The River Side House: A Temperance Haven on the Snohomish River
While rival hotels advertised their fine wines and billiard rooms, the Riverside Hotel staked its reputation on a strictly sober policy.
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.
The page carries a brief notice for the River Side, identified as a temperance hotel and restaurant. It advertises board at $5.00 per week or $1.00 per day, with single meals listed at 37½ cents. George Williams is named as proprietor.
The notice is set among other territorial advertisements for general stores, drugs, boots and shoes, sewing machines, and hotels. No further description of the River Side’s rooms, location, or operation appears on the page.
“Board per week $5.00. Per day, $1.00. Single meals, 25 cents. Terms strictly cash.”
In 19th-century Snohomish, the 'temperance hotel' was a distinct social category, offering an alternative to the rough-and-tumble saloons that dominated the riverfront. Today, Snohomish's struggle for balance continues as the city navigates the tension between its historic saloon culture and modern pressures of affordability and community identity.
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