The Bostwick Hotel was erected in 1884 on the site of the Denver House Hotel and was named for Harrison Bostwick, major stockholder and president of City National Bank. It occupied a large place in the social and political history of Hastings until the Clarke Hotel was built in 1914. An outstanding feature was the large center corridor on the second floor, with a gallery opening to the third floor, and its elaborate, spacious, high-ceilinged design made it a frequent setting for formal social gatherings. Many notable figures registered there, including John Phillip Sousa, William Jennings Bryan, General John J. Pershing, and many entertainers who appeared at the Kerr Opera House. In 1916 it was renamed the American House. It was destroyed by fire on a Sunday afternoon in December 1925 after the blaze began in McElhinney Drug store and spread to the hotel. Seen from fifteen miles away, the fire drew thousands of onlookers as firefighters battled the flames, and it also destroyed the YWCA Cafeteria and club rooms and the Empress Theatre. The Rivoli Theatre and Alexander Hotel were constructed on the site in 1926.