M. S. Maltby is the new proprietor of this popular hotel, which is conveniently located on Beltrami avenue, between Third and Fourth Streets. Mr. Maltby is an experienced hotel man and knows how to please his customers. He has overhauled and refitted the establishment, and everything in connection with it is neat, tidy and comfortable. (January 1900)
The City Hotel is undergoing an attack of expansion, and it will soon be among the largest buildings in Bemidji. The Freestone Bros. have purchased the adjoining building to the north, the old Symmes building, and carpenters are remodeling both buildings and building a three story addition to the rear. The completed building will be 50×54 feet in dimensions, and will be as conveniently arranged for hotel purposes as a landlord could desire. (Bemidji Pioneer, May 10, 1900) Owing to the large number of patrons that throng the dining room of the City Hotel, the proprietors have been compelled to remodel the building and make it twice its former size. (July 12, 1900)
The City Hotel was at 313 Beltrami Avenue, just north of the alleyway.
An Owl court has been organized among the boarders at the City Hotel, with B. C. Barrett, of Park Rapids, as judge. Permanent organization was effected last Monday night and new members are being taken in at each meeting. The constitution will be found posted on the ceiling of the City hotel lobby after Saturday night. The members must abide by the rules or “there’s somethin’ doin’,” as one member found to his sorrow the other evening. The new order promises to be the swiftest society in town. (2/19/1903)
The City Hotel was replaced by a Wm. Ross’ hardware store in August 1904. More recent Bemidji residents will know the location as that of the City Drug Store, which the Erickson family operated from the 1950s into the 1980s.