| City/Town: • Okmulgee |
| Location Class: • Hotel/Motel |
| Built: • 1923 | Abandoned: • ~1980s |
| Status: • Abandoned • Burned Down |
| Photojournalist: • Michael Schwarz • Erin Garrett |
Hotel Sparks 1922-1924
In 1922 George W. Sparks had the idea for a grand hotel in Okmulgee. A three-story brick matt-faced building that would be named Hotel Sparks was erected with the help of Contractor and Architect J.F. Montgomery. Building materials consisting of cement, roofing and sand were provided by the Home Lumber Company, electric work was done by Reynolds Electric Company, while brickwork was done by Francis-Vitric Brick Company of Boynton. The hotel and its twenty-one rooms were beautifully furnished by local business Okmulgee Furniture Company. The rooms were warmed with a Quick Comfort gas stove making sure the cold winter air was not too much to bear. On each floor was a bath with hot and cold water in circulation to ensure relaxation after a long day or trip. The hotel officially opened on January 8, 1923, prices were a steal ranging from a single dollar to $1.50 per day which translates to about $16-17 in today’s money. For a week-long stay, you paid $5-6 upfront.
Bateman Hotel 1924-1930
Hotel Elmo 1930-1972
After the misfortunate, that plagued the Bateman Hotel hands changed in 1930 and adopted a new name, Hotel Elmo. For the most part news about the hotel was quiet for the next thirty years besides the occasional advertisement for rooms or salesmen. But in December 1960 the Hotel Elmo went up for sale and was sold to Louis Ira Smith and his wife Clara May Smith. The pair continued running it as the Hotel Elmo and were proud of their business. The rooms became popular amongst college students attending the nearby Oklahoma State Tech school.
“The Elmo Hotel as my grandparents called it was home to so many family gatherings. My grandparents had nine children that lived to at least age 12; 8 of those children married and had children of their own. I’m one of those children. There were about 35 of us first cousins, most of whom spent numerous weekends and holidays at the hotel. Upon entering there was a long hallway to a set of steps that led to the large kitchen and dining hall. At one time my granny fed many boarders in that dining area. I can see our family gathered around that table now, grandpa wearing his hat and overalls and smoking a cigar. Most of the kids (my father and my uncles and aunts) also smoking away! We kids played outside in the backyard and on the back porch and also in the suite of bedrooms to the left of the entryway hallway. Our memories are full of backyard baseball games and walk down the alley to Sorrell’s Broasted Chicken. We were so fortunate to have the hotel as a gathering place all those years,” said Brenda Smith, Granddaughter of Louis and Clara Smith.
After the passing of Mr. Smith, Clara continued running the business which had become more of an apartment building now. Her family had become increasingly worried about her safety running the hotel alone so she decided to sell and moved out of Okmulgee. The Elmo Hotel went up for sale again in 1972 including all furnishings, 16 livable/rentable units and living quarters for a manager. The asking price for the hotel was $12,000, which may not seem like a lot for an entire furnished building but that translates to $80,038.85 in today’s money.
Huffman Hotel 1972-1980s
On January 17th, 2022 at 10:30 am the historic building that had sat vacant for many years caught fire. The fire had fully engulfed the building and by 2 pm crews were still working to contain the blaze. The owners of the building watched as firefighters put the fire out to their long-beloved former family business but declined to comment only saying it’s sad to see this happen.
Gallery Below of Hotel Sparks
“10 Mar 1937, 11 – Okmulgee Daily Times at Newspapers.com.” Newspapers.com, www.newspapers.com/image/708012593/?terms=hotel%20elmo&match=1.
“10 Oct 1926, 6 – Sunday Times Democrat at Newspapers.com.” Newspapers.com, www.newspapers.com/image/709539874/?terms=bateman%20hotel&match=1.
“11 Jan 1972, 7 – Okmulgee Daily Times at Newspapers.com.” Newspapers.com, www.newspapers.com/image/749982692/?terms=hotel%20elmo&match=1.
“16 Feb 1923, 7 – Okmulgee Daily Times at Newspapers.com.” Newspapers.com, www.newspapers.com/image/709223441/?terms=sparks%20hotel&match=1.
“18 Jan 1979, 16 – Okmulgee Daily Times at Newspapers.com.” Newspapers.com, www.newspapers.com/image/747889271/?terms=115%20Frisco&match=1.
“20 Apr 1975, 2 – Okmulgee Daily Times at Newspapers.com.” Newspapers.com, www.newspapers.com/image/750055101/?terms=huffman%20hotel&match=1.
“23 Oct 1926, 1 – Okmulgee Daily Times at Newspapers.com.” Newspapers.com, www.newspapers.com/image/709551609/?terms=bateman%20hotel&match=1.
“29 Apr 1927, 2 – Okmulgee Daily Times at Newspapers.com.” Newspapers.com, www.newspapers.com/image/709638006/?terms=hotel%20Frisco%20Avenue&match=1.
“3 May 1925, 4 – Okmulgee Daily Times at Newspapers.com.” Newspapers.com, www.newspapers.com/image/709179416/?terms=bateman%20hotel&match=1.
“30 Aug 1923, 4 – Okmulgee Daily Times at Newspapers.com.” Newspapers.com, www.newspapers.com/image/709234856/?terms=hotel%20spark&match=1.
“30 Dec 1960, 11 – Okmulgee Daily Times at Newspapers.com.” Newspapers.com, www.newspapers.com/image/597095299/?terms=115%20N.%20Frisco&match=1.
“4 Feb 1943, 7 – Okmulgee Daily Times at Newspapers.com.” Newspapers.com, www.newspapers.com/image/708339190/?terms=hotel%20elmo&match=1.
“5 Jan 1930, 11 – Sunday Times Democrat at Newspapers.com.” Newspapers.com, www.newspapers.com/image/707780150/?terms=hotel%20elmo&match=1.
“7 May 1926, 2 – Okmulgee Daily Times at Newspapers.com.” Newspapers.com, www.newspapers.com/image/709545741/?terms=bateman%20hotel&match=1.
“8 Jun 1972, 14 – Okmulgee Daily Times at Newspapers.com.” Newspapers.com, www.newspapers.com/image/750029635/?terms=hotel%20elmo&match=1.
“Clipping from Okmulgee Daily Times.” Newspapers.com, 2 Jan. 1923, www.newspapers.com/clip/92827829/okmulgee-daily-times/#.
“Hotel Sparks.” LandmarkHunter.com, landmarkhunter.com/197405-hotel-sparks/.
“Image 7 of Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Okmulgee, Okmulgee County, Oklahoma.” The Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/resource/g4024om.g4024om_g072031920/?sp=7&r=0.476,0.477,0.482,0.368,0.
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I saw the fire the day it burnt down. I felt bad because it was one of the oldest buildings in Okmulgee.
There was also a boarding house next to the Sparks hotel owned by George W. Sparks
That was large wooden house. It was leaning pretty bad before it burned. It still had furniture in the rooms.