Hotel Benton

Hotel Benton
Photograph of a seven-story urban building
The Hotel Benton in 2009
Location 408 SW Monroe Avenue
Corvallis, Oregon
Coordinates 44°33′52″N 123°15′45″W / 44.564473°N 123.262366°WCoordinates: 44°33′52″N 123°15′45″W / 44.564473°N 123.262366°W
Area Less than 1 acre (0.40 ha)[1]
Built 1925
Built by Lou N. Traver[1]
Architect Houghtaling & Dougan
Architectural style Renaissance Revival
Governing body Private
NRHP Reference # 82003719
Added to NRHP May 20, 1982

The Hotel Benton or Benton Hotel[lower-alpha 1] is a historic former hotel in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. It is a distinctive example of the Italian Renaissance style by Portland architects Houghtaling and Dougan, one of several Oregon buildings the firm designed in the revival styles popular in the 1920s and 1930s.[lower-alpha 2] After the decline of the Julian Hotel and other earlier establishments, development of a modern, first-class, downtown hotel was promoted by civic leader Ralph Lyman Bosworth and the local Kiwanis club as an important community asset. Reflecting the progressive spirit of the early 1920s, this proposal was largely financed through public subscription and carried out by local contractors with a stake in the success of the project. The hotel opened to the public on June 1, 1925. With its prominent location across the street from the Benton County Courthouse and one block from the train station, its easy visibility, and its sophisticated design, the Hotel Benton became the social and business center of Corvallis for over 30 years. The hotel's fortunes began to suffer after the termination of passenger rail service in the 1940s, and especially with the later rise of auto-oriented motels outside the downtown core. By the 1980s, the building was in use for low-income public housing.[1]

The hotel building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.[5]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Important sources differ regarding the form of the hotel's name. Databases from the National Park Service (NPS)[2][3] and Oregon State Historic Preservation Office[4] list the name as "Benton Hotel", but the NPS's official National Register listing announcement[5] uses "Hotel Benton". The National Register nomination documentation for the hotel[1] gives "Hotel Benton" as the historic name and "Benton Hotel" as the common name. This article adopts "Hotel Benton" because the historic name emphasizes the historic significance of the hotel, and because the nomination form and Federal Register announcement are sources of a more foundational nature than the databases.
  2. ↑ Other Renaissance Revival examples by Houghtaling and Dougan include Portland's Elks Temple and Medical Arts Building.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Gorman, Rusty (January 20, 1982), National Register of Historic Places Inventory — Nomination Form: Hotel Benton (PDF), retrieved October 9, 2014.
  2. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  3. ↑ "NPS Focus". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
  4. ↑ Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, Oregon Historic Sites Database, retrieved October 11, 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 48 FR 8658 (March 1, 1983).

External links