History of the St. Elias Hotel in Valdez, Alaska explored.

Simon Poot entered Alaska in 1895 by traveling to the Forty Mile district via Chilkoot Pass. He was one of of the first placer miners in the Nizina District. Simon Poot owned and operated St. Elias Hotel in Valdez, Alaska from 1899 to 1909. (Ref: https://www.nps.gov/wrst/learn/historyculture/upload/Wrangell%2520Mountains%2520People%2520List.pdf)

James Wickersham described St. Elias Hotel as a “a telephone hotel” where you could “hear a man kiss his wife 3 rooms away” as early as 1900. So that meant St. Elias Hotel extremely thin walling that was in bad condition. (Ref: Diary of James Wickersham, Alaska State Library – Historical Collections)

At that time James Wickersham was residing at the St. Elias Hotelwith letters from his ailing wife, Debbie, to keep him company. The doctors had recommended that she take treatment in Arizona. (Ref: https://tyhistoryak.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/wickersham_the-man-at-home_sm.pdf)

The St. Elias Hotel had been undergoing extensive alterations towards the very end of 1902. Among the many improvements was the addition of a restaurant, which was conducted by Mrs. L. Allen. Mrs. L. Allen had spent 30 successful years in the restaurant business. She ran a high class restaurant in the city of Chicago. She had that part of the building fitted up in a very neat manner and guarantees perfect satisfaction to all who patronized her. (Ref: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84021905/1902-10-30/ed-1/seq-4/ocr/)

C. G. Debney had sold his interest of/in the St. Elias hotel to B.T. Davis in the summer of 1906. His shares, stocks, and interests went to B.T. Davis that year. All at half price. “C. G. Debney has sold his interest in the St. Elias hotel to B.T. Davis, who arrived here from Idaho recently.” (Ref: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84021905/1906-07-12/ed-1/seq-4/ocr/)

St. Elias Hotel burned down on the night of December 17, 1906 in what was known as the “fire of December”. The fire of December 1906 destroyed several buildings including St. Elias Hotel. (Ref: https://www.valdezmuseum.org/fire-engines/)

1907 was when St. Elias Hotel would be rebuilt. C. E. Bunnell assumed the management of the St. Elias Hotel under his direction 1907. Under his direction St. Elias Hotel became a first-class hotel and a popular stopping-place. (Ref: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84021905/1907-11-21/ed-2/seq-7/ocr/)

Simon Poot left Valdez in 1909 and shut down St. Elias Hotel.

St. Elias Hotel was located at 47 Keystone, Valdez, Alaska, US 99686.