The Arlington Hotel

Date: 1905 to about 1970
Location: Cleveland, Pawnee, Oklahoma, United States

Contents 1 Background 2 The St. Louis World Fair 3 Construction 4 Grand Opening 5 Later Years 6 Sources

Background

At the turn of the 20th century, Cleveland, Oklahoma, was a town of 211 people on a south side bend of the Arkansas River, about 30 miles northwest of Tulsa. The small town served as a trade center for farmers and the Osage Tribe of native Americans. Oil was discovered in 1904 and Cleveland became an “oil boom” town. Thousands of oil-field workers, retailers, hoteliers and restaurateurs responded to the discovery of oil, flooding Cleveland with people and activity.

Dr. George W. Sutton was an early resident of Cleveland. Originally from Indiana, Sutton served in the Union Army during the Civil War. After the war, he studied medicine and became a physician. An influential leader, Dr. Sutton was not only a respected physician, but also a banker and politician. He was elected to the state legislature in both Kansas and Oklahoma.

The St. Louis World Fair

In 1904, Dr. Sutton visited the St. Louis World Fair, also known as the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. One of the main attractions of the event was a model hotel called the Inside Inn; so named because it was located inside the fairgrounds. At the time of the Fair, the 2,000+-room Inside Inn was considered the largest hotel in the world. Like most of the other buildings constructed for the World’s Fair, the Inside Inn was intended as a temporary building, to be dismantled at the end of the Fair. The Fair attracted millions of visitors. Dr. George W. Sutton was one of those visitors. Aware that Cleveland needed a first-class hotel to meet the demands of the oil boom, Dr. Sutton purchased portions of the Inside Inn - beams, pillars, staircases, windows - and had them shipped by train to Cleveland after the Fair closed and the buildings were dismantled.

Construction

In Cleveland, Dr. Sutton partnered with T. C. Thomas, a man with hotel management expertise, to construct a first-class hotel. The hotel was built on the southwest corner of Broadway and Pawnee Avenue, using materials from the Inside Inn and Cleveland-made bricks, for a cost of approximately $20,000.

Grand Opening

Cleveland’s newest and largest hotel debuted as the Sutton Hotel on September 3, 1905, with a grand-opening dinner event. According to a Cleveland Enterprise front-page article about the event:

"There are 40 first class bed rooms equipped with telephones, hot and cold water and in fact all modern conveniences. There are nine suites of rooms for families, a large ladies' parlour and reception room. It is provided with a splendid office and check room and a commodious lobby. Adjoining this is a light and airy sample room, well appointed barber shop and a pool room with two tables and a spacious dining room elegantly furnished and strictly up to date. Every room is an outside room and they are provided with closets for hanging clothes. Along the entire front on Broadway is a 12 foot porch with cement floor and a splendid veranda above. A wide hallway runs throughout the entire building on the second and third floors and each floor is provided with rooms for hot and cold baths. The dining room, office and lobby are finished inside with a six-foot marbleized base, and the remainder of the walls and ceiling are tinted with dainty colors. The parlors are furnished with a piano, desk, phonograph and mission style of furniture. Every room is furnished with new furniture, bed and bedding. The kitchen and pantry are models of convenience and cleanliness."

Later Years

Sometime around 1912, the hotel’s name changed to the Arlington Hotel. Dr. Sutton went on to become a Mayor of Cleveland.

The Arlington Hotel changed ownership and management many times over the years. In 1930, local grocer, David S. Crider and his wife, Margaret, purchased the hotel. At the time of the 1930 census, the Criders - along with Margaret’s parents, Stephen and Louisa Weber, and two grandsons, David S. Eddings and Eugene Eddings - were living in, and operating, the hotel. The family operated the hotel for only a brief time; they sold in 1931.

The hotel continued to operate for decades - well into the 1960s. It was torn down sometime in the late 60s or early 70s. Today there is a parking lot on the site where the hotel once stood. The town of Cleveland honoured the memory of the Arlington Hotel by building a park on a lot behind and adjacent to where the hotel was located. The park is named Arlington Park.

Sources

• Linda D. Wilson, “Cleveland,” The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=CL012;
• Mark Young, "The Inside Inn Was the World’s Largest Hotel During the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair—Then It Was Torn Down", The Lodging Magazine, 30 Oct 2018, https://lodgingmagazine.com/inside-inn-offered-magnificent-accommodations-1904-st-louis-worlds-fair-torn/;
• "Obit George W. Sutton, pg 1" Newspapers.com. The Cleveland Enterprise, 25 May 1917. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-cleveland-enterprise-obit-george-w/131224227/;
• "Grand Opening of Hotel Sutton (Arlington Hotel), pg 1" Newspapers.com. The Cleveland Enterprise, 8 September 1905. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-cleveland-enterprise-grand-opening-o/131675811/;
• "History of the Arlington Hotel, Cleveland, OK 1957" Newspapers.com. The Cleveland American, March 7, 1957. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-cleveland-american-history-of-the-ar/83901061/;
• "D.S. Crider is New Owner Arlington Hotel", Newspapers.com. The Cleveland American, 13 February 1930. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-cleveland-american/83862081/;
• 1930 Census, Cleveland, Pawnee Co., OK, Dwelling #99;
• Jay C. Byers Memorial Library, Cleveland, OK.