Rare 1908 Postcard Rhodes Hotel Inn Hennessey OK Destroyed In Fire - Dalton Gang for Sale

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Rare 1908 Postcard Rhodes Hotel Inn Hennessey OK Destroyed In Fire - Dalton Gang For Sale

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Rare 1908 Postcard Rhodes Hotel Inn Hennessey OK Destroyed In Fire - Dalton Gang:
$599.99

This rare, real photo postcard depicts the Rhodes Hotel in Hennessey, Oklahoma, in Kingfisher County, which stood at the intersection of Oklahoma Avenue and Cherokee Street. It burned down in 1921, killing four people. It was presumed to have started when the son of the proprietor, Ed Vaudin, attempted to light kindling in the stove in the lobby with kerosene. During this time, the building was owned by Mrs. L. L. Finch from Oklahoma City.

It was a large, three-story structure with twenty-six guest rooms. It had been previously condemned by the city, but still in use. It had only one fire escape at the time of the fire, which reached to the third floor. In addition, it had wooden stairs leading up to the second floor. State rulings, at the time, require the heating plants in hotels must be enclosed by a fire wall. There must also be exterior fire escapes from balconies on the upper floors. Fire insurance companies had cancelled their policies on the building when the conditions of the building had become known.

Hennessey, Oklahoma is located near Bison, Dover, Marshall, Loyal, Waukomis, and Enid.

While it was in operation in 1891, one of the Dalton gang members, Charlie Bryant hid out in The Rhodes Hotel after the gang successfully pulled off a train robbery. After Daisy, an employee of the hotel, promised a deputy Marshall names Ed Short, who was after Bryant, that Bryant hadn't been there, Short followed her up as she carried a tray of food up to Bryant's room. There Short captured Bryant in his hotel room and aimed to bring him to a federal prison in Wichita, Kansas.

Short didn't see a problem in bringing Bryant by train, on August 3rd, and after Short went for a walk during a train stop and allowed a train employee to keep watch, Bryant grabbed a weapon and engaged in a shootout with Short. They both shot each other, and Bryant died on the scene, almost immediately. Short died soon after from his injuries.

The last two pictures are newspaper clippings during these times. In it, it discusses two different owners of the Rhodes Hotel, along with the event of the fire, such as the four named victims: Mrs. Lou Armke, Willima Holmes, Garfield Rosenthal, and W.R. Cramer of Salina, Kansas.

For any collector who's interested in antique hotel memorabilia, or anyone who collects things having to do with the Dalton Gang, this is a must have. This RPPC postcard is quite rare. At the time of writing this, there is no other postcard or photo of any kind of this hotel for sale on this website.

Please inspect the pictures, as they give the best representation of condition. May have discoloring, edge or corner wear, marks, creases, fading, smudges, corner or edge bends, tears, or corners missing.

(A110 inventory number)