Abstract

Stoddard Hotel operated as the most upscale hotel in La Crosse for nearly 80 years, but also served as a center for entertainment, weddings, conferences, meetings and the like.

Records include guest registers (with the guest’s signature) from 1904-1927; 1929-1930; financial volumes, 1903-1939, and a scrapbook, 1932-1934 highlighting events which took place at the Stoddard Hotel.

Abstract Photocopied materials include personal correspondence between Virginia Baker, daughter of Stoddard Hotel owner Calvin Baker, and her future husband, John A. Elliott. The bulk of the materials (all photocopied) relate to the 1929-1931 remodeling of the Stoddard Hotel. The modernization effort included new plumbing fixtures, interior decoration and furniture for the guest rooms which had the flavor of the Art Moderne style. An issue of The Wisconsin Restaurateur from October 1935...