Stop 20: Syndicate Block – 64–74 Broadway
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Built in 1893 by a syndicate of businessmen, this building was one of the very first post-fire buildings and housed the Elliott Hotel.
The building originally had an ornate cornice and parapet, with corner hexagonal towers on the north and south corners. The building was heavily damaged in a 1941 fire that gutted the interior, and many of the fine exterior features were also damaged and removed.
The original Elliott Hotel, built by Peter Elliott, was burned in the Fargo fire of 1893. After that, Elliott erected a large tent as a temporary restaurant for the town until this building was completed. It featured all the most modern conveniences of the time, including steam heat and electric lighting.
Elliott had come to Fargo as a carpenter in 1873, but abandoned that profession to work on the steamboats that traveled between Fargo and Winnipeg.
The building is currently (2006) undergoing a storefront rehabilitation project in an attempt to restore some of its historical integrity.