Riverside Drive Part I

Riverside Drive Part I

What was Along the Flat River on Riverside Dr?
Hotels were located on both corners of Main and Water Street (today’s Riverside Drive) early in Lowell’s development.

On the east corner the first hotel was Young’s Hotel. Mary Ann and Jacob Young came to Lowell in 1868 and opened the Young’s Hotel. They had married in 1830 and had nine children. In 1877, Jacob Young built a new Young’s Hotel around the corner from Main St. on W.Water St. At the same time, J. E. Lee built his large building where Main Street Inn and the Easy Street Restaurant are today. Mrs. Young sold the property upon the death of her husband. In 1881, L. W. Davis and his wife bought the hotel and changed the name to Davis House. In 1882, the newspaper reported on February 15 that “The Davis House barn has been moved so as to front on West Water Street, put in good repair and is now ready for use.” This first livery may have burned in 1884 and another was built at the same location which remained until the fire of 1908. The newspaper said, “Loss of Hotel $1500 to $2000. Loss on barn nothing—good riddance.”

The former Mrs. Young married Amos Hodges, a hotel man from Ada. In 1883, the Hodges became the proprietors and renamed the hotel Lowell House. Not long after, in Jan. 1884, the Lowell House and Lee’s building burned to the ground in the fire which started at the old Post Office (Los Portales location today) and destroyed 14 buildings to the west including this hotel. Other buildings along Water Street destroyed in the fire of 1884 were: Daniel’s Feed Store and George Cook’s residence upstairs; Mrs. Ann Lane’s building and restaurant; and J. S. Daniels storehouse.

The Farmers’ Home (1885) then Farmers Hotel (1893) was a two-story frame hotel building built after the previous hotel was destroyed. This hotel catered to farmers who came to town on business. George Lane was proprietor for many years until he moved away in 1896. His rates were:  “$1.00 per day, $3.50 per week. Good meals and clean beds.” Later it was called Central House (1900) and Hotel Central (1906). The proprietor, J. A. Harkness, advertised that it was the “Only Dollar House in the City” (1905-6).  In 1908, soon after Mrs. Ann Green leased Hotel Central, it burned down. The fire was arson and was set in the hotel and livery (barn) along the river side making it difficult for the firemen to access the fire. The buildings could not be saved.

Augustus Dake was proprietor of the Dake House from 1876 to at least 1881. The Dake house was a hotel located at the western corner of Main and West Water Streets, where Riverside Dentistry is today. Next door, to the west was the Franklin House which filled the west end of the 200 block of West Main from 1855 to 1882. In 1877, “Dr. J. C. F. Negley has taken rooms where he may be found three days after the first Monday of each month. He specializes in Chronic Diseases.”

Augustus Dake was a businessman in Lowell in 1876. He was an interesting character who had made his fortune, reportedly $150,000, in the California gold rush and then lost it. He went to California in 1850 and again from 1862-1869 for mining interests.

Augustus Dake’s children Charles A. Dake and daughter, Sara along with Charles’ wife and Sara’s husband John Wingler participated in the Oklahoma Territory Land Run on April 22, 1889. Charles Dake established a photography business in Edmond, Oklahoma Territory, and became Mayor of the town from 1893-94. His name is now famous in Edmond because he took early, historically important outdoor photographs of the town. The Edmond Historical Society and Museum has reached out to the Lowell Area Historical Museum for any information or pictures of the Dakes.

In 1881, Dake listed the Dake House for sale and said he was moving to Texas. The listing reads “For Sale, The Dake House, Lowell, Mich. …. Front of Lots 196 feet; depth 141 feet. Front of hotel 60 feet. Hotel contains 33 rooms and basement for saloon. Good horse barn, sheds. The entire property will be sold for $8,000.  …”

The Dake House may burned when the Franklin House burned in 1882. However, an article from 1888 states that someone stole two coats and a box of cigars from the Dake House but one coat was found in a stall in the barn the next morning.  A. Dake died in 1888 and at the time owned a Dake House in Saranac.

Images:

Augustus Dake
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This 1885 map shows the Farmer’s Home on Water Street which held a dining hall and rooms especially for farmers who had come to town to sell or trade their products.