The Murray Hotel, originally named the Elite Hotel, is a historic hotel in

Livingston, Montana Livingston is a city and the county seat of Park County, Montana, United States. It is in southwestern Montana, on the Yellowstone River, north of Yellowstone National Park. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 8,040. Hist ...

, United States. The original two story hotel was built at the corner of Park and Second St. in 1904 by Josephine Kline to accommodate passengers from the

Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was an important American transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the Western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest between 1864 and 1970. It was approved and chartered b ...

. The Elite was one of thirteen hotels built in downtown Livingston between 1884 and 1914 to service railroad travelers. Its construction was financed by the family of a future U.S. Senator from Montana, James E. Murray. The hotel's location opposite the

's Livingston Depot made it a prime destination for railroad travelers. The hotel is located within the Livingston Commercial District, a registered National Historic District.

Expansion, foreclosure and renaming

In the 1920s, the hotel expanded to four floors and 66 rooms. In the mid-1920s, the Murray family foreclosed on Josephine Kline, took over the operation of the hotel and renamed it ''The Murray''. Although Kline contested the foreclosure all the way to Washington D.C. as late as 1934, she failed to recover ownership from the Murrays. One of the unique aspects of the Murray was the installation of a 1905 hand-cranked Otis Elevator, at the time the only elevator in Livingston.

Watering hole

The Murray has always hosted a café or restaurant and a bar. The Murray Bar is well known for its celebrity visitors during filming of movies in the Paradise Valley. The 2nd Street Bistro, opened in 2004 and preceded in years prior by the Peterson and the Winchester Cafe, is the current hotel restaurant. The Bistro was featured in '' Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations'' 2009 episode on Montana where he dined with author Jim Harrison and artist Russell Chatham.

Ownership

The Murray experienced a serious reduction in business during the 1960s, mostly due to the decline in rail travel and growth of the

Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Hi ...

. In 1978, local Montana ranchers Cliff and Pat Miller purchased the hotel from the Murray family and made modest renovations. The hotel was purchased by Dan and Kathleen Kaul, formerly from

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

in 1991. They undertook major renovations and reduced the number of hotel suites to 29. In 2001 the Kauls changed the business model of the hotel allowing individual investors to own individual suites, much like a condominium. Today, most of the hotel is available to the public, with 30 rooms and suites available.The Murray Hotel: Rooms
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Notable visitors and events

The following notable individuals have lived or stayed at the Murray Hotel: *

Whoopi Goldberg Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ...

, comedian, actress *Walter Jerome Hill, youngest son of

James Jerome Hill James Jerome Hill (September 16, 1838 – May 29, 1916) was a Canadian-American railway director. He was the chief executive officer of a family of lines headed by the Great Northern Railway, which served a substantial area of the Upper Midwest ...

, builder of the Great Northern Railway *

Margot Kidder Margaret Ruth Kidder (October 17, 1948 – May 13, 2018) was a Canadian and American actress and activist. She amassed List of Margot Kidder performances, several film and television credits in her career spanning five decades, including her bes ...

, actress, activist * Margrethe II, Queen of Denmark *

Jack Palance Walter Jack Palance ( ; born Volodymyr Palahniuk, , ''Volodymyr Ivanovych Palahniuk''; February 18, 1919 – November 10, 2006) was an American screen and stage actor, known to film audiences for playing tough guys and villains. He was nominat ...

, actor *

Sam Peckinpah David Samuel Peckinpah (; February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was an American film director and screenwriter. His 1969 Western epic '' The Wild Bunch'' received two Academy Award nominations and was ranked No. 80 on the American Film Instit ...

, director, lived in a three-room suite at the Murray from 1979 to 1984 *

Robert Redford Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received numerous accolades such as an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, as well as the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1994, the ...

, actor, director *

Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ...

, humorist * Rip Torn, actor *

Robert Wadlow Robert Pershing Wadlow (February 22, 1918 July 15, 1940), also known as the Alton Giant and the Giant of Illinois, was an American man. He is the list of tallest people, tallest person in recorded history for whom there is irrefutable evidence. ...

, the tallest man in the world, stayed in October 1939

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray Hotel Hotels in Montana Hotels established in 1904 Hotel buildings completed in 1904 Buildings and structures in Park County, Montana Historic district contributing properties in Montana 1904 establishments in Montana Livingston, Montana