The Bostwick Hotel, erected in 1884 on the site of the Denver House Hotel, was named for Harrison Bostwick, major stockholder and president of City National Bank. The hotel occupied a large place in the social and political history of Hastings until the Clarke hotel was built in 1914.

An outstanding feature was the large central corridor of the second floor, with a gallery which opened to the third floor. This corridor was elaborate and spacious with a high ceiling and was often used by Hastings people for formal social gatherings.

Many notables registered at the hotel including John Phillip Sousa, William Jennings Bryan, General John J. Pershing, and many entertainers who graced the stage of the Kerr Opera House.

In 1916 the hotel was renamed the American House. It was destroyed by fire on a Sunday afternoon in December, 1925. The fire, seen for fifteen miles away, began in McElhinney Drug store and spread to the hotel. Thousands of persons watched firefighters battle the flames. Also destroyed in the fire was the YWCA Cafeteria and club rooms and the Empress Theatre. The Rivoli Theatre and Alexander Hotel were constructed on the site of the Bostwick Hotel in 1926.