St. James Hotel | |
Location: | 406 Main Street, Red Wing, Minnesota |
Coordinates: | 44.5653°N -92.5342°W |
Built: | 1874 and 1912 |
Architect: | Brink, Williams & Co. |
Architecture: | Italianate |
Added: | September 15, 1977 (original) January 8, 1982 (increase) |
Refnum: | 77000733 and 82002956 |
St. James Hotel in Red Wing, Minnesota, United States, is an Italianate building built in 1874-1875. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. The NRHP-listed area was increased to become St. James Hotel and Buildings in 1982. St. James Hotel is a member of Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.[1]
Red Wing was the world's largest primary market for wheat in the early 1870s, with a warehouse capacity of over in 1873. As a result of the city's wealth, and with a need to house businesspeople and tourists visiting the city, eleven prominent businessmen invested in the construction of the hotel. It opened with a grand ball on Thanksgiving Day, 1875. It was one of the most elaborate hotels along the Mississippi River and served the city during its heyday as a commercial center and a steamboat stop.[2]
The hotel was purchased in 1977 by the Red Wing Shoe Company and renovated. It was also given two additions, a shopping courtyard and a new section for offices and hotel rooms.[2] Until recently, the hotel had 61 guest rooms, each with its own unique decoration and bearing the name of a riverboat that used to travel up and down the Mississippi River. In early 2010, a new suite housed in the old Red Wing Iron Works Building was added to the hotel, bringing the number of rooms to 62.