Geiser Grand Hotel: Queen of the Mines
Oregon
Baker City in the eighteen eighties was one of the wealthiest towns in the Pacific Northwest, fed by gold and silver strikes in the surrounding mountains. The Geiser Grand Hotel opened here in eighteen eighty-nine to serve that wealth. It was called the Queen of the Mines and claimed to be the finest hotel between Portland and Salt Lake City, boasting the third elevator built west of the Mississippi River.
Mahogany columns and a stained glass ceiling set the tone. When the gold ran out the hotel faded, and the hotel closed in nineteen sixty-eight and sat empty for years. A determined buyer stepped in, launched a multimillion-dollar restoration, and the Geiser Grand reopened.
It still operates today, clock tower intact.
