The Columbia Gorge Hotel is a historic hotel in Hood River, Oregon , United States . It was built by Simon Benson , who was involved with the Columbia Gorge Scenic Highway . Benson envisioned a hotel at the end of the highway, and completed the Mission style hotel in 1921. The new hotel was built on the site of the previous Wah Gwin Gwin Hotel, built in 1904. Between 1925 and 1952, the hotel went through several changes of ownership.
6-613: The then-48-room hotel closed in 1952, when it was sold to the Neighbors of Woodcraft , a non-profit fraternal benefit society based in Oregon since 1905, and converted into a retirement home . It was sold again in 1978, with the new owners planning to reopen it as a hotel. After a $ 1-million renovation, the now-42-room hotel reopened in September 1979. In January 2009, the hotel closed again, due to foreclosure. The foreclosing bank later re-opened
12-821: A fraternal benefit society that originated as a splinter of the female auxiliary of the Woodmen of the World . The origins of the society go back to the Supreme Session of the Woodmen Circle in 1897 when delegates from nine western states led by Mrs. C. C. Van Ornsdall passed a resolution to secede from the parent order and form the Pacific Circle, Women of Woodcraft . The group was headquartered in Leadville, Colorado , but moved to Portland, Oregon in 1905, where it remained through
18-617: The 1970s. The Neighbors of Woodcraft merged into the Woodmen of the World in July 2001. Local units were called "Circles", regional areas were "District Circles" and the "Grand Circle" was the national authority. Circle officers included the Guardian neighbor, Past Guardian Neighbor, Adviser, Magician, Clerk, Banker, Attendant, Captain of Guards, Flag, Bearer, Musician, Inner Sentinel, Out Sentinel, three Managers, Correspondent and Senior Guardian. In 1979
24-536: The Neighbors had no less than five categories of membership: benefit, social, junior benefit, junior social and family affiliate. Benefit members contributed to the Benefit Fund and were insured by the order. Social members, like social members in other groups, did not contribute to the benefit fund and ordinarily unable to hold office. Junior beneficial and social memberships was much like the adult counterparts, other than
30-439: The fact that they needed their parents permission. family affiliates were children who were insured under a family rider plan. In 1927 there were 77,000 members, but this had declined to 25,000. The Neighbors of Woodcraft had a ritual which included annual passwords, initiation rites and a ritual obligation. Once each year each member was required to reaffirm their obligation on "Obligation Night". Aside from insurance programs,
36-702: The hotel before selling it to Vijay Patel's A-1 Hospitality Group in October 2009 for around $ 4 million. Between 2009 and 2012, the hotel underwent a major renovation. The Columbia Gorge Hotel is recognized as one of the Historic Hotels of America by the National Trust for Historic Preservation . Guests of the hotel have included Burt Reynolds and Shirley Temple , among others. [REDACTED] Media related to Columbia Gorge Hotel at Wikimedia Commons Neighbors of Woodcraft The Neighbors of Woodcraft were
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