Garner House
Built ca. 1914.
The word "hospitality" and the Garner name are synonymous around Mason County, where several of the Garner brothers and their wives ran many of Mason's earliest hotels. Indeed, according to oral accounts and deed history, even the Garner family home was often used as a boarding house and, later, rental units.
*The Garner House has multiple units available for booking. View Garner House, Unit B.
A Hotel Family
Before the Garner brothers built themselves a small hotel dynasty in late 19th century Mason, they were Georgia boys and the sons of William Garner, a farmer. John Sampson, the oldest, was born in 1838; later, James F. was born in 1844; and a decade after John Sampson (who went by Samp or Samuel), Richard H. was born.
Sometime in the early 1870s, the Garners made their way down to Mason, eventually becoming one of the founding families of the area. In 1876, James was elected sheriff of Mason at the age of 32, and served two terms in that position, or until 1880. Meanwhile, the 1880 census lists Richard as a "laborer" and Samp as "farmer." Perhaps it took some time to earn enough to buy their hotels, but by the 1890s, Richard (or Rich) and his wife Martha were operating the Southern Hotel, and Samp, his wife Nancy, and his son, John or J.F., were running the City Livery, the West Side Hotel, and finally, Mason House.
Another Widow is Made
That same year, Rich and Martha's son-in-law, Rudolph Doell, also met an untimely and undignified end. Rudolph ran the livery for the Mason House (which is perhaps how he and Jennie, Garner's daughter, met). At the beginning of 1914, Rudolph and Jennie were living with Martha at the Southern Hotel, having moved in after Rich's death in late January. But later that year, Rudolph accidentally shot himself with his shotgun while crossing a wire fence. In a single year, both mother and daughter were widows, the latter left with eight mouths to feed.
After the death of their father Rudolph, Jennie's children had no choice but to help the family make ends meet. Their oldest son, Oscar, was a clerk at a dry goods store, but what could the other two elder boys, ages 12 and 14 at the time of Rich's death, do to earn money? They sold peanuts and popcorn on the streets of Mason and at the Airdome Open-Air Theater.
Mason's Cinematic History
Once as numerous in the first decade and a half of the twentieth century as drive-in movie theaters were four decades later, airdome theaters were a cost-effective solution to entertainment in small towns across the country. Often little more than a vacant lot enclosed with canvas walls, a cloth projection screen, and a projector, these open-air theaters were host to moving pictures accompanied by live music, vaudeville acts, and local talent. Source.
Mason's Airdome Theater was located in the empty lot between the Mason County Jail and the boarding house of Ruth Ricks. Before the jail was constructed in 1894, Ruth asked the city to keep a fenced lot and an alley between the jail and her property. Little did she know that a decade later, empty lots were the perfect locale for traveling tent shows. Source.
When was the house built?
The exact year the house was built on the land first purchased by Martha in 1913 is unknown, however, a number of sources, including the personal account of Tom Doell (the great-grandson of Rudolph and Jennie), point to the house being built towards the end of the World War I era, but before 1922. According to Tom, Doell's eldest son, Oscar, helped build the house.
The Garner House Today
The house's original footprint is visually distinct from the renovations made over time, including a full wing added on the north end, a fourth kitchen added on the south end, dormer windows added onto the second story, and an outdoor staircase that was enclosed for interior use.
In oral accounts collected over the years, local residents remember various chapters in the home's history. One resident remembers renting a room here with her mother and sister in the 1940s. Other residents recall a cooking fire in the back of the house that damaged the rear and upstairs units. Evidence of the fire is still visible on certain walls and the attic ceiling. A later owner who operated a mobile hot dog stand in front of the house and sold restored cars from the lawn built a hidden door to look like an armoire which gave secret access to the back units from the front of the house.
