This Power Point presentation uses old photographs and historic materials to discuss two of the hot springs resorts that brought legions of visitors into the Wood River Valley in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Both resorts required significant investment to develop, were actively promoted by the railroad, served both locals and tourists, and were important parts of the valley’s social calendar. The Hailey Hot Springs Resort, located in Croy Canyon, was developed by Robert E. Strahorn, a publicist for Union Pacific Railroad, who was instrumental in bringing the Oregon Short Line Railroad into the Wood River Valley. The resort hotel burned down in 1899, after being visited by dignitaries such as Jay Gould and others who traveled on their private railroad cars. Guyer Hot Springs Resort, located on Warm Springs Creek just west of the ski lift, was the center of Ketchum social activities in the 1890s and early 1900s. The resort ended in 1929, when its owner brought hot springs water to a newly constructed Bald Mountain Hot Springs Lodge on Main Street. The hot springs water was used for heating the Lodge’s units, and to fill its giant swimming pool, where many valley residents swam in the summer. The old Guyer Hot Springs Hotel was torn down in 1937, and used to build the St. Georg Hotel on Main Street, which became Ketchum’s finest. The St. Georg burned down in 1939.
‘History of the Wood River Valley’s Resort Hotels before Sun Valley’: A talk by John Lundin
