Murray Hotel

Livingston Commercial Historic District

By The Montana National Register Sign Program

205 W. Park St., Livingston Murray Hotel, view of midcentury neon sign with depot in background Creator: Kate Hampton, MT State Historic Preservation Office Date: ca. 2017

Antique furniture, red oak doors, a towering lobby, and 700 square feet of marble make this historic hotel a timeless ambassador of the “real West.” Built circa 1904, the Murray began as the Elite Hotel (locally pronounced EE-light) when Livingston was a busy tourist hub. Its unassuming brick façade reflects the great age of American hostelries and their inevitable link with the railroad. In 1922, the Senator James E. Murray family of Butte financed expansion to four stories, but foreclosed on owner Josephine Kline in 1925 and renamed the hotel. The popular Murray contained the town’s only elevator (which is still in use) and its lobby was a favorite rendezvous. The demise of rail travel figures into the Murray’s decline in the 1960s. Recent owners breathed new life into its seasoned rooms and suites, where celebrity outlaws such as Sam Peckinpah and Jack Palance have hung their hats. And the likes of Robert Redford, Peter Fonda and Whoopi Goldberg—to name just a few—have patronized the Murray’s Art Deco bar.