Picture Courtesy of Jim Kuntz

Picture Courtesy of Jim Kuntz

Created from the Louisiana Territory, the Territory of Missouri was established by an Act of Congress in 1812, and became the 24th state in 1821. Sixteen years later in 1837 there were about sixty people living here on the banks of the Osage. That year the first hotel in the area opened its doors to provide accommodations to the travelers. It was a double log cabin structure with a passageway between the cabins. The grounds on which the present Commercial Hotel is located were platted in June 1850. A frame building was constructed on the property it proudly bore the titles 'Pollard House' and 'Union Inn.'

In 1861 the hotel was destroyed by fire in the ferocious raid on the town by Jim Lane during the Civil War. Osceola was the only Missouri town so thoroughly devastated. The present Commercial Hotel was erected in 1867.

A pleasant gathering place through the span of well over a century. The Commercial Hotel still bears the original banisters where guest hands were placed so long ago.

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