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Willoughby: Clarendon Hotel — major center of downtown activity

Clarendon Hotel, one of Aspen’s largest hotels that burned down around 1900.
Willoughby Collection/Courtesy photo

A large portion of what is now Wagner Park was occupied by the Clarendon Hotel for over twenty years in early Aspen. There were two — the first built in the very earliest years, and a second, adjacent to the first, in operation by 1885 that, for several years, was the largest structure in downtown.

The Midland Railroad put its depot close by, and passengers could easily walk to and from it and the Clarendon. After both railroads arrived, the Clarendon offered bus service to both stations.

Many businesses that opened in the 1880s located near the Clarendon because that was where visitors stayed. It was the center of activity — the telegraph office was in it, it featured a dining room large enough to host large events, and it housed a barbershop that served men and women who could have baths and haircuts there.



One of the businesses very connected to the Clarendon was the Merchant’s Police. It offered: “we will wake you at any hour” — you just notified the hotel clerk.

Its amenities set it apart in 1885. One of the featured items were five bathrooms that had hot water; the heater could produce 200 gallons per hour. This was a few years before Aspen had electricity, so it featured gas lighting rather than candles.




The most popular culinary option was Sunday dinner at the price of $.75, $18.75 in today’s dollars — the silverware, purchased from a local jeweler for $250, $625 in today’s dollars, with the hotel name engraved on each piece.

It seemed to peak in business and popularity in 1889. The Aspen Daily Times listed the arrivals each day, usually 6 to 12. The paper noted, “The Clarendon Hotel is overrun. The main building and the annexes are filled each day before night comes, and people have to be turned away.”  It reported several times that the overflow took up residence for the night in the billiard room. Mines displayed ore from their latest rich strike at the hotel for locals and visitors to see. The Tourtolotte Park Transfer Line selected the hotel as its connecting point in town for passengers and freight to be hauled by wagon/stage up and down Aspen Mountain.

Bromley and Hopely Clarendon Livery and Boarding Stables were part of the hotel business and located on the same lot. You could rent driving horses, carriages, and saddle horses. They were also in the freight business.

James McLaughlin, who built and owned one of the very first hotels in Aspen, was the proprietor of the Clarendon for most of its existence. He invested in several Aspen mines, partnering with some of Aspen’s early pioneers. He ran for the position of magistrate once and was the superintendent of the Aspen Ice and Water company that operated a ditch that connected the Ute Spring to town. He was a major member of the Methodist Church.

After McLaughlin’s ownership, it was leased out to a few different operators, at one time for $350/month — $8,300 in today’s dollars. After about 1893, the leases changed hands several times, sometimes with the hotel closed for a while. George Elrod held a lease from around 1895 through 1897.

The Clarendon was destroyed by a fire somewhere between May of 1899 — when you could get a room for $5.00 or $6.00 with food — and March of 1900. Oddly, there is no newspaper reporting of the fire, just a note in a fire department discussion of Aspen’s major fires. 

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