The Fairhaven Hotel Rises to Meet the Boom
A grand, multi-story hotel with steam heat and electricity aims to make the new city a destination for wealthy tourists and investors.
A very good idea of the outward appearance of The Fairhaven, the magnificent hotel which is so rapidly approaching completion, can be had from the cut which appears in today's Herald. The building as originally planned was to be three stories and basement, but it was found that this would not provide sufficient room and another story was added. Although this story gives the building seventy-five rooms, it is still thought to be insufficient and preparations are already under way for an addition equal in size to the present building to be commenced as soon as the hotel is fairly finished and opened. It will be heated by steam, lighted by electricity, provided with elevators and every modern convenience.
“People who come now to look over the city and her surroundings and are compelled to leave, because of a lack of accommodations, before their researches are half completed, will come and stay until they become convinced that Fairhaven is the future metropolis of Puget Sound.”
The construction of the Hotel Fairhaven was the centerpiece of the 1890s real estate boom. Today, the building (later the Fairhaven Hotel) remains a landmark, though the 'booster' mentality that promised it would make Fairhaven the 'metropolis of Puget Sound' remains a familiar refrain in local development politics.
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