The Lewiston House

The Lewiston House. . , The Lewiston House Hotel stood at this site and was the first building erected in Lewiston by Swan Petersen for the purpose of housing the new mill's workers around 1891. Mr. and Mrs. Petersen became parents to the first baby born here and named her Louise, after their new town. , , The building housed a restaurant, kitchen and saloon on the bottom floor. The second floor had bedrooms and a sitting room that opened onto a large veranda overlooking town. The Lewiston House became the center of the community. Conventions, political meetings, birthday parties, dances and holidays were attended and celebrated here. , , Swan Petersen was the local baseball team manager and was active in many other business and civic affairs. He died prematurely at the age of 39, the result of a tragic hunting accident in nearby Lovells. His funeral seen from the veranda (photo to the right) was one of the largest in town history. A special train was scheduled from Grayling that day. The procession was led by an honor line of Oddfellows and Rebekahs followed by his black horse pulling an empty buggy. The street had been freshly covered in bark that day and he was buried at the Lewiston Cemetery in 1901. , , In 1902 the hotel was quarantined during an outbreak of smallpox. After the M and H Mill shut down, the Lewiston House was abandoned and in 1917 the building became the Town Hall until it was dismantled in 1933 under the WPA work program. , , Donated by Kaye and Lee Woodruff in memory of Lynn Biesenthal. , , The Lewiston Heritage Trail is a DDA project funded by private donors with period photos and historical text provided by the Lewiston Area Historical Society.