A close look at the Woolworth Building’s upper floors makes evident that it was originally two separate, but closely related edifices. Connecting arches over second-story windows, a decorative metal cornice, and a crowning brick parapet distinguish the eastern portion from its less ornate neighbor. Constructed in 1890 and 1891, the buildings featured connecting second and third floors. Cascade County’s court and offices occupied the second floor in 1891. By 1897, the building was home to the Hotel Grand, which provided rooms for $2.00 per day. Free carriages met all trains, and the hotel boasted a “well-lighted sample room,” dining room, and billiard room on the first floor. Under new management and a slightly different name, the Grand Hotel opened in 1907 with sixty-two rooms. The residential hotel provided “first-class lodging” for businessmen, “local and transient, alike.” By 1916, the Golden Rule Store (a precursor to J.C. Penney) occupied the first floor. The ground floor was remodeled several times by mid-century, and again when the F. W. Woolworth’s Company moved here in 1956.
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