Metropole Hotel

The Metropole Hotel was located just east of Broadway at 511 N.P. Avenue. The building was designed by Architect Edgar Joralemon and built by contractor J. H. Bowers, for and Edward E. Cole. The grand opening of the hotel was on December 22, 1893. The first manager of the hotel was Sam Matthews, who had previously managed the Columbia Hotel until it burned in the Fargo fire of 1893. Edward E. Cole owned the hotel, as well as the Cole Hotel until his death in 1933. Mr. Cole was chairman of the Cass County Democratic Party, and hotel served as the political organizations headquarters and convention site for many years. William Jennings Bryan is said to have been a guest of the hotel during a visit to Fargo. After the death of Edward Cole, the ownership transferred to his son Rudy Cole, and daughter Irma Lord. In 1952, the hotel was sold to four brothers, Robert, Donald, George, and David Gibb. The brothers were members of the firm Robert Gibb & Sons, plumbing and heating; however the ownership of the hotel was a private venture of the Gibb siblings. In 1961, the Dakota National Bank purchased the hotel for expansion and parking. The building met the wrecking ball on September 11, 1961.

Letterhead, coat check and room key tags are visible below.