The Governor History
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places and
a member of Historic Hotels of America, The Governor was built in
1909, during the prosperous days following the Lewis and Clark Exposition.
The hotel, originally called The Seward Hotel, was considered one
of Portland's finest. Originally billed as the "hotel of quiet
elegance," its guests paid $1.50 to $2.00 for a room, breakfast
included. Postcards and images on display in our lobby show early
postcards and our original lobby on 10th Avenue (now the entrance
to Jake's Grill).
The west wing of The Governor was built in 1923 as the
Portland Elks Lodge. It was loosely modeled after the Farnese Palace
in Rome. Over the years, the west wing housed the WPA, a WWII induction
center and later, several Portland businesses. In 2004, the west wing
became The Governor Hotel ®'s new entrance, including a beautifully
remodeled and restored lobby and reception area and opening to the
public - for the first time in over 50 years - some of the region's
most breathtaking and unique meeting and banquet spaces. Welcome to
the 'quiet elegance' of Portland's The Governor Hotel ®.
The Seward was designed by architect William C. Knighton,
Oregon's first State Architect. Opened in 1909, The Seward featured
Knighton's signature details still seen in the ornate art deco 'gargoyles'
that surround the original building's facade and the bell-shaped architectural
details seen throughout the hotel's original woodwork, column panels
and even fireplace mantles.
The Governor Hotel ® has been the location for a number
of motion pictures including The Temp and My Own Private Idaho. The
adjacent West Wing, the 1923 Princeton Building, masqueraded as the
corporate offices of a cookie firm in the film "The Temp,"
starring Timothy Hutton and Faye Dunaway.
Madonna, while filming the steamy and much-maligned
legal/sexual thriller "Body of Evidence," did several scenes
in the Governor. Portland director Gus Van Sant staged a sequence
featuring transients around a bonfire for "My Own Private Idaho"
in what is now the Jake's Grill, before the last renovation.
Click here for more on the history of The Governor Hotel ®...
