Webster Hotel

The Webster Hotel was located at 501 N.P. Avenue. The owner and builder of the building was, Mr. Mortimer Webster. He was also the builder of the "Webster Block" on 8th Street South. The hotel was built after the great fire of 1893 on the ruins of the Hotel Grande. Webster hired William H. Witt and Columbus Beckwith to manage the new hotel, which opened for business on Tuesday, September 21, 1894. Witt was the former manager of the Headquarters Hotel with which Beckwith was also associated. The grand opening featured a concert of the Rupert’s full orchestra, a dance, and a banquet serving “all the delicacies of the season, served in the best manner”, according to an account from the Fargo Forum & Daily Republican, on September 18, 1894.

The hotel was 75 feet wide on N.P. Avenue and extended 140 feet on 5th Street. The reception area on the first floor was finished in oak. The parlor was on the southeast corner of the second floor and provided easy chairs, divans, mirrors, and a "Boston-made" piano. Dining was supervised by Chef Harry Phillips from Boston. Ms. Anna Moran supervised the dining room. The hotel was fitted throughout with electric and gas lighting and the rooms featured steam heat. Rates on opening day were $2 per day and up, depending on location.

Within a year the hotel had been bought by William S. Young, who in turn sold it to F. O. Brewster about 1900. About 1904 Charles G. Welton took over as proprietor and remained with the hotel for a decade. In 1916, the hotel was bought by N. J. Osteraas, and he sold it to Walter Junkin in the early 1920s. Two women, Inga Baldwin and Anna Forsberg managed the hotel from about 1927 to 1954. It was then bought by Kenneth Bergan, who also operated the Cole Hotel. He sold the hotel to Thomas Garske in 1971. In 1979 the building was sold to Dakota Bank & Trust and it was torn down on July 6th and 7th, 1981 to make way for a bank parking lot.