Built circa 1883 by Henry Smith, a highly successful and influential local entrepreneur, Wolf Creek Tavern began as a hotel, mercantile, and post office as the Oregon and California Railroad was being completed in Wolf Creek. It is thought to be the oldest continuously operating hotel in the Pacific Northwest and is a superb example of the Classical Revival architecture style of early inns of the American West. When the Pacific Highway reached Wolf Creek in 1922, traffic increased along with the number of clientele stopping at the tavern. In 1925, owner-manager John Dougall added a guest wing, kitchen, and semi-circular drive and gateway signs, while promoting claims that famous guests including President Rutherford B. Hayes, Jack London, and Sinclair Lewis had stayed there, claims that endure as local legend. The tavern was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, conveyed to the State of Oregon in 1975, carefully restored by local craftspeople, and reopened in 1979 by Oregon State Parks.
