheetrock ceiling. The flooring in this retail space is vinyl.

The mezzanine level contains a storage room, a small office for the building manager, and the manager's apartment. The office contains two original window openings with wrought iron grilles, this allows a view down into the lobby. The large, one-bedroom apartment was originally part of the banquet/dining room for the hotel. Historic features that are intact in the mezzanine include the wood floor, wood trim and molding, textured ceiling and walls, stairway to second floor only, and wood panel/rail and newel.

The Second through Fifth Floors floors contain a total of thirty-seven apartment units-studios, one-bedrooms, and two bedrooms. Sometime in the 1950s, the President Hotel changed from a traditional hotel to hotel/apartments. This required some changes to the interior layout of the rooms to accommodate larger-sized apartment units with individual bathrooms and kitchens. Some units retain the historic bathrooms that already existed in the hotel rooms. They feature hexagonal floor tile, cast iron tubs, old toilets, and wall-mounted sinks and fixtures. The second floor contains ten units and the third through fifth floors contain nine units each. All units have wall-to-wall carpeting and vinyl flooring in the kitchen and bathrooms. Walls and ceilings are finished in painted lath and plaster. The heating is by electric baseboard. Kitchen cabinets and appliances date from the 1950s or 1960s.

The corridor configuration is U-shaped due to the lightwell that allows for interior units to have windows. Corridors have carpet, fluorescent tube lighting, lath and plaster walls and ceilings, replacement apartment unit doors (fire-rated) with original door trim and covered or painted-over transoms.

The existing Otis elevator services all floors. It is in the same location as the original 1926 elevator. It is unknown whether it's the same elevator. It has scissor gates in addition to the metal sliding door. The cab finishes date to ca. 1960s. Two sets of original wood stairs serve the second to fifth floors. They are located on the south side of each floor on either side of the lightwell. Another set of stairs serves the mezzanine level and provides access to the second floor only. The former lobby has a set of terrazzo stairs that lead to the mezzanine. The corner commercial spaces at the north end have a stairway leading to the basement.

Postcard view of Second Street looking north. Large Hotel President sign points the way to the hotel one block to the west (1930s)

First Street looking south, President Hotel on left (1940s)

March 23^rd, 1926, day of fire that destroyed the Windsor Hotel. West as south facades (1926)

Full-page ad for the President Hotel in the 1937 Mount Vernon City Directory (1937)

First Street in Mount Vernon looking north, President Hotel is white building on right (1920s)

Original President Hotel lobby. Space is now a vacant retail store and elevator lobby (1920s)

Aerial view of Mount Vernon. Skagit River on right, downtown in center (1947)

Site plan (2010)

Postcard view of First Street looking north. Three-story Windsor Hotel on right with bay windows (1910)

Postcard view of north and west facades of Windsor Hotel, looking southeast (1910)

West facade of Windsor Hotel looking southeast (1910)

Mount Vernon State Bank storefront and Windsor Hotel entrance on First Street (1910)

Interior of Mount Vernon State Bank. Myrtle Street storefronts on left (1910)

North and west facades of Windsor Hotel. The upper two stories were added in 1922, making it the tallest building in Mount Vernon (1922)