Buffington Hotel
Main St., Westville, OKThe Buffington Hotel is significant for its associations with the primary era of growth of Westville that produced its two most substantial commercial building
Westville began as a trade center in 1895. Its location between the military road to Fort Gibson on the north and the stage road, also to Fort Gibson on the south made it an ideal trade center. Its commercial potential was further enhanced when the Kansas City Southern and the Frisco railroads made it a center for freight and passenger service. The railroads also brought cast and crews for the touring vaudville troups.
Buffington built the hotel in 1910, just a block from the depots, in response to the need for travelers' lodging. It was managed by Mr. O'Conner until 1929 when O'Conner went to Tulsa to manage the Mecca Hotel (where Negroes hid during the Tulsa race riot).
By the 1930's Westville's spurt of growth was over and there was little need for a hotel. However, it continued to function as a boarding house, a function it still serves now. Along with the Opera House Block, the Buffington Hotel is the most impressive building along Westvilles main commercial street.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.