Stanley Hotel

Spent the last couple of days at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park CO attending a conference. The Stanley provided the inspiration for the Stephen King novel the shining. While the Stanley hotel is not the location used in the Stanley Kubrick film of the same name, that is a combination of set interiors and exteriors at the Mt. Hood resort in Oregon, it was used in the King's miniseries of the shining. The story goes that when King spent some time there early in his career, his ghostly encounters there lead to the book. It was also a time in his life when he was suffering from a serious alcohol problem. So one has to wonder if the spirits he saw came from the bottom of a bottle.



Once the family had died, the Stanley hotel had passed from owner to owner and had fallen into serious disrepair. Ironically the interest in filming the shining miniseries lead to its restoration. Today it's one of many historic hotels. The year 2009 marks its 100 anniversary.



Despite the family's fame for Steam powered automobiles, the Stanley fortune actually came from photography. My Vintage Camera has a post about the Stanley brothers. The brothers were responsible for developing the dry plate photographic process that lead to modern photography. They sold their patent to Eastman Kodak company in 1905, becoming quite wealthy, and turned their interest towards steam powered automobiles.



The family came to Colorado for reasons of health, but found the air of Denver too dirty to provide any relief. At the suggestion of a Doctor, they traveled from Denver to stay in a cabin located in Estes Park. And the rest is history.