The Olive Hotel On the National Register of Historic Places Has a Beautiful Enameled Cast-iron Bath Tub

[[ZMM Book, Opening of Part II at Chapter 8 ]]
…."Feeling good now. We got in here [hotel in Miles City] in the afternoon and made up for a lot of sleep."

501 Main St Miles City MT is location of one the more beautifully preserved of the eight hotels listed in the 1968 Miles City Directory. Although this is probably NOT the hotel Pirsig, Chris, and the Sutherlands actually stayed in, it does have a lot of interesting history and it IS ON the National Register of Historic Places! Also this 1889 hotel DOES have a beautiful 1908 Victorian lobby, AND as you will see in the next pictures, a "beautiful enameled cast-iron bath tub crouched on lion's paws in the middle of a marble floor". Among the existing 1968 hotels in Miles City, the Olive comes out high as possibly having such a Victorian Bath Tub available to guests looking for decent but inexpensive overnight rooms in 1968.
….HOWEVER, Mark Richardson Found Differently. Bill Bergerson of “Bill's Cycle Shop" Told Mark That Pirsig Stayed At The Parkview Hotel, which was near his shop at the time. Clearly the Parkview Hotel would have been more in keeping with the modest finances of Pirsig and Sutherlands, than the Olive Hotel. Since Pirsig traveled this route regularly with his family (from Minneapolis to Montana State University at Bozeman, MT), he would have known the whereabouts of the off-beat lower price accommodations. Unfortunately, this Parkview Hotel was demolished in Summer 2006.
… Click here to see Mark Richardson's photo of the Parkview Hotel, in new browser window.
*************************

(Photo = 104-0490 ...... ZMM Page = 083 …… WayPt = 097w)