Cottage Hotel

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Cottage Hotel in Roberts County. Now settle in, because this building has lived more lives than most people do. It all starts with a widow and a family who wasn't about to let her face the frontier alone.

After Lizzie Lard was widowed in 1893, the prominent Lard family helped her build something that could carry her and her two daughters forward. They called it the Cottage Hotel, and by 1895 it was done and open for business. Miami was growing into the county seat, becoming a regional trade center, and a hotel in the right place at the right time has a way of prospering.

Lizzie's parlor became a favorite meeting spot for local businessmen, and if the businessmen liked it, so did the young people, who found it a fine place to gather and be social. Then in 1906, Dr. Pryor Lee Shelton bought the property and gave it a new name, the Commercial Hotel.

Different name, same building, and the story keeps moving. Because in 1914, Tom Graham came along. Now Tom Graham was the manager of the competing Fitch Hotel, which tells you something about the man's instincts, and he bought the Commercial Hotel right out from under its own reputation.

He renamed it the Survant, after his wife, Eva Survant. Tom and Eva Graham then proceeded to operate that establishment for fifty years, holding banquets, reunions, and all manner of social events in that dining room, right up until 1964. Fifty years.

That dining room saw generations come through its doors. After that, from 1973 to 1993, the building served as a residence, which is a quieter kind of life for walls that had hosted so much. But in the early 1990s, someone looked at that old place and saw what it had always been.

It was restored to its original function as an inn. A hotel again, just like Lizzie Lard and her family intended back in 1895. Some buildings just know what they are.

What the marker says

The prominent Lard family helped Lizzie Lard build the Cottage Hotel to support her two daughters after she was widowed 1893; it was completed in 1895. As Miami became the county seat and a regional trade center, the hotel prospered. Its parlor was popular as a meeting site for local businessmen and a social gathering place for young people. Dr. Pryor Lee Shelton bought the property in 1906, renaming it the Commercial Hotel. In 1914, Tom Graham, manager of the competing Fitch Hotel, bought the Commercial Hotel and called it the Survant for his wife, Eva Survant. They operated the establishment for fifty years, holding banquets, reunions and other social events in the dining room until 1964. From 1973 to 1993 the building served as a residence, but in the early 1990s it was restored to its original function as an inn. (2000)