The hotel's history began in 1882, just 36 years after Fort Benton was founded and 7 years before Montana became a state, and was built at the height of Fort Benton's prosperity and the steamboat era on the Upper Missouri River.
Following a construction cost of $50,000 with an additional $150,000 spent on furnishings and a construction time of 1 year, 3 months and 18 days, the newly christened Grand Union Hotel opened November 2, 1882 with the biggest party the town and Territory had ever seen. Over 300 attended including some of the most prominent men and women in Montana history.
The Grand Union ran continuously for over a hundred years but sadly, due to hard times, closed its doors in the mid-1980s. The “Grand Olde Lady” sat empty of over a decade before native Montanans, Jim and Cheryl Gagnon purchased the hotel and began restoring it in 1997.
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