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ONCE
THE TALLEST BUILDING IN
THE STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA
The Patterson Hotel was
built in 1910 and opened on New Year's Day in 1911 in time for the State
Legislative Session that year. That marked the beginning of an era in
which the McKenzie - as it was originally called in honor of Alexander
McKenzie, a close friend of owner Ed Patterson and powerful North Dakota
political boss - became the political headquarters for North Dakota for
the next 60 years.
When the hotel was
opened, it was the tallest building in North Dakota at seven stories and
was described as the most elegant and elite hotel between Minneapolis
and Seattle. It was built of reinforced concrete with 250 rooms and more
private baths than existed in the entire state at the time.
 The hotel's famous "Roof
Garden" opened in 1920, was the site of lavish dances and parties at
which Patterson entertained big time North Dakota and national
politicians. Several presidents including Theodore Roosevelt,
Calvin Coolidge, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson stayed at the hotel
in its glory days. Prominent actors and actresses such as Al Jolson and
Charlotte Greenwood frequented the Patterson; and boxing greats Gene
Tunney, Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis flexed their muscles in the lobby of
this hotel. Patterson himself, an accomplished amateur boxer in his
younger days, had a lifelong interest in boxing and sponsored many prize
fights across the street from the hotel.
From 1913 until the late
1930's, Patterson was continually adding to the hotel. Its original
seven stories grew to ten floors over the years. Patterson, in no hurry
to complete the building because in those days it would not go on the
tax roles until it was completed, kept the construction going for almost
thirty years.
As the hotel grew, so did
the folklore about it. Rumors persist that the hotel housed a bordello
with the ladies being ushered through tunnels from the train depot
across the street. The Patterson was also reportedly the home of big
time gambling in the state, protected by Patterson's personal power and
influence (and an electronic alarm system to warn of intrusion by the
law). During Prohibition, it is said that liquor flowed freely in a
"blind pig" in the depths of the hotel.
TASTE THE HISTORY OF
PEACOCK ALLEY
 The real notoriety of the
hotel came from a different sort of gambling. That of politics. From its
opening into the 1960's, the Patterson was the head quarters for
politicians and politics in North Dakota. Alexander McKenzie, the
hotel's original namesake and business partner of Patterson, was sheriff
of Burleigh County and was known as "The Boss of North Dakota." And even
long before the Patterson was opened, it is credited with being the
major influence in getting the territorial capital moved from what is
now Yankton, South Dakota to Bismarck.
In keeping with the
political tradition of the building, the New Peacock Alley has again
become a favorite gathering place for legislators and state officials.
During legislative session political deals are again being hammered out
inside the walls of the Patterson. Ed Patterson's legacy of elegance,
fine food and hospitality live on in the Peacock Alley of today.
Patterson himself served
three terms as the Mayor of Bismarck and held seats on the city and
county commissions almost continually from 1896 through 1926.
It was here at the
Patterson that the political wheeling and dealing decided much of North
Dakota's future. The Patterson was the headquarters for the Nonpartisan
League (a product of the agrarian reform movement) and was ruled by
future North Dakota Governor and United States Senator William "Wild
Bill" Langer, the League's most celebrated and controversial spokesman.
After the 1883 North Dakota State Capital burned in 1930 and for two
years before the completion of the present capitol, many of the state
officers rented space here in the Patterson's Gold Room, a basement
banquet facility, for many years. The Senate Appropriations Committee
rented Suite 200, locally known as "the Decision-Making Room" in the
1940's and early 1950's. Because so much of North Dakota's future was
determined at political conclaves here at the Patterson, it eventually
became identified in the public mind as an extension of the Capitol.
The unique atmosphere of
Peacock Alley's bar, created in what was the lobby of the historic
hotel, together with the oversized drinks, tasty snacks, hot sandwiches,
homemade soups and sinful desserts, make it the popular gathering place.
Peacock Alley offers fine food and hospitality that Ed Patterson made
famous. Manager Mary Barbere and the entire staff are dedicated to
making the Peacock Alley experience a memorable one for you.
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