103 So. 10th Street
Also formerly known as Main Street
Address: 103 South 10th Street
Legal Description: Spears Subdivision, Lots 103 & 104 & W ½ of 102, Lots 1 & 2 & North 2’ of Lot 3
Building: Jameson Hotel
1874 Henry Reel and Tom Bassett had a meat market where the Jameson Hotel stood. They lived in the back room. Mr. Reel was the first old soldier to be buried in the Geneva cemetery.
1876 Jacob Carson of Fairmont said the first time he came to Geneva he drove a yoke of oxen. Smith and Platt had the first grocery store, Jim Camp operated a livery stable, and there was a rooming house where the Jameson Hotel now stands. That’s about all there was to Geneva then.
1876 The City Hotel was advertised as being on the northeast corner of the square, Wm. Case, proprietor.
1878 The City Hotel was advertised as being on the east side of the square, Geneva, G. A. Whipple, proprietor. G. A. Whipple also had a restaurant.
1878 State of Nebraska (C. M. Northrup, agent) sold the City Hotel property to Jason J. Morrill.
1879 W. H. Jameson purchased this property from J. J. Morrill.
1880 The 1880 census listed W. H. Jameson as a landlord and his wife as a landlady of a rooming/boarding house in this location.
1890 W. H. Jameson made plans to build a three-story brick hotel on his residence property at the northeast corner of the square in Geneva. Ground was broken that same year. The building was to be 48 x 109 and was to cost $18,000. The brick work was done by Adams Bros. of Geneva.
1890 They began moving dirt for the Jameson Hotel.
1890 A hundred barrels of lime to be used in plastering the new hotel were made wet by rain, causing the lime to start slaking. The heat started a fire that caused $100 damage.
1891 The Jameson Hotel was thrown open for business. A banquet and ball were given. In the basement, there was a billiard hall, a barbershop, a laundry, a bathing room, two storage rooms, a boiler room, and a room for salesmen to display samples. The first floor had an office, a dining room, a ladies reception room, a kitchen, pantries, and seven bedrooms. On the second floor were two parlors, 28 bedrooms, and two large halls leading through the building east and west. This floor had water and bathrooms. Mr. Jameson leased the hotel to managers.
1891 Al Olds rented the basement for pool and billiards.
1892 J. M. Noyes, who had been running the Fillmore Hotel, leased the Jameson Hotel. The Fillmore was to be remodeled for use as store rooms.
1892 Pardue, Strong and Schultz opened a saloon here.
1894 Ed F. Thompson of Fremont purchased the Jameson Hotel lease from Mr. Stephenson.
1894 In June, J. H. Douge made an application and was granted a license to run a billiard table and pool hall in the basement of the Jameson Hotel.
1894 Frank Strong was the new landlord of the Jameson Hotel.1895 William H. Warner of Syracuse, New York purchased the hotel. He was a vice president of the Syracuse Trust Company, the Merchants National Band and the Syracuse Savings Bank, all of Syracuse, New York. Mr. Warner was a close personal friend of P. B. Brayton who was also from Syracuse, New York. Mr. Warner leased the hotel to a series of people over the years.
1895 Dr. Reynolds was a dentist at the hotel
1896 Col B. Crabb & Co. leased and reopened the Jameson Hotel.
1896 E. T. Roberts of Lincoln succeeded Col. B. Crabb & Co. as landlord of the Jameson Hotel. Mrs. E. Jayne became the manager.1899 Dr. Rea was at the Jameson Hotel once a month for consultations and examinations.
1899 Charlton Hyde and Cliff Hosack opened a new billiard hall in the basement of the Jameson Hotel.
1899 The Jameson Hotel was closed pending the expiration of the lease held by Bert Bradley.
1900 In January, A. M. Baldwin of Shickley leased the Jameson Hotel.
1900 Van Vranken & Co. of Orleans bought the Jameson Hotel from Mr. and Mrs. A. M. Baldwin.
1901 Drs. Seymour and Williams were opticians at the hotel.
1904 Van Vranken & Co. of Orleans transferred its lease on the Jameson Hotel to Mrs. M. J. Campbell of Omaha.
1904 In August, Dr. W. J. Jeter, an osteopathic physician of Des Moines, planned to open an office in Geneva. He located his headquarters at the Jameson Hotel until he could find suitable office space.
1904 In October, Dr. Jeter moved his office to the Longly building one block east of Mohrman’s store, or 1044 G Street.
1905 D. G. McKay of Illinois purchased the Jameson Hotel lease from Mrs. M. J. Campbell.
1906 W. Stillman of Salt Lake City purchased the lease on the Jameson Hotel from D. G. McKay.
1907 Mr. and Mrs. M. M. Hoagland from Omaha leased the Jameson Hotel.
1907 In December, the owner of the hotel, W. H. Warner died at his home at Syracuse, New York.
1908 The boardwalk on the north side of the hotel was replaced by cement.
1909 C. C. Evans worked from the Jameson Hotel selling tubular wells.
1910 C.C. Evans moved to 806 G Street.
1910 Louise Webb became the manager after purchasing the lease from M. M. Hoaglund.
1910 People’s Scavenger Co., Mr. and Mrs. O’Leary, cleaned cesspools, toilets and dry closets. Orders could be left at the Jameson
1911 Kate Warner Chadwick purchased the Hotel from W. H. Warner estate.
1913 Abraham B. Miller purchased the Hotel from Kate Chadwick
1914 Miss Louise Webb succeeded H. A. Messmore as landlord of the Jameson Hotel.
1917 Miss Louise Webb sold her lease of the Jameson Hotel to D. H. Bertram of Superio
1919 A. B. Miller traded the Jameson Hotel to C. W. DeGroff of McCook for western land.
1921 LaVera Roberts became the owner of the Jameson Hotel.
1923 Oliver Wells became the owner of the Jameson Hotel.
1924 John Cordeal became the owner of the Jameson Hotel.
1924 Daniel H. Bertram became the owner and called it Dan’s Hotel. During this year, there were 6,472 adults and 10 babies that stayed at the hotel. They had to turn away more than 500 people because they did not have enough room.
1924 Harry Porter moved his location from the Lightbody barn and made his headquarters at the Jameson Hotel. He ran a taxi service between the hotel and the train station.
1925 Bertram remodeled the first floor, adding seven new sleeping room, sample rooms, two store rooms, a wash room and toilets. There was a hall that ran the full length of the building and steam heat in all the rooms.
1927 A new steel ceiling was installed in the lobby
1930 Lavatories with hot and cold water were installed in 28 rooms.
1936 The Santa Fe Trailways bus station was located in Dan’s Hotel
1944 Mable E. Benson from Imperial purchased the hotel property from Daniel Bertram.
1944 Leslie Pool purchased Dan’s Hotel from Mrs. Mable Benson and named it the Geneva Hotel. Leslie Pool operated the hotel until his death in 1964.
1946 A neon sign was installed. The old tower was taken down and a new cornice installed.
1961 Steam heat was added to the hotel.
1966 The Continental Trailways Bus Station was located here until 1976.
1967 Irma and Keith Pool became the owners of the Geneva Hotel.
1967 Swingle and Company was added to the hotel services until 1974.
1977 Beauty Barn was operated by Marla Robare Lauenstein Messman in a front basement room.
1978 York-Fillmore Rural Electric Association Service Calls were here until 1979.
1979 Keith and Irma Pool sold the hotel to Steven G. and Jolynn Frick.
1979 Bill Turek was hired by Jolynn Frick to remove some of the architectural elements from the hotel before the rest of the building was torn down. Bill recalls that there was a double staircase that led to the second floor. At the center landing the stairway split and one side went to the dining room and the other side went to the south half of the second floor. Skylights were located above the stairway. Because the hardware from the main door was so badly worn from many years of use, there was no salvage value, so Bill was able to keep it. He also rescued one of the boards from the grand staircase on which Lyman Pardue, the contractor for the project, had signed his name.
1981 Steve and Jolynn Frick sold the hotel to Lincoln Federal Savings and Loan who planned to build a branch office here.
1981 The hotel was demolished.
1983 Lincoln Federal Savings & Loan decided not to expand to Geneva and sold the property to the Geneva Veterans of Foreign Wars post.
1995 The VFW broke ground for their new structure. They completed a new building on the site with a new address of 109 So. 10th Street.
This was ongoing as of the last posting.