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| Title | Snyderhof Hotel |
| Description | Postcard of the Snyderhof Hotel |
| Historical Article | The seven-story Snyderhof Hotel at 917-19 Oak opened Oct. 27, 1913. The architect was C.M. Williams. W.P. Snyder was the owner. Each of the 114 rooms was an outside room and had a free telephone and private bath. The furniture was mahogany. The lobby was finished in marble, with large leather settees and chairs. H.H. Bernard, a member of the Southwest Greeters Association, was chief clerk.
A news story of the day said: The hotel and the $200,000 it took to build and equip it started from a little fruit stand that used to be at 510 1/2 Walnut Street and run by William P. Snyder and his brother, D.T. Snyder. The two brothers had less than $100 between them, when they came to Kansas City.
We just worked and saved and believed in Kansas City and that about tells it, said William Snyder at the hotel's opening. He was standing in front of the hotel's ornamental façade of terra cotta and fancy brick and under a canopy that alone cost $2,500 (generous expenditure at the time).
I was a school teacher back in Pennsylvania, William Snyder continued. My brother and I got the notion to come west in 1880. We came to Kansas City and then went to Abilene where we worked as stonemasons a year. I made up my mind that I would be in business for myself, no matter what business I could find to get in. I had made up my mind that there was no future working for somebody else, so I came to Kansas City.
We had less than $100 between us, but we bought some fruit and opened the little stand down on Walnut. The Star was just starting then, too.
After seven years the brothers moved uptown. For years they were at 213 E. 12th Street.
Savings went for real estate purchases and then they began to build and sell cottages. They built the Snyder hotel at 1107 E. 12th and sold it.
The 1913 Snyderhof Hotel, as pictured on Oak Street on the old post card, served its purpose for years, before assuming a new role. On May 11, 1978, the hostelry became an honor center as part of a work release program for inmates of the Missouri State Penitentiary, who still have time to serve on their sentences. All are required to have full time jobs when they come here from the penitentiary. The men pay 25 per cent of all they earn to the state, for maintenance.
Kansas City Times
September 2, 1982
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| Author | Ray, Mrs. Sam (Mildred)
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| Item Type | Postcard |
| Collection | Mrs. Sam Ray Postcard Collection (SC58)
See finding aid: http://localhistory.kclibrary.org/u?/Local,36981 |
| Location | SC58 |
| Local Subject | Hotels
Snyderhof Hotel
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| Digital Format | JPEG |
| Barcode | 20000563 |
| Repository | Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Missouri |
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