At Last, Hotel Lafayette Arrives
Stereoview card by M. Nowack Photographic Views, Minneapolis Minn. 1884
Today, we’re taking a look at a different type of historic media; the stereoview.
This stereoview, published in 1884, displays a real photograph of the original Hotel Lafayette building while still under construction in 1881. Commissioned by railroad tycoon James J. Hill and designed by renown architect LeRoy Buffington as an attraction to bring visitors to the furthest reaches of Hill's Great Northern Railroad, Hotel Lafayette was touted as, “the grandest hotel West of New York City”. That statement, as wild as it sounds, may well have proven true. When the Hotel Lafayette was constructed, Lake Minnetonka was entering its golden era which brought the area national acclaim and celebrity visitation. . . Standing in the center of it all was the grand Hotel Lafayette.
Hotel Lafayette was so universally known and respected that it would go on to host many prestigious events and well known personalities of the day. For example, they hosted U.S. presidents Ulysses S. Grant, and Chester Arthur. The hotel even employed the future American civil rights leader, W.E.B. Du Bois.
In less than 20 years, the grand hotel met its end when the building, in its entirety, burnt to the ground in 1897.
After the fire, Hill would sign the property over to the original founders of the hotel, leaving the venture behind for other endeavors.
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Here is some auxiliary information on LeRoy Buffington, Lafayette's architect, who also designed some of the following famous Minnesota buildings:
- Pillsbury’s A-Mill, Minneapolis
- St. Paul’s Union Depot, (not the one standing today. Buffington's would burn down the same year as Lafayette.)
- University of Minnesota’s Eddy Hall, Pillsbury Hall, Nicholson Hall, and Burton Hall
- Lake Minnetonka's Big Island Park
Buffington’s other large claim to fame is his patent for the skyscraper which employed a load-bearing iron framework. Unfortunately, he was rather unsuccessful at profiting off this patent, despite the idea later becoming ubiquitous with modern skyscraper design.