HARLOWTON — The Harlowton community is left shocked after a fire early Sunday morning destroyed the 115-year-old Graves Hotel. Now rubble, smoke and memories are all that remain Monday of the hotel.
Marilyn Fake, a longtime Harlowton resident, remembers the hotel as a large part of her childhood.
"As a child, I would come here with my grandmother a lot for coffee and donuts,” Fake said Monday.
She started working in the hotel's cafe in August last year and grew close to the owners, Jeff Samuelson and Cole Uhden, who were still working on restoring the historic building.
"Cole, he’s just like my son. Jeff would be like my brother. They’re great guys… They would do anything for you,” Fake said.
So, when she realized on Sunday morning where the smoke was coming from—the historic district— she was devastated.
“When I realized it was the hotel, I fell apart,” she said.
Fake said the owners lived in the hotel and lost everything in the fire, only making it out with their dogs and clothing on their backs.
“When I saw them at 7:30 that morning they had bathrobes, flip flops, no socks. Cold, wet, shaking, the dogs were a mess,” Fake said.
She has set up an account under Samuelson and Uhden's name for donations at the Harlowton Citizens Bank & Trust Co. with hopes of getting them back on their feet. She said they have a safe place to stay for the remainder of the week, but she is unsure of what the future holds for the two.
“It’s going to take a long time for all of us to realize what we lost,” she said. "It’s just been a huge impact. Everybody’s devastated and heartbroken.”
