Sherman County Historical Society
Friday, March 12, 1909, exactly 90 years ago today,
the Depot Hotel at the Rock Island Railroad yards burned to the ground. Only a huge
brick chimney was left standing, all that remained of a celebrated landmark on the Rock
Island Line.
Built in 1888 at a
cost of $20,000, the structure was one of the more modern buildings on the railroad.
Two and one-half stories tall, it measured 175 by 125 feet, and was Queen Anne
style in architecture. It was one of, if the not the largest, frame buildings in the
City of Goodland. Never given a formal name, it was always called the Depot Hotel.
There was a spacious ticket office and comfortable waiting rooms on the ground floor for
both ladies and gentlemen, as was the custom of the age.
The Grier House, a four star restaurant of the era, was situated in the larger part of the
ground floor, with an elegant dining room and a lunch counter. The kitchen was a
model of efficiency and convenience. There was a huge cooking range with 10 griddle
holes, a sumptuous pantry and ice closet. There were marble sinks for clean up,
provided with hot and cold water faucets. No doubt, the facility was equal to or
perhaps more elegant than the famous Harvey Houses that served the rival Santa Fe Railway.
The offices of the trainmaster, dispatchers and operators were on the second floor.
The east end contained the lodging rooms. The place was popular as a "honeymoon
hotel," and many newlyweds from surrounding towns and counties rode the passenger
trains to Goodland, or drove in to town in buggies to celebrate becoming "Mr. and
Mrs."
Goodland was a division point on the Rock Island, where train crews were changed,
conductors, engineers, firemen and brakemen were relieved. These men and their
families increased the city's population and many built homes and lived their entire lives
in Goodland.
Special trains drew crowds through the years, including a troop train taking men to fight
in Cuba in 1899; John Philip Sousa and his world renown band; Presidents Howard Taft and
Theodore Roosevelt; Shrine specials; circus trains; and animals being transported to the
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs. Passengers alit and took advantage of the
well-appointed depot and the inviting restaurant while trains were serviced.
The Depot Hotel and Grier House were the center of social activities during the 21 years
of their existence. The Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen (the brakemen's union)
hosted mammoth dances and formal balls, and during intermission at one of the balls,
guests were taken in carriages to the Grier House for refreshments.
On, Friday, March 12, 1909, the weather was cold. The high temperature that day
was 32 degrees. An inch of precipitation was recorded the day before on March 11,
but no doubt the seasonal wind had dissipated any dampness. 
At 3 p.m., the whistles at the Rock Island
shops signaled "FIRE," and the Goodland hose carts with a thousand feet of
two-inch hose were hastened to the scene. The wooden structure soon developed a
fearsome heat.
No cause has ever been determined, but smoke was discovered in the room that housed the
huge boiler that furnished the entire building with heat and hot water. No flames
were visible but dense smoke engulfed the entire building in a very short time, pouring
into every room through every possible opening. The black, acrid smoke rolled from
the building, making the fire fighters' efforts futile and dangerous. At one point
in the battle, a locomotive was run in front of the depot and the steam hose directed into
the boiler room area, but to no avail.
For two hours, the smoke continued until, with a great roar, the flames broke through the
roof. Even though there was sufficient water pressure, the fire was so consuming from that
time on efforts to control the havoc were ineffective. The entire fire force and the
water supply of both the railroad and the city were brought to bear, but the valiant crews
lost the fight to save one of Goodland's early-day landmarks. The destruction was
complete. Only the huge brick chimney stood among the ashes of the Goodland Depot
Hotel.
The hotel manager was transferred to Phillipsburg and the cashier was sent to Limon, Colo.
Future depots would be utilitarian, remarkable only in looking like most other
depots along the line. No effort was made to rebuild the "Pride of
Goodland," and the High Plains Museum is fortunate to have the photo collection of
Marion and Betty Parker that shows the Goodland Depot Hotel and Grier House in both their
shining glory and its tragic demise.
(Most of the above information was taken from the Goodland Republic from March, 1909 and
re-printed in Volume II of the Sherman County History books, by Velma Kohler)