HISTORIC REFLECTION … The former Hotel Daniels in Montpelier was razed in a controlled burn by the Montpelier Fire Department after parts of the 100-year-old building collapsed. The two-story brick hotel was built by Burget H. and Emma Daniels on the northwest corner of Empire and Depot streets and opened September 10, 1907. Its location near the Wabash Rail-road depot made the hotel convenient for travelers, salespeople and railroad employees. In 1908, the Montpelier Enterprise noted, “The hotel contains 25 large, airy and well-lighted bed chambers, besides ladies’ parlors, dining room, writing room, barbershop and office. The Hotel Daniels is elegantly furnished and heated by hot water and lighted by electricity. Each floor is provided with baths, an electric bell system is installed, and altogether this is a thoroughly modern and up to date hostelry, one where the weary man of travel can rest easy. The table service is unexcelled by any $2 a day house in the country. Patrons choosing the European plan can get a room at a moder-ate cost and pay for what meals they require.” Changes in transportation caused a decline in the hotel’s business, and it closed in 1976. Portions of the historic structure collapsed on or about July 9, 2007, and the structure was razed on July 16, 2007. This circa 1908 photograph and circa 1991 photograph of the Hotel Daniels are from the Kevin Maynard collection.
