Great Western Hotel Then and Now

209 W Locust/(Santa Fe) Trail Street

Do you ever wonder how much of what you “know” about your hometown is actually true? Anyone who has lived in Dodge City for any length of time has heard stories about the Great Western Hotel. I grew up believing Dr. Samuel Galland built it. He did not. Some say it was George Reighard. That’s possible but I can’t prove it.

What I do know is the Great Western Hotel was previously called the Western House and it was owned by Silas Maley in 1876. Locust Street later became Santa Fe Trail.

Maley took a ranch on Bluff Creek in trade for the Western House in April of 1877 and management was turned over to Dunham and Dawson. That only lasted until July of 1877, when Dr. Galland and George Gager acquired the hotel.

There was an odd assortment of wood frame structures on this block of Locust Street and the new arrangement had all of the rooms in the hotel proper.

Gager bowed out of the hotel business in August of 1877 but remained in Galland’s employ.

Ads began running for the Great Western Hotel in October of 1878. Galland famously disallowed alcohol to be sold on the premises.

In August of 1882, Galland announced his intent to take a year’s vacation. He sought a responsible party to purchase or rent the hotel and found L. C. Hartman.

At the end of the year lease, Dr. Galland resumed management of the Great Western, this time with an added bath house on the premises.

The 1884 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map shows a very small Great Western Hotel located at what was then 412 Locust Street. A new hotel building was planned at the corner of Locust and First which never materialized. Instead, the main hotel building was essentially replaced with a much larger two-story structure.

Dr. Galland purchased Mike Sutton’s home in April of 1885 and announced his desire to retire from the hotel business. George Theis leased the Great Western in June of 1886.

The 1887 Sanborn shows the larger frame structure shown below with a new address of 307 Locust Street.

Dr. Galland again resumed management of the Great Western in February of 1888 and rented his home on Railroad/Central Avenue.

In July of 1896, Dr. Galland announced he was closing his hotel business and instead would rent rooms to boarders. Meal service was discontinued due to Mrs. Galland’s poor health.

The Gallands moved north again to their home on Central in February of 1903. Charles Norton took over managing the boarding house, which he intended to once again operate as the Great Western Hotel with partner Pearl Trebilcock. They signed a five-year lease and modernized the hotel. The Great Western reopened on March 16, 1903 with its first 25-cent meal served at noon.

That partnership was dissolved in October of 1903 and Pearl Trebilcock retained ownership of the business.

In January of 1905, Dr. Galland once again advertised the Great Western Hotel for rent effective March 1. Anthony Klein was the new proprietor, who advertised Tony’s Great Western Hotel.

But in June of 1905, the hotel was once again advertised under the management of Dr. Galland and his “tidy wife.” Bertha Galland died in January of 1907 at their home on Central. Mrs. E. E. Boone assumed operations in November of 1907.

Dr. Galland still owned the Great Western when he died in February of 1908. Adolphus Gluck, a dear friend of the Gallands, was executor of his estate and assumed ownership of the hotel property.

Mrs. E. E. Boone handed over the reins to Mr. and Mrs. C. S. Scott on July 1, 1909.

The Scotts turned over operations to Mr. and Mrs. R. E. Dobbins sometime in 1910. They, in turn, sold the furniture and fixtures at a public sale in January of 1911.

Mrs. Jennie McGahen and Harry Dixon leased the hotel in February of 1911. A horrific tragedy occurred that May when Mr. Dixon was burned to death after a kitchen oil burner exploded. McGahen’s son was also badly burned.

The 1911 Sanborn shows the new street address of 209 Santa Fe Trail. Jennie McGahen married Louis L McClung that September and the couple continued to operate the hotel.

Gluck remodeled the Great Western in 1913 and had a steam heating plant installed.

The McClungs moved out of the hotel in September of 1914. Mrs. Susie Watt assumed operations that November. The Great Western reportedly had 28 rooms at that time.

The turnover continued into 1915 with new proprietress Alice Whedon Luster (left) and Mable Alice Luster shown below.

The Denver Lunch moved to the Great Western in early 1917.

Joseph Wilhite purchased the hotel in April of 1917 and assumed management. By this time, a junkyard was next door. Things got weird when the Great Western was shut down in 1919 for being a “disorderly place.”

C. C. Isely owned the lots where the hotel stood in May of 1922 and sold them to George Howell, one of the Lora-Locke Hotel developers. At some point, the wood building was covered with stucco.

The Great Western was renamed Armstrong Hotel in late 1923.

Charles B Brown purchased the business and renamed it Brown’s Hotel in December of 1927.

The following year, new manager Josephine Joiner changed the name back to Great Western Hotel.

In the late 1920s and 1930s, the Great Western received a lot of compensation from Ford County for housing transients. The Howells retained ownership of the hotel, which continued operating until at least the Summer of 1940. It was finally demolished in June of 1942.

In this aerial photo, you can see the empty lot just to the right of the flour mill.

The empty lot was used as a Fairmont Foods parking lot in 1970. By 1990, part of the lot was taken up by the Evans Products warehouse.

Here’s how the site looks today:

I rarely spend time studying my surroundings when I’m running errands and trying to get things done. It’s really amazing to stand across the street from this former landmark and consider what used to be.

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