I alluded briefly to Harvey Dick (1904-1977) on December 19, and thought a longer mention would be in order. Mr. Dick, who was born 100 years ago this month, was a scion of an early president of the United States National Bank of Oregon and had interests in lumber and steel, but he's best remembered for his ownership of the Hoyt Hotel. The Hoyt Hotel stood between NW 6th and Broadway a block south of the Union Station. It bustled during the heyday of passenger rail travel as it was the first hotel that an arriving passenger would see. Its lobby remained a busy place until the hotel closed in 1972: KLIQ broadcast its talk shows from a glass booth in the lobby.
The lobby and bars in the hotel were nothing like the bland rooms of today's corporate chains. Diners and drinkers would come to see the collection of artifacts that Mr. Dick had assembled. In one spot stood a writing desk said to have belonged to Theodore Dreiser. The bar contained a mechanical piano and a giant box with mechanical musicians. The men's room in the bar had a long urinal that could be used for target practice, of a sort: "When hit in the right place with jets of sufficient velocity, bells and sirens sounded, a noisy tribute to the aim and power of the beer drinker responsible." The Roaring 20's nightclub room was presided over by Gracie Hansen, who ran for governor on a pro-entertainment platform.
Most notably, in the Barbary Coast bar in the hotel, Mr. Dick had placed the plastic mock-up of the locomotive used in a movie called Ticket to Tomahawk. The locomotive later saw service, courtesy of Mr. Dick, in the '60s television series Petticoat Junction.
Portland could use another showplace like the Hoyt Hotel. No one takes their out-of-town friends to check out the lobby at the Hilton or the Marriott.
