Oriel Block Then and Now

112-114 Front Street

Many times, I choose to write about buildings simply because I have questions. I knew nothing about the Oriel Block, including the fact that it was called the Oriel Block. The only photos I had seen showed a sad state of affairs and my curiosity got the best of me. Boy, did I learn a thing or two.

The 1884 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map shows a block full of wood frame businesses with one brick saloon. There was no standardization and the buildings were of all shapes and sizes. Lot numbers had no meaning.

In December of 1885, R. W. Evans sold a half-interest in his lots east of the bank on Front Street between First and Railroad/Central Avenues to R. J. Hardesty. Due to the outbreak of devastating fires, Dodge City mandated brick buildings in the business district. The duo planned to build in the spring of 1886.

In May of 1886, the architectural firm of Weston and Trost announced Col. R. J. Hardesty and R. W. Evans were building the Oriel Block. The Dodge City Democrat reported “…in each front second story will be a large oriel window with polished plate glass. The fronts will be recessed back in 10 feet. This block is christened by the architects the Oriel Block. Approximate cost $15,000.”

The 1887 Sanborn shows the Oriel Block under construction at what was then 411-412 Front Street and 327-328 Chestnut Street. Construction was slow because so many structures had to be rebuilt and it was finally completed on November 4, 1887.

L. T. Peck’s real estate office was on the Front Street side.

The office of the A. K. & C. Railroad had moved into the southeast room on the second floor by December 15, 1887. By March of 1888, Willett, Hardesty, and Evans had moved into a suite of offices upstairs on the north end. I. M. Jennings also moved a billiard hall into the building that April.

A lunch counter occupied the basement.

A local representative for the Bureau of (Veterans’) Pensions also took an office in the Oriel Block.

Walter Locke opened a feed and vegetable house there in November of 1888.

O. P. Jenkins and Sons signed a five-year lease on the Oriel Block in November of 1891 intending to remodel the building into a hotel. The Hotel Hardesty opened the following month.

By December 26, it was decided that Oriel Hotel was a better name for the establishment.

True to form in the hotel business, the Oriel Hotel closure announcement was made on May 9, 1892. Walter Locke conducted a chattel mortgage sale on the furnishings on May 21.

At that point, only the billiards hall was operational in the west storefront. Arthur Ashley of Garden City announced in December of 1892 he would be reopening the hotel on January 1, 1893. He planned to add a large dining room on the Chestnut side, which was possibly operated by Maggie Stark.

Mrs. M. E. Durand leased the dining room in the building in November of 1893. Mrs. James Wells also leased “upper floors” and planned to let rooms to lodgers.

Mr. and Mrs. J. Q. Adams took over operations of the Oriel Hotel in September of 1894. That November, T. L. “Buff” Callahan was excited over election returns and shot holes in the ceiling. No one was injured.

There was a lot of turnover and the hotel was purchased by Mr. J. H. Leshure of Larned in December of 1895.

Hank Young leased the hotel dining room and lunch counter in September of 1896 but then it was reported he succeeded Leshure as proprietor of the hotel itself.

Newspapers reported in February of 1897 that Mr. and Mrs. A. H. Boyd of Larned would soon take charge of the Oriel. And this is how the Dodge House 2.0 became a thing.

B. F. Fletcher opened the Silver Gloss Hand Laundry in the west end of the basement of the Oriel Block in July of 1897. R. W. Evans occupied rooms on the Chestnut side from time to time. Fletcher moved his laundry out of the Oriel in April of 1898 and the Newkirk Bennett “joint” took its place in the basement. Even Dodge City’s lovable scoundrel, Ben Hodges, had a room at the Dodge House.

The Boyds owned hotels in several Kansas towns and were rarely in the same location at once. Fred W Boyd managed the Dodge House at least by May of 1900, at which time the entire hotel was remodeled to catch the busy summer season. In July of 1903, Boyd purchased the Elgin Hotel in Marion and relocated there in December. Ernest Hendricks and Mrs. Morrow reopened the Dodge House later that month.

D. C. “Clem” Moore bought the Dodge House in January of 1905. He had the dining room and kitchen converted back into rooms since the place was surrounded by eating establishments. The newly renovated Dodge Rooming House opened for business that April.

J. S. Elliott bought the Dodge Rooming House in May of 1908. Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Faulkner renovated the west storefront into the Electric Theatre, which opened in March of 1909. The street numbers were standardized around that time. The theater was at 115 W Chestnut and the Dodge Rooming House was at 112 Front Street.

Mr. and Mrs. John Hughett bought the Dodge Rooming House in February of 1909.

By early 1912, F. A. Etrick was associated with the Electric Theater. The name was changed to the Dreamland in December of that year.

The Submarine Grocery opened in the basement just in time for Thanksgiving in November of 1916.

This photo was taken at Central and Chestnut looking west around 1917. You can see the ornate cornices along the second floor of the Oriel Block on the left but only the Front Street side had oriel windows.

Etrick reopened the remodeled Dreamland on December 18, 1916.

By January of 1917, C. A. Wilhite’s Denver Coffee House was serving meals in the basement at 114 Front Street.

L. C. B. Martin operated a shine parlor in the east room located at 112 Front.

A gasoline stove explosion destroyed the coffee house and most of the theater on March 27, 1917. No injuries were reported.

Denver Lunch moved to the Great Western Hotel in April of 1917 and the theater reopened later that year.

The Dreamland Theater closed in mid-1918 and the building was renovated into office space for the Midland Light and Ice Company, which occupied the entire basement and about 3/4 of the main floor with access on Chestnut.

By 1921, the east room on Chestnut was occupied by the tire shop of C. M. Key and Son.

The Army & Navy Store opened at 112 Front Street in January of 1922 but the name was quickly shortened to The Army Store.

The building was still in pretty good shape when this photo of Front Street was taken in 1925.

The neighborhood was looking a bit shopworn by the time this photo was taken but at least the oriel windows were still in place.

The 1930s ushered in the tavern and billiards era. Aside from the Southwest Furniture Company taking up 113 W Chestnut and a brief stay for Merrick’s Cafe to the west, it was all beer parlors and pool halls until the 1950s.

At some point, the rooming house was remodeled into apartments. By 1953, Newkirk’s Electric Appliances had moved into the old furniture store.

Ritz Sandwich Shop was located at 115 W Chestnut and behind it was the Front Street Tavern. There were only a couple residents in the upstairs apartments.

By 1957, the building was looking rough. The detailed cornices and oriel windows had been removed in favor of utilitarian brick.

Around 1957, Isaac Sanchez had the Duck Inn Tavern at 114 Front Street. The Shrine Club was above the sandwich shop, which was vacant by then. By 1959, Chester Wendler had opened Curley’s Last Chance Tavern in the old appliance store. Sanchez changed the name of his bar from the Duck Inn to the Cactus Club by 1962 and then to The Spot by 1967.

I won’t rehash the story of Dodge City’s Urban Renewal project but the Oriel Block was demolished soon after these photos were taken. You can see the building still had decorative accents around its windows on the Wyatt Earp Boulevard side but the beautiful cornices were long gone.

Front Street was a disaster.

The only trace of the building’s auspicious beginnings was the arched stone panel above the center staircase entry indicating the Oriel Block was constructed in 1887.

Here’s a recent image from Google Street View of the missing block.

It’s sad to see how many property owners defer maintenance until a building isn’t worth saving. It usually starts with the roof and goes downhill from there. You’d think we would learn how that routine actually adds costs, but alas…the cycle continues.

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