Archives West Finding Aid

The Tiger Hotel, located in Burke, Idaho, seven miles from Wallace, was a three story frame hotel with 150 rooms. It was built over the South Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River, and the Northern Pacific Railroad tracks ran through the lobby.

The original Tiger Hotel, named after the Tiger-Poorman mine, was built in the fall of 1896, and extended virtually from one wall of the narrow canyon to the other. It was damaged by a grease fire in the kitchen in 1897. The fire of 1923 which destroyed the town of Burke also destroyed the hotel, but it was soon rebuilt and enlarged. The 1927 Sanborn map of Burke shows the hotel divided into two distinct buildings; the new building contained the dining room, kitchen, and bakeshop, while in the old, the three floors above the ground floor contained 14 single and 18 double rooms.

After the 1907 Hercules Mill fire the Day brothers leased the 650 ton Tiger Mill at Burke. With the mill lease Eugene Day and James McCarthy of the Hecla Mining Company bought the Tiger boarding house, affectionately called the Beanery, which was located in the center of Burke. To supply the kitchen, Eugene operated a small farm in the valley on the South Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River. In October 1909, the Tiger Hotel Company was organized as a co-partnership with Eugene Day controlling 3/4 interest and James McCarthy controlling 1/4. By 1923 the partnership had grown to include Harry L. Day, Jerome J. Day, Eleanor Day Boyce, Blanche Day Ellis, each with a 3/16 interest, and James F. McCarthy retaining his 4/16 interest. In 1934 Blanche sold her share in the hotel to her brother Harry.

The hotel's only purpose was to provide food and lodging for the miners of the area, and although it was owned and operated by private individuals, it was under common management with the three large mining companies in the area. An occasional transient was accommodated if there was a spare room, and many local families would eat there, finding the food both good and inexpensive.

In 1924 rumor had it that the Standard Boarding House in Mace would be reopened and turned into a mine boarding house. Although in a very bad state of repair, the Tiger partnership did not want any competition so they purchased the hotel. The building remained empty until it was torn down in 1933.

In 1942, in spite of adverse wartime conditions, the owners of the Tiger Hotel made every effort to maintain a high standard of boarding and lodging conditions. In 1944, with three of the four partners dead, and the operation gradually deteriorating under rationing to the point where a profit could no longer be made, the partnership was dissolved. On the last day of business, March 31, 1933, the Estate of James F. McCarthy still controlled a 1/4 interest, the Estate of Harry L. Day 3/8, the Estate of Jerome J. Day 3/16, and Eleanor Day Boyce, the surviving partner, 3/16. Rather than shut down the hotel, Mr. Hanley of Star Mines agreed to purchase the business, the inventory, prepaid accounts, buildings, and surface rights, for $12,000. On April 1944, the Sullivan Mining Company took over the management of the hotel. Before its destruction in April 1944, the hotel had become an apartment building housing many children who thought it was great fun having a train running through their house. The hotel was eventually sold to Ed Woods of Osburn who had it torn down since it was being vandalized and because it posed a fire hazard to nearby homes.