St. Cloud Hotel

The St. Cloud Hotel was built in three parts, the first in 1903, the second in 1904 and the third in 1929. In this photo the 1903 section is on the left in this photo, the 1904 section is out of sight behind it, the 1929 addition on the the right. Sets of Counthian-style columns separated the front windows. The once elegant hotel contained the first passenger elevator in Chandler.

John E. Gormley owned the hotel until his passing in 1926 but it seems like the day to day management was left to a fairly rapid succession of operators/managers of the hotel.

The first of those individual was Miss Lucy McElHiney who "rented" the property and opened the St. Cloud Hotel on April 20 1904. Miss Lucy actually chose the name for the hotel, naming it after one in Silver Cliff, Colorado, a town of significance for her family. Over 150 guest dined at the hotel on April 21, 1904 to celebrate its opening. Miss Lucy's management lasted only long enough to see the Pioneer Telephone Company install a "Long Distance Phone Booth" on September 29, 1904, by October 1st she had been replaced. Even though Miss Lucy was gone, the name shoe chose for the hotel remained the same for 25 years until 1929.

The St. Cloud Hotel name still shows on the south side of the 1929 addition along with a Coca-Cola sign.

In 1929 Charles Avenues bought the hotel from the Gormley estate, renamed it the Evans Hotel and added the south section of the building. The addition contained his Chevrolet dealership on the ground floor and additional guest rooms on the second floor. The Evans Hotel name only lasted until 1933 when W. H. Hall leased the hotel from Evans and Changed the name to the Hotel Grace which almost instantly became known as the Grace Hotel.

The fairly quick changes in who was operation and/or managing the hotel continued, but the Grace Hotel name was used at least until 1964 and maybe beyond.

Photo(s): May 2012