Though historical sources vary as to the details, all agree that the Superior Hotel was the first establishment in the world where Gideons placed Bibles in hotel rooms. Some credit the proprietor, Edna Wilkinson, with writing to the Gideons and asking for one Bible for each of her 25 rooms. Most sources say that local miner and hotel regular Archie Bailey approached Wilkinson and offered to cover the cost of purchase. Still others report that a traveling stranger donated the Bibles: when questioned about the location, “he replied that he put it where he figured it was needed the most.” Regardless of their origin, the Bibles arrived in 1908 and started an international trend for the Gideons.

The Superior Hotel eventually became the Ordean Hotel and catered to local miners and railroad workers. It also served travelers moving between Idaho and Montana. In its 1939 Montana state guidebook, the Work Projects Administration observed that the hotel was particularly beloved among miners: “They felt its plush and gilt, mirrors and marble, justified the high cost of the otherwise meager accommodations. The drunker a man became, the more elegant the place seemed.”

The landmark business burned to the ground in December 1940, and its replacement was constructed several miles away on a ridge overlooking the Clark Fork.

The Gideons placed a commemorative plaque on the site of the original hotel. The plaque incorrectly states that the lodging house was originally in Iron Mountain; the town at this location was always Superior. Iron Mountain was the name of the community across the river from Superior and the name of a mine north of the city. It was considered an independent city for many decades, only becoming part of Superior after the construction of several bridges and the combining of the post offices in 1949.

Credits and Sources:

Federal Writer’s Project. Montana, a State Guide Book. New York: The Viking Press, 1939.

“Fire Destroys Old Landmark.” Mineral Independent, December 5, 1940.

Hahn, Margie E. Montana’s Mineral County in Retrospect.Stevensville, MT: Stoneydale Press Publishing Company, 1997.

Mineral County Historical Society. Mineral County History.Superior, MT: Mineral County Historical Society, 2004.

The Montana Historical Society of Mineral County. 118 Years of History.Superior, MT: The Montana Historical Society of Mineral County, n.d.

Strombo, Cathryn. “Gideons to Commemorate First Bible Placement on October 4.” The Clark Fork Chronicle, Week of September 23–29, 2008.

Therriault, Ednor. Montana Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff.Washington, DC: Rowman & Littlefield, 2010.

Historic photographs of “Superior Street” and “Superior Hotel” courtesy of Mineral County Historical Museum, Superior, MT.

Contemporary photographs of Superior Hotel site courtesy of Historical Research Associates, Inc.