The Grand Reopening of the Hotel Yakima
After a high-profile purchase by a Puyallup hotelier, the city’s premiere hostelry prepares for an evening of luxury, dancing, and civic celebration.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
As announced by The Herald last week, Peter Bellus, of Puyallup, has succeeded W. Wallace Atherton in the proprietorship of the Hotel Yakima, one of the best and most popular hostelries in the state. The building was purchased of David Wilson, of Tacoma, for $25,000, and the arrangements by which the furniture and stock changed hands were completed Tuesday and Mr. Bellus took formal possession at midnight. The new proprietor is a thorough hotel man, having been in the business all his life. With the purchase of the hotel, friends of Mr. Bellus residing here and on the Sound, headed by Hon. James Knox, determined that the occasion of his assuming the management should be fittingly observed. A large excursion party arrived here last night from Seattle, Tacoma, and Puyallup, and are now looking over the city and country. Great preparations have been made for a grand dinner on Friday, between 12 o’clock noon and 9:30 in the evening, the tables remaining spread and service continuing all that time. In the evening there will be a ball, for which hundreds of invitations have been sent out. Recognizing that this will be an event of more than passing interest, many of Yakima's leading citizens are lending a hand to make it a complete success, and Mayor Weed has appointed a committee from the council to receive and look after the welfare and pleasure of the guests from abroad.
“Recognizing that this will be an event of more than passing interest, many of Yakima's leading citizens are lending a hand to make it a complete success.”
In the 1890s, the Hotel Yakima was the center of the region's social and political life, acting as the primary venue for welcoming outsiders. Today, the struggle to define and maintain central gathering spaces continues to be a core element of Yakima’s civic identity as it navigates downtown revitalization.
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