In 1859, Louis Knapp and his widowed mother, Rachel, came to Port Orford, Oregon, from Baltimore, Maryland. Their well-known Knapp Hotel was originally constructed as a boarding house in 1869. This is actually the second hotel/rooming house owned by the Knapps at that location as the first burnt down in a devastating fire in 1868. In 1883, Louis Knapp Sr. built a new updated hotel, managed by Mother Knapp.
![](https://blog.portorfordhistoricalphotos.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Building-Knapp-Hotel-West-side-c1899.jpg)
At the southern limits of Port Orford [stood] the KNAPP HOTEL, a plain white weathered building. Louis Knapp, who died in 1929, extended his hospitality here, and in previous structures, for generations.
BEV CLARNO — A 1940 Oregon Coast Tour: Port Orford To The California Line
Rooms in the hotel are designated by names of illustrious persons. There is a Sherman Room, an Ellen Tichenor Room, a Joe Meek Room, a Jack London Room, and a W.H. Seward Room. The story is told that Seward, by then a former Secretary of State, was a guest of Mr. Knapp on his way to visit Alaska, whose purchase he helped negotiate.
![Building Knapp Hotel West side c1935](https://blog.portorfordhistoricalphotos.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Building-Knapp-Hotel-West-side-c1935.jpg)
The advantageous location of the hotel and its white exterior gave it the distinction of aiding sailing ships with their navigation. At night, the Knapps would place a kerosene lantern in the window facing the sea
![Knapp Hotel Circa 1930s - Photo-retouched and Colorized by Lance Nix](https://blog.portorfordhistoricalphotos.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Knapp-Hotel-Circa-1930s-Nix-1024x705.jpg)
![](https://blog.portorfordhistoricalphotos.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Building-Knapp-Hotel-North-side-snow-1024x504.png)
The family-run Knapp Hotel yielded to progress in the 1940s, when it literally stood in the way of U. S. Highway 101. (As It Was: Tales From The State of Jefferson — Shirley Nelson).
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