13 years of efforts lead to opening of store in historic Electric Hotel, another step in Harrington’s renewal

HARRINGTON, Wash. – A warm glow radiates from a glass storefront in the corner of a hotel that has been empty for many years. Christmas decorations in the window now welcome shoppers out of the cold.

The new gift shop is a milestone toward the restoration of the historic Hotel Lincoln in Harrington, a town of about 400 people an hour west of Spokane in Lincoln County.

“The Mercantile” opened last Thursday during an extended-hours holiday shopping event for small businesses in Harrington. It sells apparel, gifts and, right now, holiday decorations like denim Christmas stockings.

The shop is an outgrowth of Julie Jacobson’s online brand, AgSwag, featuring agriculture-themed merchandise. Her signature items are hats and T-shirts with the design of a cattle tag using the 509 area code.

A couple of years ago, the owners of the hotel asked Jacobson about opening a brick-and-mortar shop. At the time, the overhead costs were daunting, but through consignments and event pop-ups, her brand continued to grow.

“I was so excited with what they were doing with the hotel,” Jacobson said.

She is calling the shop a “pop-up market” for the month of December. It will close for January and February before a grand opening planned in March.

Jacobson grew up in Harrington and moved back when she inherited her father’s cattle ranch just outside of town. The first two months of the year are calving season, she explained. “Retail is pretty slow those months anyhow.”

To see the lights back on in the hotel is a hopeful sign: it was the first building in Harrington to be furnished with electricity when it opened in 1902. That’s why it is also known as the Electric Hotel, as indicated by a restored 1940s neon sign on the side of the building.

“It’s so cool, just the name,” said Karen Allen, who along with her husband Jerry, bought the property in 2009. “We love the Electric Hotel.”

Before this project, the West Plains couple had some experience remodeling houses. They became familiar with the building while driving through town.

“We liked this town so much. It’s like a little Norman Rockwell town.”

A crew got a lot of structural work done during the first year, before the Great Recession slowed things down. It has been an ongoing side project ever since.

Karen Allen is retired from a career as an executive assistant for the Mead School District. She is focusing on the restoration full time now, while Jerry Allen continues to work as a truck driver for the grain co-op in Harrington. They hope the hotel will bring new life to the community.

The hotel was built by the Harrington Improvement Company, with the intention of developing the town by giving a workforce and travelers on the Great Northern Railway a place to stay.

“We want to do the same thing,” Karen Allen said. “We want to go back and recreate history.”

Business declined over the decades until the hotel finally closed in 1980.

The Allens listed the building on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.

Most of the work on the storefront portion of the building began in 2020 when the Washington Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation awarded a couple of grants to finish structural and electrical work. They took out a loan to finish that portion of the building, which includes a manager’s apartment upstairs that is nearly finished.

The storefront is trimmed with fir woodwork, reclaimed from elsewhere in the building.

The rest of the building, the hotel portion, is down to the studs. Karen Allen is searching for funding for the rest of the project, which she says is about 40% finished.

A dining room on the main floor will have space for a restaurant.

At one time, there were 24 single rooms, but they were small by modern standards, so they have been conjoined with adjacent rooms to make 12 suites on the upper floor.

An additional ADA-accessible suite will be on the first floor.

Leslie LePere, an artist and farmer who has volunteered and lent tools for the project, called the hotel “a cornerstone” of ongoing efforts to turn Harrington’s old architecture into new businesses, “which is healthy for the economy, healthy from a social standpoint and is returning pride to the community.”

LePere raised donations to hire another local artist-farmer, Gavin Wagner, to repaint fading old signs on several of Harrington’s brick buildings, including two for the hotel.

“There has been some neat community involvement here, which is really important.” Karen Allen said.

Since the Allens bought the hotel , seven new businesses have opened in town, she said. “It’s a proven thing, if you start improving something, other things will come along.”

Across the street from the hotel, the old city hall and firehouse, built in 1904, has been restored into a private residence by owner Geoffrey Talkington.

“This is a labor of love,” said Talkington, who started his own project about 25 years ago.

He recalled a group of residents who met in the year 2000 to discuss preserving the downtown, laying the groundwork for innovation that continues today.

That led to the Harrington Historic Preservation Commission forming in 2009. Karen Allen, LePere and Talkington are all members.

When it finally reopens, the Hotel Lincoln will be the only hotel in Harrington.

The Allens envision many types of visitors who might stay there.

It could be a place for travelers heading north from the interstate at Ritzville, for golfers at the Harrington Golf and Country Club, wedding guests or seasonal workers. It could be a destination itself for historic preservation enthusiasts. And it could host people attending one of the town’s classic car shows or performances at the Harrington Opera House – another building of the same era that has been restored by local residents and the Harrington Opera House Society.

Once finished, Karen Allen plans to hand the operation of the hotel off to someone else.

“I want somebody younger in here who is happy to do it and can do a great job,” she said. “It’s been a long haul.”