| CooperSteveOnTheLaptop | 02 May 2008 2:46 p.m. PST |
My scratch built 'hotel' is about 4x5" area, 2 storey with a top floor stair exit and a lean-to stable. Logically it would be a flop-house accomodating customers in bunks closely packed, with maybe a communal cauldron. I'm assuming such facilities certainly did exist? Perhaps US correspondents or other well informed people could comment? |
| coryfromMissoula | 02 May 2008 4:45 p.m. PST |
There were hotels in the old west built like barracks or dormitories, especially in gold camps. Flop house, boarding house, rooming house, dormitory, and of course hotel were all common names for these establishments. Many were operated by benevolent organizations like the YMCA, others were privately owned. Most would have a small stove in the center for heating – meals were usually at a local saloon. |
| CooperSteveOnTheLaptop | 02 May 2008 11:37 p.m. PST |
Thanks Cory! I might invest in a grander building at a future date! |
 mmitchell  | 05 May 2008 8:55 a.m. PST |
Barracks style was common in the rougher areas (gold camps, frontier towns, etc.). They were also frequently used at stage waystations. To capture the flavor of a Western town, I'd use the "flophouse / barracks" system for rough-and-tumble towns and a nicer hotel in the larger, more civilized towns. Keep in mind, a town could have both: an upscale, single-room hotel in the nice part of town and a dingy, flophouse in the bad part of town. |
| CooperSteveOnTheLaptop | 11 May 2008 2:46 p.m. PST |
That's the way my brain works. I covet the HOVELS (fairly) grand hotel, nice model, would not be easy to scratch-build so worth the investment. Presumably you wouldn't ever put 'FLOP-HOUSE' on your sign? It would always be called 'PRESTIGE HOTEL' or similar even if it was a shack? |
| jony663 | 11 May 2008 4:58 p.m. PST |
Would both the "prestigious hotels" and the "flop-hoses" have the same configurations? |
| wingnut | 11 May 2008 8:23 p.m. PST |
Cooper-Steve,
Best book I ever bought for Old Western towns was published by Knuckleduster, The Cow Town Creator. Floor Plans, vintage photos, and back story on a lot of typical constructs of the American Frontier.
Wingnut
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| CooperSteveOnTheLaptop | 12 May 2008 1:58 a.m. PST |
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| Judge Bean | 12 May 2008 6:28 a.m. PST |
I second Wingnut on Cow Town Creator, really a great book to answer this type of question, and about any other cow town business. |
| mmitchell | 12 May 2008 8:25 a.m. PST |
Cow Town Creator is a GREAT book: knuckleduster.com And you're right: I don't believe the term Flop House was in use during the late 1800s. |
| Smokey Roan | 12 May 2008 9:27 a.m. PST |
That Jimmy Stewart/Dean Martin/Racquel Welch movie, ("Bandolero"???) opens with Jimmy stewart in a dorm like hotel. |
| coryfromMissoula | 12 May 2008 6:40 p.m. PST |
By 1902 (I just looked at my map) Sanborn maps were using the term. |
has been watching some documentaries lately set in the Western Desert, and was inspired to create this...
