History

In 1847, John Lambertson built what came to be known as the Lambertson House on the southwest corner of Main Street and Fifth Street.  Soon after the property was sold and had many owners.  Around 1861, popular caterer G.G. "Doc" Lomason, a "natural hotel-keeper," operated the property as a hotel, which could accommodate 30 guests and had a stable nearby.  Lomason and his wife held lavish New Year's Eve parties and were well liked by the populace.  After a number of years, Lomason sold the hotel to an Irish man, James W. Smith.

Around 1880, James W. Smith came to Avon and made a living farming.  Ten years later, in 1890, Smith bought the hotel and changed the name from the Lambertson House to the Hotel St. James.  Smith was said to be the spitting image of president William Howard Taft (1909-1913); both weighed about 300 pounds and when President Taft made trips to Michigan, Smith often met him on his tour through the state.  Smith installed "sanitary facilities, hot and cold running water, and electric lights" in his hotel.  These modern facilities were not the only things the hotel was famous for.  The St. James was also known for its chicken dinners and entertainment.  On Saturday nights it was said that Smith had a German band perform. 

It was commented that the Hotel St. James, also known as St. James Hotel, was famous "all through Michigan for the excellence of its cuisine and for its homelike and comfortable quarters."  The hotel's twenty-one rooms were a "model for cleanliness and neatness."  Smith was cited as one of the most popular landlords in Michigan whom "the traveling men all have a good word for and his famous hotel."  The hotel quickly became a landmark on Rochester's Main Street.  The hotel also had specialists come in so people could have their "acute or private diseases" diagnosed.  Smith also held, in 1891, a Thanksgiving dinner for the populace, which was well received.  In 1909, Smith built the St. James Casino across from his hotel.  The casino promised, "the finest moving pictures seen outside Detroit."

The St. James was used as a hotel through World War II.  In 1962, after 115 years, the hotel was dilapidated and considered an "eyesore."  The hotel's fate was sealed on November 21, 1962 when attorneys for the village of Rochester and James Smith's heirs filed a consent judgment in circuit court just before the village condemnation suit against the heirs was to get underway.  The agreement gave the heirs sixty days to tear the hotel down before the village would see that it was razed and also add $1,800 to the property's tax rolls.  James Smith's heir, Lottie Smith, was not opposed to the razing; she wanted it torn down by Christmas.  The hotel was demolished by early 1963.  Today, the site is home to Starbuck's.