Hotel Lester-Lester Cafe | |
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| Location | 408-410 2nd St., NW. Mason City, Iowa |
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| Coordinates | 43°09′13.6″N93°12′28.3″W / 43.153778°N 93.207861°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1915 |
| Architectural style | Early Commercial |
| NRHP reference No. | 02001543 [1] |
| Added to NRHP | December 20, 2002 |
Hotel Lester-Lester Cafe, also known as the Dodge House-Long Branch, is a historic building located in Mason City, Iowa, United States. Its construction, completed in 1915, was a project undertaken by local real estate developer Meir Wolf. Built as a two-story building a block away from the passenger and freight depots of the Chicago and North Western Railroad and the Chicago Great Western Railway. The building was intended as a railroad hotel, allowing passengers and rail employees to avoid the six- to eight-block trip downtown. It is the only remaining railroad hotel left in Mason City. [2] Hotel guests stayed in the 29 rooms on the second floor, and three commercial spaces on the first floor were occupied by a variety of restaurants, grocery stores and barbershops. Its most famous guest was track star Jesse Owens, who was in town in December 1937 for a basketball exhibition. He could not stay at the other hotels in town because of his race. [2] In 1975, The hotel was renamed the Dodge House, with the Long Branch Saloon replacing the former café. By that time it was largely used as a rooming house, and it was used to house the homeless. [3] The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. [1]
An arsonist set fire to the building on September 6, 2006, and did significant damage to the structure. It had been vacant for five years at that time. [3] In 2007, the second floor was removed and the first floor converted into four apartments. [4]
