Address: 902 North River Street, Hot Springs, SD 57747

Date Built: 1908

First Occupant: Braun Hotel in 1908 and added a Bath House in 1910

Current Occupant: Braun Hotel/Buffalo Steakhouse

Sandstone Quarry: Evan's Quarry, Fall River County, SD, the largest of the pink sandstone quarries, located 5 miles east of Hot Springs.

Architect: UNKNOWN

Contractor: Jay Putnam in the amount of $10,000 Architectural Style: Henry and Ella Braun opened the Braun Hotel in 1908 with the Bath House opening in 1910. Probably the most distinctive feature of the L-shaped building is its mansard roof that has a variety of shingle types and features pent roofed dormers. (A pent roof is a small single-slope roof attached just above the windows and is self-supporting, without posts, columns or brackets. As an architectural detail, it creates a visual division between the floors with its purpose to shed water away as well as shade windows from direct sun.) Flat-topped windows with deep reveals and lug sills (a sill with its ends extending beyond the window and built into the masonry at the jamb.)

History: The plat of ground where The Braun Hotel was constructed was first the Evans Mineral Mud Bath House that opened in 1902 by Fred T Evans. Evans passed away in October 1902 and the land was transferred to Henry and Ella Braun in October 1905. Construction of the new hotel began in Fall 1907 and by mid-March 1908 the stonework had been completed and the mansard roof was going on. The Braun’s moved in the porcelain bath equipment into the Hotel from the Evans Mud Bath Center and continued providing both mud and steam baths. The Braun Bath House was constructed and opened for business in May 1910 as a part of the hotel. There were separate men’s and women’s bathing areas in the basement level made with cement flooring for sanitary reasons. The first floor was arranged with two dining rooms, a kitchen, and offices on the north side. The south side was for the parlors and reading rooms, separated for men and women. The second and third floors were for the accommodation of guests and were hot water heated. There was a house physician on site in an office adjacent to the main office, with an operating room on the third floor. Ella Braun passed away in the latter part of 1918 and Fred remarried Hannah Larson. The Braun’s remained in the Hotel where they served family-style meals to both their guests and others as well. Hannah died from cancer, and the property was purchased at the county tax sale in January 1940. It was at that time the apartments were constructed into the Hotel.

Helen Magee Archives for The Braun Hotel

QR Code Info: The plat of ground where The Braun Hotel was constructed was first the Evans Mineral Mud Bath House that opened in 1902 by Fred T Evans. Evans passed away in October 1902 and the land was transferred to Henry and Ella Braun in October 1905. The Braun’s moved in the porcelain bath equipment into the Hotel from the Evans Mud Bath Center and continued providing both mud and steam baths. The Braun Bath House was constructed and opened for business in May 1910 as a part of the hotel.