Balch Hotel

Story

The Balch Hotel is a historic commercial lodging building in Dufur, Oregon, United States. It was built in 1907 by Charles Balch, a local land owner and businessman. The hotel has changed hands a number of times over the years, but it has remained in continuous use since it was constructed. Today, the Balch Hotel is an active hotel serving visitors to the Dufur area. Because of its importance to local history, the Balch Hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.HistoryThe first homesteader arrived in the Dufur area in 1852. The earliest community records are of church meetings beginning in 1862. The town was named for the Dufur family, successful ranchers who settled in the Dufur Valley in 1872. The Dufur post office was established in 1878. The town of Dufur was incorporated 1893.The need to accommodate travelers grew along with the town of Dufur. The Balch Hotel was designed by F. M. Andrews for Charles P. Balch, a local rancher and pharmacist. It was built in 1907, and opened on 17 January 1908. When the hotel opened, the cost of a room ranged from $0.50 to $1.25 per night. The hotel boasted that it had hot water in every room, electric lights, and steam heat. At that time, there were only two places in the Dufur Valley that had electricity, the Balch Hotel and Dufur’s saw mill. The two businesses shared the limited power supply; each got twelve hours of electricity per day. The lumber mill had electricity for 12 hours during the day, and the hotel was connected for twelve hours beginning in the evening. In its early years, the Great Southern Railroad would drop off salesmen, who could connect at Dufur between the railroad's northern terminus at The Dalles and coaches to points south in Central Oregon. The salesmen typically stayed at the Balch Hotel, and would set up their wares in the hotel’s parlor. This made the hotel a center of community activity as well as a haven for travelers.