LAUREL'S NEW HOTEL OPENING-1904!

       The following was taken from the "LAUREL DEPARTMENT" a Laurel newsletter put out by a Vera McBroom October 27, 1904.

        "The opening of our new hotel Saturday was a grand affair. There was not much doing until 5 o'clock when the guests began to arrive and a little after 6 o'clock they were seated and partook of a sumptuous supper, prepared by our landlady, Marha Autry, whom everybody knows to be an excellent cook. 

        There were guests from Marshalltown, Newton, Gilman, and Kellogg, and with one or two exceptions all our business men had their families at the opening. John Emery of Newton, the Swedish dialect man, was the toast master and his toasts were very much enjoyed, as well as the musical numbers given by Lewis Maytag of Newton, Miss Dolly Funk of Grinnell and Misses Maggie and Emma Patton of Laurel. 

      After supper there was a dance at Woodman Hall, which many attended, some to hear the excellent music and others to dance,m music being furnished by the Marshalltown Orchestra. 

      We can now boast of a first class hotel--large, roomy, new through-out and modern in every respect. There are but a few towns in Iowa of our size and many much larger, that have as fine a hotel as we have. 

******a copy of this article provided by Donna Ingraham Wernberg classmate of mine at Laurel Consolidated School.