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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 23, 2022)
CONTACT US FOLLOW US Lissa Brewer lbrewer@dailyastorian.com facebook.com/ DailyAstorian THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, JULY 23, 2022 • B1 Tracing the families behind the historic HOTEL ELLIOTT By JAIME LUMP For The Astorian C onstruction of a new hotel at the corner 12th and Duane streets began in the spring of 1924, starting on the heels of a post-fi re downtown rebuild in Astoria. Plans for the building, which was then under the owner- ship of Charles Niemi, were drawn up with four fl oors and 51 rooms, though two weeks later, an additional fi fth fl oor would be added for a total of 68 rooms. On that same day, the Elliott family signed a lease to operate the hotel and its namesake became offi cial. Jeremiah and Margaret Elliott had married in New Castle, Pennsylvania, in 1885. The couple’s fi rst child, Flora, was born the next year, then their son, John, came along six years later. Meanwhile, Clarence Short was growing up just 100 miles south of New Castle in the tiny town of Dawson, Pennsylvania. Some years later, Short mar- ried Flora in Colorado and the two families eventu- ally made their way to Oregon. For a while, Short managed a J.C. Penney in La Grande as Flora raised their son, Harold. Meanwhile, father and son Jere- miah and John Elliott ran the Angela Hotel in Port- land – but the opportunity to run Hotel Elliott soon brought the families back together in Astoria. For decades, the hotel primarily served working class visitors. It kept its unique set of luxuries, how- ever. Advertising itself as “a modern hotel in a mod- ern city” with, of course, its slogan of “wonderful beds,” the concrete building stationed its lobby on the fi rst fl oor where it remains to this day, now with automatic elevators to take guests up to their desired fl oors. See Hotel Elliott, Page B4 ABOVE: Jeremiah Elliott, left, stands in the Hotel Elliott lobby while Margaret, right, stands behind a counter. This photo was taken during the 1920s. BELOW: A historic view of the block at 12th and Duane streets, where the Hotel Elliott sits.