Grand Hotel Building History

The Rhein River Arts Center and the historic building in which it is housed, date from 1875. The building and site has a long and interesting history. The first hotel in New Ulm, The Minnesota Haus, was built on this site in 1856. This hotel burned and its owner, Phillip Gross rebuilt in 1860, calling this new hotel the Union Hotel. The Union Hotel served as a hospital during the Dakota Indian War of 1862, when the downtown was barricaded during the two battles for New Ulm that occurred that August.

The Union Hotel again burned in 1875 and was again rebuilt by Gross.
The first two stories of the current Italianate building were built at that
time. The current Rhein River Arts Center side would have held the
hotel dining room, while the opposite side, currently housing
The Candy Shop, would have housed a saloon.
The saloon side later became the hotel lobby. The entire hotel was
remodeled and the dining room enlarged in 1899.
The current tin ceiling in the Arts Center dates from the 1899 renovation. The building passed out of the family in 1899 and had many owners as it continued in use as a hotel until the 1970’s.

The current owners of the building are the fifth generation descendents of Phillip H. Gross, the original hotel proprietor and builder. The owners and their family re-purchased the building and have painstakingly renovated the first floor to much of its original grandeur, including salvaging original tin and restoring the 1875 windows. Future plans include a renovation of the remainder of the building.