The Albion Howard Boothby Home
Prospect, Oregon
Shared on Ancestry.com by DRaack 2013.
This very faded photograph was shared by a DNA relative on Ancestry.com awhile back; it shows the 1889 homestead built by Albion Howard Boothby in the little Oregon town of Prospect. Prospect is located on Highway 62 halfway between Medford and Crater Lake National Park. As Crater Lake became a popular tourist attraction, Albion's home was changed over time to accommodate travelers visiting the majestic water-filled caldera up the road. This property is now on the National Register of Historic Places and is currently on the market for 3 million dollars. I wonder what Albion would think of that?
Albion Howard Boothby (1841-1925)
Shared by MimiTorchiaBoothby on her Boothby Genealogy website.
Albion Boothby was born in Athens, Maine on January 11, 1841; his parents were Bradford and Rebecca Boothby. Albion's great great grandfather Nathanial was the brother of Josiah Boothby, my fourth great grandfather. Albion's older brother Adney built a home and farm in Livermore, Maine, which continues to this day as the Boothby's Farm Market and Orchard.
Albion came to Oregon as a young man and became involved in timber and farming. He married Margaret Jenny Nolan in 1872 and they had seven children. He and Jenny built the home in 1888-9, right on the main street of Prospect and a short distance from the primitive road which led to Crater Lake. During the 1870's William Gladstone Steele began his 17 year quest to see Crater Lake become a National Park, which in turn increased interest in the area. Travelers coming from Medford, eager to see this newly discovered spectacle, would spend two full days going by carriages and wagons before they reached their destination.
Crater Lake National Park
getsready.com
The Prospect area and the Boothby homestead were natural halfway points for the new tourists who often stopped at the Boothby homestead and stayed for a good home cooked meal and a bed. Albion and Jenny soon realized their home needed to be bigger to accommodate the increased traffic. They decided to add on and build a "roadhouse" and hotel which catered to tourists and locals alike with Jenny's cooking skills. The Boothby House became the center of the community, hosting dances, parties and town events. Albion was appointed the Prospect U.S. Postmaster in 1892.
The Boothby Hotel in 2010, now called the Prospect Hotel. You can see the wrap around porch which was added in 1915.
Wikipedia
In 1897 the Boothbys sold the hotel and moved to Klamath Falls. The hotel went through several changes with the advent of the automobile (new owners added a gas station) but the home cooking remained the same. Tourist cabins, a fishpond and an aviary were also added. Crater Lake became a National Park in 1902 and the guest books after this showed travelers coming from Italy, France, Germany and Russia. The hotel also attracted the likes of William Jennings Bryan, Zane Gray, John Muir, Jack London, President Roosevelt and President Hoover. The hotel remained the only lodging and dining establishment along the Upper Rogue River for some time.
As road conditions improved, less guests stayed at the hotel. The Depression and WW II also took a toll on the business and the hotel deteriorated. In 1985 new owners committed over a million dollars to restore the hotel. The newly refurbished hotel and dining room were opened for customers exactly 100 years after the Boothbys first opened their homestead to guests in 1889. Efforts to place the hotel on the National Registry of Historic Places were successful in 1989.
If you visit these days, you can step back in time and stay in the period furnished Boothby Room! Or the Roosevelt Room, or the John Muir Room or the Jack London Room.... Signature dishes from the kitchen are prime rib, roasted salmon and the 19-layer 5 cheese lasagna. Wild mushrooms and hand picked berries are served in season. The dinner house also hosts murder mystery dinners and wine tastings. Or, you can purchase the entire property for 3 million dollars from Sotheby's, as the current owners are retiring!
It is truly amazing that this home still stands, and that the additions, upgrades and restorations have not altered the original building much. It still serves the Prospect community as well as those traveling by 62 on their way to see one of our spectacular national treasures. I think that Albion and Jenny would be happy to see their family home/hotel still being used as they meant it to be. My family has been to Crater Lake several times, and we have unknowingly driven right by Prospect and the hotel, not knowing its family significance. As I have had time to research our family history, and our Oregon history, I have learned more about Albion and his home which I didn't know before. Time to take another drive and visit this family treasure. And maybe stay in the Boothby Room!
Albion Boothby is buried in the Nye Phipps Pioneer Cemetery near Prospect, Oregon with his wife Jenny and two of his children. A cemetery visit is also on my to-do list.
Albion Boothby's relationship to Josiah Boothby (1738-1804)
Screenshot from Ancestry.com
Josiah Boothby 1,2,3,4. Josiah T. Boothby (no. 4) was the father of Sterl Boothby, my grandfather.
Screenshot from Ancestry.com
References:
The Oregonian June 7, 2024 by Janet Eastman
https://www.oregonlive.com/realestate/2024/06/historic-hotel-near-crater-lake-is-for-sale-at-3-million.html
Mimi Torchia Boothby's Genealogy Page http://www.sersale.org/aboothby.htm
The Prospect Historic Hotel prospecthotel.com
National Registry of Historic Places-Inventory Nomination Form for the Prospect Hotel https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OR/80003327.pdf