The Old Dalton Hotel: Jackson, Michigan: 1904-1964

Jackson’s most famous & historic hotels? They would have to include the Hayes, the Otsego, and the Dalton.

Huh?
The Dalton?
Where was that, you wonder?

The Dalton is no longer with us, but it was directly across the street from the Otsego (which fortunately still stands).

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Jackson really began to grow and prosper near the end of the Civil War. The land that would hold the future Dalton Hotel was bought in 1864 by New Yorker George Lathrop. Known as the Union Block, Lathrop built this three-story brick building, which was where Michigan Avenue meets Francis Street (now Martin Luther King Jr. Drive). He called his place the Union Hotel, which included a theater (Union Hall) on the third floor..

In July 1867, Lathrop sold it all for $100,000, and for 15 more years it was highly successful as a place to hold events, reunions, parties, banquets, and other public gatherings.

In February 1884 at 6 o’clock on a Sunday morning, the little cigar store nearby caught on fire. When somebody opened the iron doors in the back of the Union Block, winds sucked the fire into the hotel, turning the insides into a mass of blazes.

The building sat for years; damaged, ugly, neglected, and left residents wondering why it wasn’t getting torn down. But it was soon purchased by Daniel Hibbard who remodeled and sold it to brothers Tom and Eddie Dalton...who dubbed it the ‘Dalton Hotel’ around 1904.

Two more stories were constructed with much remodeling; soon it returned to its former glory...in fact, even better. As the decades wore on, more and more cheaper motels were replacing hotels, and by the 1960s, the Dalton was in shambles and deserted. Known now as the Miller Hotel, the city of Jackson bought it during the summer of 1964 and immediately made plans to demolish.

Scroll down to the gallery and see how the Dalton once looked.....