Today’s short installment of our local history: A bridge builder builds a lasting hotel, and a quick glance at what was for dinner over a century ago.

In 1876, a carpenter from Ohio named Lord Nelson "Nels" Roney had just moved to Eugene with his wife. He chose Eugene over other Oregon towns for mainly one reason: He had a big job lined up for when he got there…

Eugene Skinner, founder of the town, had run a successful ferry business transporting travelers, settlers and their goods across the Willamette River, up until his death in 1864. Following his death, the original ferrying enterprise continued on for a little over a decade, alongside multiple other ferryboat businesses, which had sprung up along the river.

By the 1870’s, Eugene’s population was at 900 people and looking to hit the thousand people mark quickly. Suddenly, one of the original gigs in Eugene, running a handful of ferries across the span of the Willamette, could no longer support the swelling town’s demands and numbers.

Eugene City desperately needed a bridge.

Eugene already knew of a perfect candidate for the task of building the bridge. An Ohioan journeyman builder, already known for building covered bridges across towns all over the state, was summoned and offered the contract. That man was Lord Nelson Roney.

“Nels” designed and built our city’s first ferry street bridge.

And then he helped rebuild it again in 1890, after the north end approach of it was washed away during a flood, along with the northern bank of the river. The Willamette River completely altered its course following that flood of 1890 and the bridge had to be lengthened just to reach the new northern shoreline.

“Nels” became well known in Eugene as the man who would rebuild folks’ structures after the inevitable Willamette floods damaged them, or simply washed them away entirely. Over the years, with his skills in carpentry and the local boom in construction, he became one of the premiere building contractors in the county. He was a wealthy local citizen in short time who was frequently called upon when the town had big projects, and the next major project he was part of still stands today as the oldest remaining commercial structure in downtown Eugene...

In 1884, a local and well-off businessman, Charles Baker, wanted Eugene to have a hotel that was suited to host the likes of royalty and diplomats. He wanted a gem that would be recognized throughout the entire state and beyond, something ambitious for a tiny town like Eugene City.

The town still only had a handful of one and two story brick buildings lining the newly named Willamette Street, with sporadic stretches of wooden plank “side-walks” running along the crowded thoroughfare, which still just consisted of several inches of mud. Above all other amenities the tiny town desperately needed, putting up a luxury hotel in 1880s Eugene seemed foolhardy to say the least.

As bold as it may have been, Charles Baker marched forward with his plan. He contacted the well known bridge builder “Nels” Roney, along with a second well known builder-contractor named George H. Park, to pitch the construction of his hotel.

Baker chose a prominent lot, along Willamette Street, and one of Eugene Skinner’s original land donation plots, plot 8, right next to the first Post Office.

Plans were finalized, and work was set to begin in July of 1884.

The building was ambitious and extremely luxurious for a town anywhere outside of Portland, and it garnered statewide and west coast attention throughout its construction. An Oregon State Journal article described the soon to be features of the hotel:

“The ground floor will contain dining room, bar room, commercial room (and a store for rent), kitchen, laundry, pastry room. The partition between office and dining room will be constructed as to be taken away, so the dining room can be made 23x65.”

“The second floor will contain ladies parlor, and 15 large bedrooms. The third floor will contain 16 large bedrooms. There will be no dark rooms. A skylight will illuminate from the third floor through an opening to second and first. The rooms will be well ventilated with a large transom over the door. The halls running through the building are all large. The stairs…are all wide and of easy ascent. The building will be all hard finished throughout and all the woodwork will be grained in various woods.”

“The building and furniture will cost about $12,000”.

And so, the hotel’s construction began.

The building took more than 8 months to build, going over schedule and budget. Charles Baker, with many other projects to worry about, and fearing he would lose money on the future hotel, sold it quickly, while still under construction, to another local businessman, Stephen Smeed, for the originally quoted price of $12,000.

It was agreed that the sale was to be kept hush hush as to not concern future patrons of the hotel’s stability.

In March of 1885, the new hotel was ready for its first visitors. Smeed kept the originally advertised name, “Baker's Hotel,” for the first seven years.

Later in 1892 while revamping the exterior and upgrading the facade, Smeed changed the name to “Hotel Eugene.”.

By 1900, Eugene (which had just dropped “City” from its name) had a population that had swollen by nearly 200%, sitting at over 3,000 residents and growing at a fast clip. By this time, the Hotel was well established and was making unimaginable profits for the time, with a daily staff of over 16 workers keeping it running elegantly.

No longer concerned over any lingering negative perceptions of the original “Baker Hotel’s” sale, and not quite loving the generic “Hotel Eugene,” Smeed finally named it what he had wanted to all along…

In 1902, after another facelift, “Hotel Smeede” was debuted (The extra “e” on the name added simply for some classy embellishment).

Later during the turn of the century, the name would be written or referred to periodically as “Hotel Smeede,” to “Smeede Hotel,” back to “Hotel Smeed” and dropping the “e.” But whatever it was named at any given time, it was simply known as the “finest and premiere luxury hotel in the entire city and region”.

Many Eugene businesses, up until well after the turn of the century, gave the Hotel as a geographic reference point for street location on their work invoice statements, letterheads and business cards.

The Hotel was one of, if not the original, first known true restaurants in the city.

From the very first opening day, the Hotel was associated with the epitome of social life and culture in Eugene. The building catered to the upper-class visitors to the town and its wealthy local citizens, providing ornate furnishings and facilities, exotic and expensive menus, and elaborate parties, gatherings and banquets. Anyone who was of class or reputation, traveling up or down the U.S. West Coast or from the Eastern States by train, stayed at this hotel. Diplomats, some of the highest government officials, and A-list celebrities of the day, would stop and spend the night while passing through.

One well recorded stay at the Hotel was in 1896.

William Jennings Bryan, member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Nebraska, and famed orator, came to Eugene to spend the night at the hotel during his first campaign attempt at the Presidency of the United States.

In an era when presidential candidates stayed home, W. J. Bryan was the architect of the now popular national “stumping tour.” The Democratic Party had tapped him an unprecedented three times to be their front-runner in the general election for Presidency.

He lost that year to William McKinley, and again to McKinley in 1900 and finally to Teddy Roosevelt in 1908.

For what it’s worth, in 1913 he would be appointed United States Secretary of State under Woodrow Wilson.

Another famous guest was the American diplomat Henry B. Miller. Miller, previously a member of the State Legislature, served as Consul-General working under the US Ambassador to China, then later Japan and finally Ireland.

In 1902, the Hotel hosted a large social event in honor of H. B. Miller. Countless dinners and banquets, just like Miller’s, were held throughout the hotel’s history, and this one wouldn’t have been anything more special, however the fascinating thing which stands out about this specific gala is that the menu served that night was recorded, so that we may look back and see exactly what everyone ate for dinner that night in 1902 in downtown Eugene.

The multiple course meal held in Honor of Consul-General Henry B. Miller:

“Toke Points on the Half Shell”

“Consomme with Cretons”

“Tenderloin Salmon Maitre D’Hotel”

“Saratoga Chips”

“Fillets of Beef En Champignons”

“Potato Croquettes”

“Roman Punch”

“Petit Pois”

“Lobster En Mayonaise”

“English Plum Pudding”

“Hard and Brandy Sauce”

“Neapolitan Cake”

“Angel Cake”

“Pineapple Ice Cream”

“Assorted Fruits”

“Nuts”

“Edam Cheese”

And finally, “Café Noir,” black coffee, which I can only assume was served in order to wake the hotel’s guests from their impending food comas.

The Smeede Hotel continued to operate under the Smeed family and continued operation as a luxury hotel for 86 years up until 1971, surviving the “Urban Renewal” wave of the 1960s which, sadly, saw the demolition of most of Eugene’s original architecture.

The Smeede hotel survived both world wars, prohibition, the great depression and ultimately the wrath of Eugene's wrecking balls.

The Eugene Renewal Agency, a group dedicated to developing historic properties, purchased the building and began to renovate it and convert it into retail and office space. At one point in time it was considered as the site for the new home of the then “Oregon Pioneer Museum”. Two years later, in 1973, the building was hastily submitted to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places, in order to guarantee the preservation of it and avoid possible future demolition.

It was approved on January 17th, 1974.

The “Baker Building,” as its now listed, on 767 Willamette Street, is now home to several upstairs offices, with the ground floor comprised of Café Perugino: Wine Bar, Italian Coffee Shop and Gallery; White Lotus Asian Arts Gallery, and Park Street Café in the back of the building, most likely where the original laundry, bakery and kitchen would have been.

A ghost sign, still visible today, advertising "fine dining service" at the Hotel Smeede can be found in the alleyway on the northern brick wall (Go check it out!). This is most likely the oldest existing billboard/advertisement in the city. While also, the hotel’s original name is still embedded in bronze in the front sidewalk just outside of the main entrance.

So that’s the short story about the dude who built our first ferry street bridge, the bridge that replaced Eugene Skinner’s ferry. That same dude then helped build the only 19th century commercial building still completely intact in downtown Eugene today. That building, a luxury hotel like no other (and with a serious identity crisis when it came to its name), was the epicenter of haute culture for over half a century, and thanks to someone who attended a diplomat’s ball and happened to jot down the menu that night, we got a tasty glimpse into what was for dinner 114 years ago on Willamette Street... Coffee being the one common thing that was served then, which is still served now, on the first floor.