The Pate-King family lived here for 67 years, opening their home as a hotel and apartment house. Cleta Pate, born in the Philippines in 1874, married Buffalo Soldier William King there before the family moved in 1910 to Fort Ethan Allen in Colchester, Vermont. She later married Frank Pate, born in 1872 and also a Buffalo Soldier with the 10th Cavalry, and after his discharge they relocated to Burlington, where Frank owned a construction business. In 1921 Cleta bought this house and secured a mortgage solely in her name, then renovated it to serve as The Pates hotel. Because prejudice and discrimination made it difficult and dangerous for Black motorists to find hotels, restaurants, and gas stations that would serve them, guidebooks such as Hackley and Harrison's Hotel Guide and the Negro Motorist's Green Book identified safe lodging, food, and other amenities. The Pates hotel and apartment house was listed in these guides from 1930 to 1966, making it one of the few Vermont locations advertising in them and the longest continuously advertised site in the state. After Cleta died, Alfred and Theresa King operated the hotel and apartment house until 1988, and in 1930 the Burlington Colored All Stars baseball team stayed there and practiced in nearby Roosevelt Park.
