The Clifton Hotel was built by a young man named W. H. Ferguson, and it burned in the great fire of July 19, 1894, but was rebuilt on the same site at the corner of West Central and First Streets. It was the center of social affairs of the community for some time. C. M. C. Seaton was the genial proprietor from 1918 until his death in October, 1946. Though the hotel was operated intermittently for some years after his death, the last operator being Mrs. Zilpha Morgan, no meals were served there after 1938. Mr. Ferguson, the builder, died in 1953.

Mrs. Morgan purchased the old James H. Wathen home at Main and Walnut Streets, and noting the rise of automobile traffic on Route 24, converted it into a tourist home in 1939. Individual cabins were added in 1941 and 1946 and an office built in 1947. The house was remodeled to provide a dining room for the traveling public in 1953. Mrs. Morgan named the place the Elms Motel.

Mr. and Mrs. Earl Burroughs opened their home for tourists in 1941, and in 1951 they added four cabins to their facilities at 377 West Main Street, and in 1952 built three more. The Travelers' Motel on Route 24 just east of El Paso on Main Street was opened by Mrs. Myrtle Tegard in 1950, and Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Tyson are now the managers.

The Corn Belt Motel on Route 51 between Second and Third Streets was built by Mr. & Mrs. Richard Stine early in 1952, and was enlarged in 1953 to sixteen units, also containing a superintendent's apartment.

The Campbell House is covered in Chapter six of this book.

The Corn Belt Motel on Route 51.

Page 171

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