The Symes Hotel is a historic building in

Hot Springs, Montana Hot Springs ( Montana Salish: nayyákʷ, Kutenai: Kutmiʔk) is a town on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Sanders County, Montana, United States. The population was 557 at the 2020 census. Founded in 1910, it was incorporated in 1929. Previou ...

. It was built in

Mission/Spanish Revival In the United States, the National Register of Historic Places classifies its listings by various types of architecture. Listed properties often are given one or more of 40 standard architectural style classifications that appear in the National ...

style during 1929–1930. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1998; the listing included 10

contributing buildings In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

and one

contributing structure In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

. It has also been known as Symes Medical Springs and as Symes Medicine Springs.

History

The area now known as Hot Springs, Montana is located within the Little Bitteroot River Valley. Long before Euro-American fur trappers and settlers arrived, the

Kootenai The Kutenai ( ), also known as the Ktunaxa ( ; ), Ksanka ( ), Kootenay (in Canada) and Kootenai (in the United States), are an indigenous people of Canada and the United States. Kutenai bands live in southeastern British Columbia, northern ...

, Flathead,

Pend d'Oreille The Pend d'Oreille ( ), also known as the Kalispel (), are Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau. Today many of them live in Montana and eastern Washington of the United States. The Kalispel peoples referred to their primary tribal range a ...

and

Kalispell Kalispell (, Montana Salish: Ql̓ispé, Kutenai language: kqayaqawakⱡuʔnam) is a city in, and the county seat of, Flathead County, Montana, United States. The 2020 census put Kalispell's population at 24,558. In Montana's northwest region, ...

Indigenous peoples inhabited this area. In 1842, Father Pierre-Jean de Smet, a Jesuit missionary recorded the thermal springs that were used by the local Indigenous people who "after the fatigues of a long journey, they find that bathing in this water greatly refreshes them." This hot springs were known as Lemeroux Springs prior to 1929 when Fred Symes purchased a three-acre tract of land in what is now the central business district of Hot Springs, Montana. The hotel was built for $50,000 by Symes. It had 20 hot spring-fed baths to start, and did well even during the Depression. The hotel has 28 rooms, nine apartments, and nine cabins. Still a working hotel, with 30 employees, Symes is one of the area's major employers.

Description

The Spanish influenced Mission style Symes hotel was completed in 1930. The symmetrical facade features a central wing that was built somewhat higher than the end wings of the structure. The gable ends are hidden by curvilinear parapets, below which are round openings inset with

quatrefoil A quatrefoil (anciently caterfoil) is a decorative element consisting of a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially overlapping circles of the same diameter. It is found in art, architecture, heraldry and traditional ...

designs. The roof is covered with hexagonal multi-colored tiles. The walls are stucco, window sashes are multi-paned. A sign reading "Medical Springs" was situated over the port-cochere that was supported by large square columns with decorative brackets. By 1940, a new two story wing was built to house additional lodging accommodations on the top floor with apartments below for long-term patrons. In addition to the hotel building other structures on the property included the boiler/laundry building, built in 1929; the coal shed from approximately 1929; the garage/workshop, built around 1935; and six tourist cabins built in 1940.

References

{{NRHP in Sanders County, Montana Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Montana Mission Revival architecture in Montana Hotel buildings completed in 1930 National Register of Historic Places in Sanders County, Montana 1930 establishments in Montana Tourist attractions in Sanders County, Montana