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Voyageurs National Park (4)
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To the modern visitor, the lakes are the central attraction in the park, just as they were to the hardy voyageurs who depended on them as highways into the wilderness. But there are a great many other things to see and experience in the park as well. The Kettle Falls area is one of the more popular tourist destinations.
Kettle Falls Hotel
One area which has been the center of many different kinds of activities from the days of native Americans, through the voyageurs, to the modern tourist, is the area around the Kettle Falls Hotel. This area includes the southern section of Rainy Lake, pictured below, an inlet or tail rather than the lake proper, the Kettle Falls dam, a portage, marina, and a hotel.
Apart from numerous campgrounds and houseboats, the only lodging within the borders of the park is the historic Kettle Falls Hotel. This white frame building with its red roof and awnings lies just north of the Kettle Falls Dam between Namakan and Rainy Lakes.
The hotel was originally actually built in stages, possibly beginning in 1910, but apparently completed in 1913, by a fellow named Ed Rose. In 1918 it was bought by Bob and Lil Williams for $1000 and 4 barrels of whiskey. It was always a good place to get a comfortable rooms and 3 good meals, both of which cost about $2.50 a day in 1935. Over time modern conveniences were added; electrical systems were installed in 1918, and indoor plumbing appeared in 1961.
In 1976 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. SInce it was built it has housed all types of people passing through the park--dam builders, loggers, fishermen, tourists, bootleggers, as well as a variety of fairly disreputable characters. Some of the more famous people who have stayed at the hotel include Charles Lindbergh and John D. Rockefeller. The names of past guests can be examined in copies of the guest register in the hotel lobby. The hotel was privately owned until 1977 when the National Park Service bought the hotel from Charlie and Blanche Williams.
The original construction was somewhat haphazard and poorly done, and over time the log foundation rotted and the building sagged. As early as the 1940's the floors in the building had developed a serious slope.The load bearing walls in the building sank 5 feet, which caused all of the hardwood floors to bow. The hotel underwent a massive renovation in 1986-87. The hotel was essentially taken apart and then reconstructed, with all of the rotted foundation replaced and the walls and floors stabilized.
One of the most charming aspects of the hotel is that there is only one way to reach it--by boat. It is located 10 or 20 miles from the western border of the park. There are no roads or trails or any other method of reaching the park. The hotel is set back a ways from the water and the dock where guests arrive, and is approached along a long dirt road, as can be seen below. This area used to be much wetter than it is now, and there was at one time a boardwalk across the marshy surface.
The inside of the hotel is rustic but comfortable. It feels exactly right for a hotel which represents a bit of civilization in the middle of a pretty wild area. The bedrooms are small but the beds are comfortable, as can be seen in this picture of a typical one of them.
The first room encountered by the prospective hotel guest is the hotel lobby, a small room with couches and a counter where you can check in, rent a boat, or arrange for other nearby activities. The clash of the wild and the modern are very apparent here, given the bearskin on the wall near the television which can now pick up satellite TV or play recorded videotapes.
The best known room in the hotel is the bar. In addition to beverages and informal meals, the guest can enjoy pool or other games or just relax with friends here. But the most famous aspect of the room is the floor, which has buckled enough to be seen in the photograph below. This buckling--which amounts to as much as an 18 inch rise in the floor in the bar--is a remnant of the architectural decay which was largely fixed with the 1986-7 renovation.
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