Western Hotel is important in Ouray history. First it is the oldest wooden three -story building west of the Mississippi River. It is amazing that did not burn down. It was built in 1891 by Holt and Foster. In 1893 The Silver panic happened so they had to shut it down. It had many owners before Floro and Marie Flor opened it back up in1916. In that time it was a miner’s boarding house. The miners called Marie “Mother Flor” because she was like a mother to them. She washed their clothes, gave them food and a room for the night. They rented almost all of the rooms to the miners who came mostly from Italy, Australia, Switzerland and Yugoslavia. When it was built it had thirty nine rooms on the two top floors for guests. Another thing is that it was the first building in Ouray to have electricity. The hotel had only one bathtub and it still has it now. Floro Flor died in 1947 and Marie continued to run the hotel. Back then it was strange for a woman to be running that kind of business. She closed it down some time in the forties. After the two years they sold the hotel to a man from Durango who had it for two months and then went broke. Doris and Henry Schrade and opened the hotel around 1953 to 1955. In the fifties Marvin Gregory repainted a face on the floor of the barroom. It is also special because it is one of only a few saloons in Colorado to have a lady’s face panted on the barroom floor. Marie passed away on May 7, 1963 at age eighty-seven years old. In 1962 Johnny Johnson opened the Western Hotel to be a museum. But it had to close again in 1970. Mr. Johnson sold the hotel to Telluride Management Corporation. They covered the hotel with gallons of white paint. They restored the names of Holt and Foster on the top of the hotel. Eight years later on June 3, 1991, the hotel was sold to Thomas H. Kenning and Tamela S. Kenning. Currently it is owned by the Pieper family. The Western Hotel is a unique building in Ouray history.
Comments (9)
laura said
at 2:16 pm on Oct 28, 2008
Are you sure the Western Hotel shut down in 1893 because of the silver panic, can you check your stuff
Are you sure the face was painted on the floor of the bathroom instead of the bar floor
other then those two mistakates it's great.
:)
laura said
at 2:16 pm on Oct 28, 2008
Are you sure the Western Hotel shut down in 1893 because of the silver panic, can you check your stuff
Are you sure the face was painted on the floor of the bathroom instead of the bar floor
other then those two mistakates it's great.
:)
Jenny Hart said
at 3:26 pm on Nov 3, 2008
Alexis, you worked hard on this piece. You have lots of details. You did a good job of teaching others about this important building! I am proud of you!
WendyV said
at 6:48 pm on Nov 6, 2008
I think that you put a lot of work and details into your topic.
Cedar said
at 8:37 pm on Nov 6, 2008
You did a great job and you had lots of details
Amanda said
at 10:32 pm on Nov 6, 2008
I liked how you stayed on your topic and added lots of details of the Weastern Hotel.
Lexus said
at 9:47 am on Nov 7, 2008
I did not know that the Western Hotel was the first building to have electricity in Ouray.Cool I never knew that they gave it to Telluride.
Andrea said
at 5:45 pm on Nov 7, 2008
you did a great job on your paragraph.
efflor@... said
at 12:51 pm on Jul 9, 2009
This picture on this page is of my family. The lady on the far left is my great grandmother Mary Flor. She with Floro Flor owned and ran the Western Hotel. The baby bouncing on her lap is my Uncle Larry Flor. Next to them is my Grandmother Lena Flor. She was married to Marry second eldest son Frank Flor.
The girl on the right I don't know her name, but she and my grandmother worked in the hotel, doing laundry, cleaning and cooking. The dog's name is Boogie. I remember this photo from my grandmothers scrap book.
The Hotel was bought after my great grandfather hit what was known in the day as a "Glory hole". AKA a rich gold pocket. His first two sons worked in the mines (Nick and Frank). After he bought the hotel all of his other children were well educated. John Flor became a superior court judge in Marin CA., Evelyn was a school teacher in Ouray and married "Doc" Bates (the town doctor0coronor- etc.) Katie married a farmer from Farmington New Mexico. Theodore aka "Tuffy" the youngest went to USC fluncked out and became the town mortician. Frank my grandfather eventually owned a grocery/market in Ouray during the 30's. My father Frank Flor (jr.) owned a gas station and repair shop on the main street after WWII. He later moved to CA. The oldest son Nick was a contract miner in Ouray.
The Flor's of Ouray are forever linked to the Western Hotel and it's colorful history.
You don't have permission to comment on this page.