The Brown Palace Hotel is the second-oldest operating hotel in Denver, Colorado and is one of the first atrium-style hotel ever built. It was built in 1892, one year later than the Oxford Hotel. It was named for its original owner, Henry C. Brown, and was designed with its odd triangular shape by architect Frank Edbrooke.
Guests included and still include entrepreneurs, legislators, presidents, and foreign officials. Past guests include the "Unsinkable" Molly Brown (she stayed at the hotel only a week after the Titanic disaster), infamous Denver crime boss Jefferson "Soapy" Smith, Dr. Sun Yat Sen (just before becoming the president of the new Republic of China), Queen Marie of Romania, the Duke of San Macario, and The Beatles. Presidential guests include Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, Warren Harding, Harry S Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Bill Clinton.
Two other librarians and I walked from our hotel to the Brown Palace and gave ourselves a tour. On this 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, it was particularly interesting to see evidence of the "Unsinkable Molly Brown".
Fun history lesson! I think if I ever make it out to Denver again (I have cousins who live there) I'll have to go see this- it looks really interesting!
April 20th, 2012
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