Continental Hotel (1900s)

The Continental Hotel is first listed in the 1909 Fargo city directory as the Continental Flats, owned by John L. Hooker. It was located on the corner of Second Avenue and Broadway (521 Second Avenue North). It is pictured above in a 1909 advertisement. At the time it provided "European and modern" rooms for 50¢ to $1.00. By 1913, Miss Lydia Wendt is listed as proprietor, followed by G. W. and Ann Arnold in the 1920s, and Elizabeth Suits in the 1930s and early 1940s. In 1940 the building underwent a major facelift, with the building facade being refaced in the Art Moderne style. Sometime between 1947 and 1948, the hotel was bought by Ida Rand, and she changed the name to the Rand Hotel. It remained the Rand Hotel until 1958, when it was purchased by Kermit Johnson, who renamed it the Valley Hotel. In 1975 the hotel became Hotel Fortune, and was owned and operated by Bill Fortune, the longtime owner of Fargo Famous Five Spot tavern located in the same building. The entire building was destroyed by an early morning fire on July 12, 1976. The fire also destroyed the Tandy Leather Store, Barber Palace barber shop, Cripple Creek bar and lounge, SKR Realty, and the Take 5 lounge.