Taken near the same spot as the photo, between Forest and Evergreen avenues, the building continues to serve as a hotel. It's now the SCP Hotel Redmond. 

It’s 1905. This photograph, taken that year, is the first known picture of Redmond.

It was taken, looking east, from the middle of the alley that runs north and south between 6th and 7th streets. Forest Street is to the south. Evergreen is to the north.

You are looking at a large two-story wooden structure that is being built. That’s the Redmond Hotel. It will soon have 45 bedrooms, which seems like a lot for a town with one store and only a handful of permanent residents.

But the canals are getting dug, the railroad is getting built and people are coming: homesteaders, stockmen, lumbermen, businessmen, speculators, farmers, cowboys, salesmen, freighters and families.

1905 was a wild time of rapid growth, wild speculation, wide-open spaces and wide-open lawlessness. The hotel housed more than just residents and travelers. Among the nefarious activities was a regular poker game run by Mayor Jones in one of the hotel’s back rooms.

The games and outlaw behaviors of the town were brought to an end in July 1912 when Governor Oswald West showed up and advised the citizens of Redmond to “raise less hell and more hogs.” And if they didn’t settle down, the next time he had to come to Redmond he would come with the army to keep order.

The old wooden Hotel Redmond is gone. It burned to the ground on June 28, 1927.

What’s there now? No need to go to the back alley. It’s more convenient to the go to the middle of Sixth Street between Forest and Evergreen and look west. You will know you are at the right spot when you see the National Historic Register plate on the outside of the building.

This is the first installment in what will be a new, monthly feature in the Redmond Spokesman.

Teaming up with the Redmond Historical Society, we’re dipping into our archives and theirs — and county and state sources as well.

Redmond is changing, fast. But these photos will show it has always been that way. They will help residents, both new and old, get a better understanding of the history beneath their feet and in their neighborhoods.

Much of the research for this series will be done by Janet Alexander and her colleagues at the Redmond Historical Society. They are always looking for volunteers and interested parties who want to know more about Redmond history.

If you have ideas for people, places and things you’d like to see in this space, email ttrainor@redmondspokesman.com. And if you have old photos and memorabilia, reach out. We’d love to take a look and publish for readers to enjoy, too.