Van Horn Hotel

The Prince Hotel was founded as the Van Horn Hotel by Bismarck Improvement Company, the partnership of Arthur Van Horn and Edmund A. Hughes, two of Bismarck's most prominent early developers and businessmen. The only pre-1920 Bismarck hotel building to remain active in its original use, the Prince has housed guests and noted dignitaries, served as a meeting place for local organizations and provided popular dining facilities for more than 60 years.

Arthur Van Horn, who designed the Prince Hotel building from 1915-1916, was one of the city's earliest and most prolific architects. Academically trained as an architect, and skilled as a carpenter, Van Horn established himself in Bismarck as an architect, contractor, and builder. From 1902 to 1907 he was architect and superintendent of buildings for the North Dakota State Penitentiary where he designed and supervised the construction of the prison warden's residence, hospital building, twine plant, officer's dormitory, and other buildings. From 1907 until his death in 1931, Van Horn served as architect for all school buildings constructed in Bismarck. He designed many commercial buildings in Bismarck and Mandan, including the Bismarck Civic Auditorium (National Register 1976), Bismarck City Fire Hall (National Register 1978; demolished), and several buildings at the State Industrial School.

Van Horn formed the architectural firm Van Horn and Ritterbush, with brothers R.A. Ritterbush and C.W. Ritterbush in 1920, which firm is now known as Ritterbush Associates. Van Horn was an organizer of Bismarck's first volunteer fire department and was a member of the North Dakota Architects Association, the American Institute of Architects, and the Ancient Order of Workmen. At his death, the Bismarck Daily Tribune carried an editorial eulogy that read in part "There probably is no one in western North Dakota who has left more lasting monuments to his life's work than has Arthur Wesley Van Horn, designer and supervising architect of scores of buildings, both public and private, as well as hundreds of residential dwellings in this section of the state" (Bismarck Daily Tribune, April 21, 1931).
Edmund A. Hughes was the son of Alexander Hughes, who headed the selection committee that moved the Dakota Territorial Capital from Yankton to Bismarck in 1883. Edmund Hughes became one of the most influential financiers and industrialists in North Dakota. He and his father established the Hughes Electrical Company in 1895 when they purchased a generating plant at Bismarck. Hughes expanded the company operations to provide electricity to 25 western North Dakota communities and to parts of Montana and Minnesota. The company also supplied commercial steam heat in Bismarck, Fargo, Dickinson, and Glendive, Montana.

Hughes pioneered the use of lignite coal for generating electricity, and in so doing he became one of the principal developers of coal mining in North Dakota. He founded the Knife River Mining Company, and by the mid-1920 his mine near Beulah was producing 1500 tons of coal per day to feed Hughes's electric generating plant there (Bismarck Daily Tribune, October 9, 1970). Hughes helped found the North Dakota Independent Telephone Company in 1906, which built long-distance telephone lines from Bismarck to Fargo and eventually tied into lines serving Grand Forks and Minneapolis.

Hughes was well known for his philanthropic efforts. In 1925 he purchased the site of the present Hughes Junior High School and Edmund A. Hughes Athletic Field and donated the site to the Bismarck School system. Churches, hospitals, and other benevolent organizations in Bismarck and Mandan received large donations from Hughes. In 1962 he bequeathed $1,000,000 for a fine arts center at the University of North Dakota, and a further bequest of the Prince Hotel to the University of North Dakota was a provision of Hughes's will on his death in 1970.

Hughes held interests in many businesses in Bismarck and Dickinson, North Dakota, including serving as director of the First National Bank and of the Provident Life Insurance Company in Bismarck. His contribution to the physical development of downtown Bismarck was great. The Bismarck Daily Tribune reported that "during a 10-year period that included World War I, the only major buildings constructed in Bismarck in which Hughes did not have a hand were the Post Office ... and the Liberty Memorial Building on the capitol grounds." (Bismarck Daily Tribune, October 9, 1970).

Some of the buildings constructed by Hughes, and designed by Van Horn, include the Mason Apartments (1922) and Hughes Office Building (now MDU offices)--both located at the corner of Second Street and Broadway; the Little Block and Olympia Building (formerly Hughes Electric and Telephone, now Capitol Trophy)--both at the corner of Third Street and Broadway; the Logan Building (1920) adjacent to the Prince Hotel on Third Street; the Quanrud, Brink, Reibold Auto Building (now Hedahl's) at First Street and Broadway; and the Webb Building (now Coast to Coast) on Fourth Street. Of the Hughes-Van Horn buildings, only the Prince Hotel became a business venture in which both men actively participated together. In 1928, Hughes gained complete ownership of the hotel, which he retained until his death in 1970.

The Prince Hotel opened for business as the Van Horn Hotel on November 11, 1916. The Bismarck Daily Tribune hailed the Van Horn as an "important addition to Bismarck's splendid group of hostelries" (Bismarck Daily Tribune, October 29, 1916). These hostelries, according to the 1916-1917 Bismarck City Directory, were the Grand Pacific Hotel (demolished), the Soo Hotel (National Register, 1983), Bismarck Hotel (demolished), McKenzie Hotel (National Register, 1976), and Palace Hotel (demolished). Of these hotels, the Prince has remained in operation continuously, housing celebrities and dignitaries including Shirley Temple, Eleanor Roosevelt, General George C. Marshall, Roy Rogers, and Dale Evans. The hotel's dining room for many years was considered to be Bismarck's finest restaurant, and is still a favorite meeting place for downtown businessmen, as it has been throughout its history.

The Prince Hotel's distinguished facade retains a high degree of original design elements. The edifice remains a physical manifestation and visual reminder of the aspirations of Arthur Van Horn and Edmund A. Hughes and their important contributions to the history and development of Bismarck.