The Palmer House, hotel in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, United States
The Palmer House is a hotel in Sauk Centre listed on the National Register of Historic Places and operating since 1901. The brick building has 19 guest rooms with private bathrooms, a dining area, a bar called The Pub, and a spacious lobby with period furnishings and original details.
The original building on this site, called Sauk Centre House, was built in the mid-1800s as a saloon and brothel until a fire destroyed it near the end of the century. Ralph Palmer built the current hotel in 1901 on the same land and it soon became an important gathering place for the town.
The name Palmer House comes from Ralph Palmer, who rebuilt the hotel after a fire in 1900. Today, visitors experience it as a place tied to local history and gather to hear the stories that have shaped both the building and the town.
The hotel offers quiet rooms away from the busy street as well as rooms with Main Street views where visitors can watch the town below. Guests can take guided tours lasting about two hours that include access to the usually closed basement and offer chances to photograph interesting architectural details.
The hotel was outfitted with electricity, making it one of the first buildings outside the Twin Cities to have this modern technology, and writer Sinclair Lewis worked there as a young man, possibly inspiring his novel Main Street. This connection to Lewis and the early electrical installation make it a rare example of progress reaching a small Midwestern town.
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