Preserving History in Thedford: The Revival of the Cowpoke Hotel
It’s stood since 1914. The building, now officially known as the Cowpoke Hotel again, has been a big part of history in Thedford, Nebraska. First, known as the Sandhills Hospital, then a boarding house, then a private hotel, the building had been sitting mostly untouched for the past several years.
But now this building will continue as a piece of the town’s history thanks to partners Kaycee Orr-Hoffman and Dixie Hoffman, contractor Roy Licking and many other members of the community and nearby.
Continuing the legacy as a private hotel
“Since I’ve been in Thedford, I’ve always loved this building,” Orr-Hoffman said.
When she discovered it was for sale about two years ago, she knew and saw its full potential. It was owned by a past townsman, Scott Philpot, who had used it as a private hotel for decades, but he and his family had since moved away from Thedford. Local contractor, Licking, had been taking care of just necessary building maintenance since the early 1980s.
Orr-Hoffman ran into Licking at the grocery store and, although she thought she might sound crazy, told him that she was interested in the building if he wasn’t. In the back of her mind, this building was not only an important part of Thedford’s history but also a great fit for their ranch customers. The Hoffman family owns Hoffman Ranch and like many others in the cattle business located in a rural area, this brings many customers through town, but often, not many lodging options.
When Licking told her that as he getting older, he is trying to get rid of things and not acquire more, this ultimately brought Orr-Hoffman and her mother-in-law, Hoffman, to Philpot to strike a deal to purchase the building. They promised they would continue it as a hotel and make him proud. In fact, they even wanted to keep everything inside — all the heirlooms, the dressers, antiques and more.
“It’s a beautiful building with so much history, and we couldn’t bear to see it fade away,” Hoffman said.
Before they knew it, the keys to this rare and special building were in their hands.
A labor of love
“We thought we might just need a few cans of paint, fix a few bricks and that would be it,” Orr-Hoffman said.
It was closer to a complete overhaul — nearly two years of hard work.
“When we first walked into the building, we were definitely questioning what we had gotten ourselves into,” Hoffman said.
But Licking had been a big part of the building’s history, so they really leaned into his expertise and vision to restore the hotel to its glory as well as make some necessary modernizations.
“We couldn’t have done it without him,” Hoffman said.
The building had been remodeled a lot over the years for its different uses, so Licking began mostly by just cutting back areas until he figured out what was original.
“The entryway had two more doors added and it always seemed odd, but that’s the way it had always been,” Licking said. “When I tore the doors out, then you could see these had been added sometime in its life. We just started tearing back layers until we could see what had been there.”
The renovations not only brought up some stories from the past but also some interesting challenges.
“For instance, we had the operating room from when this place was a hospital and we made it into a little bunk room for kids,” Licking said. “Also, trying to use up some of the older rooms from the original build was a little bit of a challenge because they’re all odd sizes.”
He said that they didn’t move any walls or change anything from what it had been since the 1980s — just really worked with what they had and tried to upgrade where needed.”
“Roy and his team ended up redoing the plumbing and a lot of the electricity as well,” Orr-Hoffman said. “They didn’t use as much near as much electricity in the past, so electrical-wise, we had to ensure the building was set up for phone chargers and everything that needs to be plugged in today.”
The community really backed the Hoffmans and Licking on this entire process.
“We had a lot of fun and really nice people to work with throughout,” Licking said. “I got to bring in all the guys that I’ve worked with for my entire life — my heating and air guy, my electrician, plumber, my painter and other partners. My bricklayer, Albrecht Masonry, was amazing. The Hoffmans even furnished me up a little helper, Josie Kursave, who was 14 at the time we started, and we named ‘Master Apprentice.’ She was involved with every part of the renovation, and I think she really learned a lot.”
“Roy knows, and it took all the right people to help bring this vision and its history back to life,” Hoffman said.
“It truly turned out far better than we could have ever imagined!” Orr-Hoffman said.
Carrying on community and family history
Hoffman Ranch’s recent annual fall bull sale on Nov. 14 brought the Hoffmans’ first visitors to the hotel and first guests in decades.
“We decorated it with many of the original items and things representing Thedford’s history, but also many pictures and memorabilia from the Orr and Hoffman families,” Orr-Hoffman said. “We tried to tie in all history. The Philpott family were big cattle buyers, so they had some old memorabilia from this perspective we kept. Then, we included things from both my family and my husband and my father-in-law and mother-in-law’s family. Since we’ve all shown cattle, each room upstairs is themed after what used to be all the major cattle shows, including Denver, Omaha, Kansas City and Chicago.”
According to Licking, many people, not just in Thedford, know this building, and many in the area also have strong connections to it.
“My neighbor was one of the last babies born in it when it was a hospital,” he said. “I think that the community was excited to see this building being saved and it went well past that into quite a showpiece. It’s nice to drive down the street and see the lights on again. It’s nice and clean and just looks like it’s taken care of again.”
Orr-Hoffman said that it really is a place that deserves to stay standing in Thedford and she hopes it will be for at least the next 100 years.
“This really is a place you just can’t find anywhere,” Hoffman said. “The other day, we were sitting in the hotel visiting, and it all takes you back in time. History is restored, but what you could hear if these walls could talk.”
Each room upstairs is themed after what used to be all the major cattle shows — Denver, Omaha, Kansas City and Chicago.
Many in the community and surrounding area were involved in giving this original 1914 Cowpoke Hotel the love it needed, including: Roy Licking, who was the master craftsman; Josie Kursave, referred to as master apprentice; Albrecht Masonry who grinded out the old mortar and restore all brick, both inside and out; Thedford Lumber & Supply for the tin ceiling and lumber, hardware and equipment; KC Electric for all the electrical work; Duda Plumbing for all plumbing; Chapins Decorating for flooring; Brandon Hill for painting; Triple G Redimix and Mark Teahon for cement; Russell Licking and Russ Reiser for metal work, including the flagpole, benches and panels; Bridget Licking for old furniture revamping; Kevin Hood for the wood window boxes; Eric Ridenour who sanded all the wood floors; Midwest Partitions for dry wall work; Frey Heating & Air; Ben Steele for the upstairs dropped ceiling; Swans Furniture for bedding; Kearney Crete & Block for the bricks and 1914 stone; Tuscumbia Iron Works for the light poles at the entrance; Weathercraft of North Platte, Nebraska, for the rubber roof; Tri City Sign Company for the Cowpoke Sign; Sandhill Oil who moved and ran propane lines, Wendy Ann for decorating ideas and flooring; Orr Dry Cleaning and Drapery for window coverings; Reiser Boys who cleaned out the basement, Justa Diebler/Consolidated Telephone Co. for internet; and Brad Sawyer for security cameras and sound system.
