The Old Commercial Hotel

The Old Commercial Hotel. . , Created from the Lousiana Territory, the Territory of Missouri was established by an Act of Congress in 1812, and became the 24th State on August 10, 1821. Sixteen years later in 1837 there were about sixty people living here on the banks of the Osage. That year the first hotel in the area opened its doors to provide accommodations to the travelers., It was a double log cabin structure with a passageway between the cabins. The grounds on which the present Commercial Hotel is located were platted in June of 1850. A frame building was constructed on the property. It proudly bore the titles 'Pollard House' and 'Union Inn', In 1861, the hotel was destroyed by fire in the ferocious raid on the town by Jim Lane during the Civil War. Osceola was the only Missouri town so thoroughly devastated. The present Commercial Hotel building was erected in 1867., A pleasant gathering place through the span of well over a century, the Commercial Hotel still bears the original bannisters where guest hands were placed so long ago., Past Historical Guests , President Harry Truman , Actor Tom Mix , Actress Sally Rand , Outlaw Jesse James , Outlaw Frank James , Outlaw Cole Younger , Outlaw Hangout.