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53HISTORY
THE ART OF THE
By Melville Holmes & Kathryn Brogdon
DAVENPORTt was
It is now 16 or 17 years since I saw the queen of France , then the dauphiness , at Versailles . And surely never lighted on this orb , which she hardly seemed to touch , a more delightful vision . I saw her just above the horizon , decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in , glittering like the morning star full of life and splendour and joy . – Edmund Burke Pamphlet on the French Revolution 1793
One might best describe the Marie Antoinette Ballroom on the Mezzanine Floor by saying that it is “ a dream .” The Marie Antoinette Room truly breathes the spirit and ideals of this remarkable woman . – Davenport Hotel , Spokane , USA : The Pride of an Empire 1915 no idle boast when , a year after its opening in 1914 , the Davenport Hotel , on the title page of its promotional booklet a year later , called itself “ One of America ’ s Exceptional Hotels .” Spokane , Washington had become the hub of a vast “ Inland Empire ” at the eastern edge of the state . Wealth from timber , mining , and agriculture flowed in , turning Spokane into a major railroad transit nexus . By at least 1908 , a grand hotel was under consideration . The name came from acting keyman for the project , one Louis Davenport . He left Red Bluff , California in 1889 , arriving fresh in the barely-established town then known as Spokane Falls . That was the same year the great fire broke out downtown , destroying most of Spokane ’ s businesses . Nevertheless , Davenport , after learning the restaurant business from his uncle Elijah , opened his own namesake restaurant in 1890 . By age 41 , less than ten years later , he was a millionaire .
Davenport ’ s Restaurant gained an outstanding reputation for fine dining and excellent service
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