March 30: 1897: Fire destroys the Lester Park Hotel

On this day in Duluth in 1897, the Lester Park Hotel was destroyed by fire. The Lakeside Land Company, which developed Lakeside and Lester Park, built the hotel in 1889 at 6003 London Road—essentially still a forest at the time. In 1897 the hotel hosted teamsters hired by the city to transport steel pipe for construction being laid in conjunction with the construction of the nearby Lakewood Pumping Station. Those very teamsters may have led to the hotel’s destruction. The fire started in a shed east of the building, where lamp oil was stored; it was a habit for the teamsters to fill their lanterns with oil after breakfast, as they began work well before sunrise. Pinkman speculated a dropped match or a spark from a lit pipe may have set off some spilled lamp oil that had soaked into the wood floor; a brisk east wind carried the flames to the hotel. When firefighters arrived, their hose burst almost as soon as it was connected to the pump. Fire Chief Black told the Duluth Herald “had the hose not given out the building could have been saved.” Declared a total loss, the hotel was not rebuilt. In 1902 a house was built on the site by Dr. Joseph D. Titcomb. It still stands.

The Lester Park Hotel (Image: Duluth Public Library)