This is Floyd Wynne with The View From Here (12/29/05)

As the New Year approaches, let's take a step backward many years and talk about an event that happened this day some 101 years ago.

For some time, George Baldwin had conducted a hardware business in what was known as the A.O.U.W. building, but now with the city of Klamath Falls growing, it was time to build for the future. A Portland firm was hired to draw up plans for a new building which was to be four stories in height. Actual construction on such a structure was commenced on this date in 1904.

The republican newspaper of the time reported the event thusly: "Workmen are forging their way into the rock cliff by the side of George T. Baldwins store, preparing a foundation for Mr. Baldwins mammoth new building to be built in the spring. The building will be four stories high." Sometime in October the guilding was finished. On October 19, 1905 the Republican reported: "The third most important building being constructed in the city is the four story brick being built by George T. Baldwin, the hardware merchant. It is the largest building in Klamath Falls and is estimated to cost between $15,000 and $20,000. The entire building is constructed of Klamath county brick."

Devere Helfrich covered much of the Baldwin Hotels history in volume five of his echoes. While Baldwin installed his hardware on the first floor...he rented out the other three floors...to the Inland Empire Club, the first Chamber of Commerce, The U.S. Reclamation Service and the Klamath Water Users Association.

E.B.Bert Hall came to Klamath Falls in 1905 from Denver. He and his wife moved into the Baldwin later and became managers of the hotel section of the building. They spent two and one half years at the hotel, they established the Hall Hotel, later called the Stevens Hotel, at the corner of Fourth and Main. This was around 1912.

Maude Baldwin took over management of the hotel and established a photography studio in one area. She became an accomplished photographer. Later she was to become despondent after caring for her invalid mother for a long period....walked into Lake Ewauna and drowned. She ran the hotel until 1923. Her father, George Baldwin had become prominent in political circles. He died June 4, 1920.

Mr. and Mrs. Andy Moore bought the hotel from the Baldwin heirs in 1923. Later Mart and Vera Jones became managers of the hotel.

In 1978 it became known the Baldwin Hotel was for sale. A Salem or Portland firm had indicated they would purchase the hotel with all of its mementos. A school teacher, Bertha Hultman, attempted to raise funds to buy it, but the effort lagged. I was a County Commissioner at the time and along with Nell Kounen and Lloyd Gift, we agreed that the city could not afford to lose this valuable museum and we purchased the hotel utilizing some $200,000 in revenue sharing funds to secure the hotel on June 7, 1978.

Harry Drew, then curator of the County Museum, was given the task of inventorying the contents of the hotel and preparing it as a museum for public display. At one point however, those going through the hotel were noticed tossing glass plate negatives of Maude Baldwin from one of the windows. This was immediately stopped.

Today, the hotel is an important museum in the public attraction to the area. Its contents represent much of the early 1900s in the area and is a very valuable tourism asset.

Thus, the long hundred year history of the Baldwin Hotel...one of the many historical stories in my book...Great Moments in Klamath History.

This is Floyd Wynne and thats The View from Here.