Back to top

Jackson Hotel

Contributor: 
Johannes Allert
  • Cite
  • Share
  • Correct
  • Print
Anoka’s Jackson Hotel, built in the 1870s and then rebuilt by Charles G. Jackson in 1884 after a fire. Photo by Wikimedia Commons user McGhiever, July 2, 2013.

Anoka’s Jackson Hotel, built in the 1870s and then rebuilt by Charles G. Jackson in 1884 after a fire. Photo by Wikimedia Commons user McGhiever, July 2, 2013.

Originally built in the 1870s at 214 Jackson Street in Anoka, the Jackson Hotel was destroyed in an 1884 fire. It was quickly rebuilt and continued to function as a hotel until 1975, making it a center of local commerce and social gatherings for more than ninety years.

Swedish immigrant Charles G. Jackson arrived in the United States in 1866 and settled in Michigan. Soon afterward he moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, where he married Lettie Everson in 1876. A year later, he and Lettie relocated to Anoka and bought the Anoka House—the city’s oldest hotel. It quickly became popular with loggers and other laborers working in and around Anoka County. As Anoka industrialized, the hotel attracted new guests, including entrepreneurs, entertainers, and tourists.

A fire destroyed Jackson’s original hotel along with several adjacent buildings on August 16, 1884. Within a month, a new hotel rose from the ashes and was fully completed by the year’s end. It is this second structure, bearing his name etched near the building’s peak, which remains standing in the twenty-first century.

During the reconstruction, Jackson added a two-story brick barn to the property. In 1885, he built a two-story brick addition to the east of the original section and then, in 1888, a three-story addition to the west. The renovated basement extended under the center and east sections of the building.

In 1896, Jackson and his eldest son and manager, J. F. Jackson, made further upgrades to the hotel by adding a sewer line that ran from the hotel to the Rum River “in order to provide every sanitary convenience.” They removed bathrooms from the lobby to make for a larger and more pleasant area and added new toilets and baths to the basement. By 1904, they had built a slightly larger, matching addition on the east side of the building that featured private bathrooms. By this point, the three sections facing Jackson Street were nearly symmetrical, with small differences in dimensions and patterns. The bay windows were capped by two identical copper-topped cupolas.

For decades, the Jackson Hotel stood at the heart of Anoka’s commercial district as a vital part of Anoka’s ability to host farmers, loggers, traveling salesmen, campaigning politicians, itinerant photographers, entertainers, and tourists. Under the management of the Jackson family, the hotel earned a reputation as the leading hotel in the city and one of the best in Minnesota. Its staff provided fine cuisine and hospitality, adopting the motto, “Nothing is too good for our guests.”

The Jackson Hotel attracted weekend tourists to Anoka as well as civic and business groups from the greater Twin City metro area, who used it as a banquet facility and small convention center. According to a family memory, the dining room could seat up to 200 people for dinner. Beyond hotel services, the Jackson also featured a cigar store, pool and billiard tables, a waiting room for ladies, a smoking room, and a confectionary. In 1894, an optician from Minneapolis set up his practice in the Jackson.

After operating for ninety years, the Jackson Hotel was sold in 1975 to a private developer. Afterward, several rooms were converted into apartments for year-around residents. On December 8, 1978, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Editor’s note: This article contains public-domain text adapted from a National Register of Historic Places nomination file.

  • Cite
  • Share
  • Correct
  • Print
© Minnesota Historical Society
  • Bibliography
  • Related Resources

Anderson, June. “The Rise and Demise of the Jackson Hotel.” ABC Newspapers, October 5, 2015.
https://www.hometownsource.com/abc_newspapers/opinion/columnist/anoka-county-history-the-rise-and-demise-of-the-jackson/article_0496baa2-ffe5-5ab3-91a2-6caac889c37c.html

Kirchner, Robert. “Jackson Hotel.” National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, property #78001525. State Historic Preservation Office, St. Paul.
https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/26a0c566-dbd3-4b09-a584-32119f6cbd0b/

“A Needed Improvement.” Anoka County Union, October 12, 1904.

“Remodeled Throughout.” Anoka County Union, June 24, 1896.

“Up She Rises.” Anoka County Union, September 24, 1884.

Related Images

Anoka’s Jackson Hotel, built in the 1870s and then rebuilt by Charles G. Jackson in 1884 after a fire. Photo by Wikimedia Commons user McGhiever, July 2, 2013.
Anoka’s Jackson Hotel, built in the 1870s and then rebuilt by Charles G. Jackson in 1884 after a fire. Photo by Wikimedia Commons user McGhiever, July 2, 2013.
: The Jackson Hotel (214 Jackson Street, Anoka), 1978. Photograph by Robert Kirchner.
: The Jackson Hotel (214 Jackson Street, Anoka), 1978. Photograph by Robert Kirchner.
Image from a glass plate negative showing the front desk of the Jackson Hotel, ca. 1926. Cigars for sale are visible in the case, and a timetable for the Anoka Electric Line is fixed to the back of the cash register. Art Anderson is one of the men in the photograph. This image was used as an advertisement at Green’s Theater, located on Main Street in Anoka a few blocks from the hotel. Photographer unknown. Used with the permission of the Anoka County
Image from a glass plate negative showing the front desk of the Jackson Hotel, ca. 1926. Cigars for sale are visible in the case, and a timetable for the Anoka Electric Line is fixed to the back of the cash register. Art Anderson is one of the men in the photograph. This image was used as an advertisement at Green’s Theater, located on Main Street in Anoka a few blocks from the hotel. Photographer unknown. Used with the permission of the Anoka County
Postcard of the front of the Jackson Hotel, ca. 1939. The postcard was sent to relatives by Inez Foley, who worked at the hotel for a time. Used with the permission of the Anoka County Historical Society.
Postcard of the front of the Jackson Hotel, ca. 1939. The postcard was sent to relatives by Inez Foley, who worked at the hotel for a time. Used with the permission of the Anoka County Historical Society.
The Jackson Hotel (214 Jackson Street, Anoka), ca. 1909. Photograph by T. G. J. Pease.
The Jackson Hotel (214 Jackson Street, Anoka), ca. 1909. Photograph by T. G. J. Pease.

Turning Point

In 1975, the Jackson Hotel welcomes its last guest after being sold to a private developer.

Chronology

1870s

Charles G. Jackson builds his namesake hotel in Anoka.

1884

A fire destroys the hotel on August 16. Jackson rebuilds it at a cost of $6,000 and adds a detached brick barn to its rear.

1885

Jackson adds an addition to the hotel’s east side that attaches the barn to the rest of the structure.

1888

Jackson builds a final addition, this time to the hotel’s west side.

1894

An optician uses a space inside the hotel to meet with patients.

1896

Jackson builds a sewer line that connects the hotel to the Rum River.

1939

Reconstruction workers and Anoka residents gather at the hotel in the aftermath of a tornado.

1975

The hotel is sold to a private developer who converts the rooms into long-term residency apartments.

1978

The building is added to the National Register of Historic Places.