The Murray Hotel
Encyclopedia
The Murray Hotel, originally named the Elite Hotel, is an historic hotel in Livingston, Montana
Livingston, Montana
-Geography:Livingston is located at , at an altitude of 4.501 feet .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, of it is land and 0.38% is waters.-Climate:-Demographics:...

, United States. The original two story hotel was built at the corner of Park and Second St. in 1904 by Josephine Kline to accommodate passengers from the Northern Pacific Railway
Northern Pacific Railway
The Northern Pacific Railway was a railway that operated in the west along the Canadian border of the United States. Construction began in 1870 and the main line opened all the way from the Great Lakes to the Pacific when former president Ulysses S. Grant drove in the final "golden spike" in...

. The Elite was one of thirteen hotels built in downtown Livingston between 1884 and 1914 to service railroad travelers. Its construction was financed by the family of a future U.S. Senator from Montana, James E. Murray. The hotel's location opposite the Northern Pacific Railway
Northern Pacific Railway
The Northern Pacific Railway was a railway that operated in the west along the Canadian border of the United States. Construction began in 1870 and the main line opened all the way from the Great Lakes to the Pacific when former president Ulysses S. Grant drove in the final "golden spike" in...

 depot made it a prime destination for railroad travelers. The hotel is located within the Livingston Commercial District, a registered National Historic District.

Expansion, foreclosure and renaming

In the 1920s, the hotel expanded to four floors and 66 rooms. In the mid 1920s, the Murray family foreclosed on Josephine Kline, took over the operation of the hotel and renamed it The Murray. Although Kline contested the foreclosure all the way to Washington D.C. as late as 1934, she failed to recover ownership from the Murrays. One of the unique aspects of the Murray was the installation of a 1905 hand-cranked Otis Elevator, at the time the only elevator in Livingston.

Watering hole

The Murray has always hosted a cafe or restaurant and a bar. The Murray Bar is well-known for its celebrity visitors during filming of movies in the Paradise Valley. The 2nd Street Bistro, opened in 2004 is the current hotel restaurant. The Bistro was featured in Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations 2009 episode on Montana where he dined with author Jim Harrison
Jim Harrison
James "Jim" Harrison is an American author known for his poetry, fiction, essays, reviews, and writings about food. He has been called "a force of nature", and his work has been compared to that of William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway...

 and artist Russell Chatham
Russell Chatham
Russell Chatham is a contemporary American landscape artist living in Livingston, Montana. The artist is the grandson of landscape painter Gottardo Piazzoni, though he is essentially a self-taught artist. His work has been exhibited in over 400 one man shows and in museums and galleries over the...

.

Ownership

The Murray experienced a serious decline in business during the 1960s, mostly due to the decline in rail travel and growth of the Interstate Highway System
Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, , is a network of limited-access roads including freeways, highways, and expressways forming part of the National Highway System of the United States of America...

. In 1978, local Montana ranchers, Cliff and Pat Miller purchased the hotel from the Murray family and made modest renovations. The hotel was purchased by Dan and Kathleen Kaul, formerly from Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...

 in 1991. They undertook major renovations and reduced the number of hotel suites to 29. In 2001, the Kaul's changed the business model of the hotel allowing individual investors to own individual suites, much like a condominium. Today, most of the hotel is available to the public, with 30 rooms and suites available.

Notable visitors and events

The following notable individuals have lived or stayed at the Murray Hotel:
  • Whoopi Goldberg
    Whoopi Goldberg
    Whoopi Goldberg is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host.Goldberg made her film debut in The Color Purple playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won...

    , comedian, actress
  • Walter Jerome Hill, youngest son of James Jerome Hill, builder of the Great Northern Railway
  • Queen of Denmark
    Margrethe II of Denmark
    Margrethe II is the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of Denmark. In 1972 she became the first female monarch of Denmark since Margaret I, ruler of the Scandinavian countries in 1375-1412 during the Kalmar Union.-Early life:...

  • Jack Palance
    Jack Palance
    Jack Palance , was an American actor. During half a century of film and television appearances, Palance was nominated for three Academy Awards, all as Best Actor in a Supporting Role, winning in 1991 for his role in City Slickers.-Early life:Palance, one of five children, was born Volodymyr...

    , actor
  • Sam Peckinpah
    Sam Peckinpah
    David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah was an American filmmaker and screenwriter who achieved prominence following the release of the Western epic The Wild Bunch...

    , director, lived in a three room suite at the Murray from 1979 to 1984
  • Robert Redford
    Robert Redford
    Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...

    , actor, director
  • Will Rogers
    Will Rogers
    William "Will" Penn Adair Rogers was an American cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer, film actor, and one of the world's best-known celebrities in the 1920s and 1930s....

    , humorist
  • Rip Torn
    Rip Torn
    Elmore Rual "Rip" Torn, Jr. , is an American actor of stage, screen and television.Torn received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1983 film Cross Creek. His work includes the role of Artie, the producer, on The Larry Sanders Show, for which he was nominated...

    , actor
  • Robert Wadlow
    Robert Wadlow
    Robert Pershing Wadlow was the tallest person in history for whom there is irrefutable evidence. Wadlow is sometimes known as the Alton Giant or Giant of Illinois because he was born and grew up in Alton, Illinois.Wadlow reached in height and weighed at his death at age 22...

    , the tallest man in the world, stayed in 1937
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