Rooms
Star of the West Casino and the Franklin Hotel

One of the Historic Rooms at the Franklin

To experience the Historic Franklin Hotel you really have to stay in a room that has played host to thousands of famous and infamous people since 1903. Harris Franklin Moved to Deadwood as a very wealthy Cattle rancher. He began construction of the Franklin in 1891, but soon fell short of funds, the basement and partial first floor sat vacant for many years. Old timers talk about how the natural springs under the basement filled with water and the kids used it as a local swimming hole during a few summers. Later Nathan Franklin (Harris’ Son) gathered a group of business owners to form the Deadwood Club. The Hotel was completed on June 4th, 1903. Considered the finest Hotel between San Francisco and Chicago; it featured four stories of elegance and charm. The exterior was built of stone and brick, shipped up from Saint Lewis. There were eight greek fluted columns supporting the grand balcony and leaded beveled glass transits accompanied the top of every window on the first floor. There were entrances to the lower level on both ends of the front; they connected to form a walkway which had shops located under the building. A sort of historic mall, they were complete with pressed tin walls and ceilings. The hotel still has the natural springs under it and the water is now pumped to the creek along the south side of the building. At the top of the Franklin was a stone parapet 44 feet wide and over one story tall, it had the Grand Hotels Flag that flew over the town. This magnificent feature crumbled to the ground in the 1940’s but is currently being designed to be re-built.

Inside, the lobby has Ceramic Mosaic tile floors, which were painstakingly hand laid into an incredible design. The walls are wainscoted in golden oak and the reception desk is still original. The Hotel had all the modern conveniences in 1903, in-room telephones, indoor plumbing, even bathrooms in all the guest rooms. Although the switchboard has been removed, we still offer guests the original claw-foot bathtubs in many of the rooms and suites. The grand swung staircase forms a rotunda to the fourth floor. There was once a 16 foot square skylight that would have allowed for light to shine in, but it too was removed in the 40’s as the fire Marshall felt if there was ever a fire it could act as a natural chimney and disrupt the evacuation process.

Within the past decade the entire building has been brought to a new era with the state of the art sprinkler system and new fire escape that was installed. The lobby also has the original 12x15-foot fireplace, which is still in use today. There is a 1911 model Otis elevator which is still hand operated by a hotel employee, one of only five of that particular model still in operation in the United States. The corridors and rooms have all been restored with much of their original charm.

The Franklin offers four types of rooms:

Economy rooms that are located along the south side of the building in a section that was added on in the 1920’s. These are smaller rooms but are economically priced from the overnight traveler.

The Historic Rooms are larger and decorated in a Historic fashion, all of these are named after a notable who has stayed in the Hotel at sometime in the past, they also have antiques and many offer a spectacular view of Deadwoods Historic Main Street.

The Hotel's luxury suites are among the best in the Hills, there are 15 in all varying in size and shape. Each room has been individually decorated and are also named after a famous person who was once a guest, from Presidents, to celebrities, to musical notables.

Last is the Modern Motor inn, which is located directly across from the hotel. It sits on the site that once had the Deadwood Theatre and opera house. The theatre burned in 1952, and with the increase of motor vehicle travel a motel was built in its place in 1968. These rooms allow guests to visit the Historic town of Deadwood with the modern feeling amenities.

The hotel and Deadwood have a very interesting past, with such a mix of wealth and poverty from the Gold Mining in the early days the town developed a sort of snob attitude in places. Main Street was divided to lower main, referred to as the badlands and upper main were the proper people were socialized. The badlands, (not to be mistaken with the sacred Sioux land formation near Wall SD) had more crime and minorities, in fact the Chinese were so discriminated they were not allowed above ground after a certain time each evening. The result was an awesome tunnel system, which allowed the chinamen to move from house to house, even shop using these underground tunnels. Upper main even had their own police, and the Franklin was the centerpiece. At that time a lady who was not escorted by a gentleman had to enter the Hotel using the side door built especially for this purpose. The Hotel housed a formal ladies social parlor, and a private parlor known as the fainting room. Often ladies would faint from the air rushing into their lungs when they released the tight corsets they wore to obtain the fashionable 18"waist.

The Hotel still has a few of these Fainting couches on display, both in rooms and in the restored Fainting room. The hotel even had a hidden stairwell which was to keep the servants and staff out of sight when delivering supplies and things to the rooms, it is also rumored to have been used by the ladies of the evening who are ever prevalent in Deadwood notorious past. Since the early days of the gold rush to today’s Historic gaming town, the Franklin has stood the test of time and carried a tradition of excellence for almost a century. One can only witness the charm of the building by visiting in person.

Gambling was legalized again in 1989 and has saved the Franklin from certain doom, the years had not been kind and without the revenue produced from the low-stakes gaming the Franklin might not be planning its 100-year anniversary. By: Bill Termes

 

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