Commercial Hotel

Built in 1885 (Queen Anne style). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

From the record

“The former Commercial Hotel is a historic hotel building in Wadena, Minnesota, United States, built circa 1885. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988 for having local significance in the theme of commerce.”
Wikipedia article Commercial Hotel (Wadena, Minnesota), CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 4 National Register listings published here for Wadena County · listed in 1988 · category: Building · built in 1885, Queen Anne style.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service · the Wikipedia article

The listing

What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
Address. Jefferson St. South, Wadena, 56482
When was it listed? December 1988
Category. building
City. Wadena city
When was it built? 1885
Architectural style. Queen Anne style
National Register reference number. 88003010 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

72 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 72 fires within 5 miles of Commercial Hotel between 1992 and 2020, burning about 868 acres in total. None started naturally. 26 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Arson/incendiarism	26
Debris and open burning	19
Equipment and vehicle use	11
Railroad operations and maintenance	5
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	4
Recreation and ceremony	3
Misuse of fire by a minor	1
Fireworks	1
Other causes	1
Power generation/transmission/distribution	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
6 September 2013	Arson/incendiarism	2.0 acres	Minnesota Department of Natural Resources	not named
21 August 2012	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Minnesota Department of Natural Resources	not named
26 July 2014	Equipment and vehicle use	under an acre	Minnesota Department of Natural Resources	not named
19 July 2007	Debris and open burning	17 acres	Minnesota Department of Natural Resources	not named
3 June 2003	Arson/incendiarism	under an acre	Minnesota Department of Natural Resources	not named
29 June 2006	Equipment and vehicle use	under an acre	Minnesota Department of Natural Resources	not named
2 June 2009	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Minnesota Department of Natural Resources	not named
2 June 2006	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Minnesota Department of Natural Resources	not named

Every fire recorded in Wadena County

Storms near this property

58 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Wadena, the town this property stands in, in 58 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 30 hail, 21 thunderstorm wind, 4 flash flood, 1 heavy rain. The reports record 21 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
June 2010	Tornado (EF4)	Wadena	20 hurt	This multi-vortex wedge tornado began in Otter Tail County about 3 miles southwest of the city of Wadena at 459 PM CDT. It tracked for about 2 miles in Otter Tail County, then it continued for another 8 miles in Wadena County. The tornado ravaged the western half of the community of Wadena. Numerous homes were flattened to the ground and at least one was completely swept from its foundation and destroyed. Public and industrial buildings were wrecked, the fairgrounds were damaged, and headstones in the cemetery were overturned. School buses and vehicles were propelled through the air for hundreds of yards. The tornado hit on the day of the Wadena all-school reunion, so many additional people were in the area. Roughly 100 people were displaced from their homes. Peak winds were estimated at 170 mph.
June 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Wadena	1 hurt	Trees were blown down all around Wadena. Trees fell on buildings, cars, and power lines. A church under construction lost its roof and a wall collapsed. The strong winds slammed a man into a wall. The man went to the emergency room, but suffered no major injuries.
September 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Wadena	$250,000	A roof from an adjacent building blew into the display vehicles at a car dealership and twisted around them. A church also lost its bell tower.
July 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Wadena	$100,000	A building under construction at the fairgrounds was blown down.
July 2014	Flood	Wadena	$50,000	Heavy rain led to street, basement, and trailer park flooding near Wadena. A total of eight inches of rain was measured in Wadena.
June 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Wadena	$50,000	The wind knocked down a large tree.
June 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Wadena	$50,000	Several large 3 to 5 inch tree branches were blown down around town, which resulted in scattered power outages.
June 2018	Flash Flood	Wadena	$5,000	About 5.25 inches of rain fell, causing a few washouts of gravel roads. Quite a bit of ponding also occurred in area fields and low lying areas.
July 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Wadena	$5,000	Power lines were blown down.
May 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Wadena	-	Large trees snapped.
May 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Wadena	-	Large trees snapped SSW of Wadena.
August 2024	Hail	Wadena	-	Trained Spotter reports quarter sized hail north of Wadena, MN.
August 2024	Hail	Wadena	-	Facebook report of mostly baseball sized hail, with a few as large as softballs. No stones smaller than golf balls.
August 2024	Hail	Wadena	-	Trained spotter reports 3 inch hail in Wadena. Largest hailstones only lasted 3 minutes, but hail still ongoing at time of report.
August 2024	Hail	Wadena	-	Public reports 2.5 inch hail around Wadena.
May 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Wadena	-	A few 8 inch diameter poplar trees were snapped throughout central Leaf Township. Time estimated based on radar.
May 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Wadena	-	A few 8 inch diameter poplar trees were snapped throughout central Leaf Township. Time estimated based on radar.
May 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Wadena	-	A few 8 inch diameter poplar trees were snapped throughout central Leaf Township. Time estimated based on radar.
April 2020	Hail	Wadena	-	Dime to quarter sized hail fell.
September 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Wadena	-	The wind speeds were estimated.
July 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Wadena	-	In town a section of metal roofing was torn off the temporary community center and about two to three dozen trees were snapped or uprooted. Just outside of town, a section of an irrigation system was flipped and metal roofing was torn off of a couple of farm buildings.
September 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Wadena	-	A large number of trees and light poles were blown down in town, with several trees falling on homes.
July 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Wadena	-	A few trees were blown down between Wadena and Hewitt.
August 2013	Hail	Wadena	-	Driving wind, rain, and hail occurred north of Wadena.
August 2010	Hail	Wadena	-	The hail fell one mile east of the Wadena airport.
July 2010	Hail	Wadena	-	There was also well defined rotation overhead.
May 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Wadena	-	Several large six to eight inch diameter tree limbs were broken down. Brief power outages were reported around the city.
July 2009	Heavy Rain	Wadena	-	Approximately 3.65 inches of rain fell between noon and 4 pm CST.
July 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Wadena	-	The wind gust was measured by a MNDOT RWIS sensor along U.S. Highway 10 at mile post 94.
June 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Wadena	-	Large trees were uprooted and power poles snapped. Widespread power outages were reported.
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Wadena	-	Large trees were also uprooted and many large branches were blown down.
July 2003	Flash Flood	Wadena	-	Main street was flooded with water up to 18 inches deep. Several businesses were threatened and they required sandbags at their front doors to keep the water out.
April 2001	Flash Flood	Wadena	-	1.50 to 2 inches of rain fell across the Wadena area, flooding some rural roads. Most of the rain ended up as runoff, as the ground was still saturated from the spring snowmelt.
June 2001	Flash Flood	Wadena	-	Many roads were flooded on the south side of Wadena, with many vehicles stranded. Several businesses also took on water from the storm.
August 2019	Hail	Wadena	-	no account filed
June 2017	Hail	Wadena	-	no account filed
June 2016	Hail	Wadena	-	no account filed
June 2016	Hail	Wadena	-	no account filed
May 2014	Hail	Wadena	-	no account filed
June 2014	Hail	Wadena	-	no account filed
June 2006	Hail	Wadena	-	no account filed
May 2006	Hail	Wadena	-	no account filed
August 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Wadena	-	no account filed
April 2004	Hail	Wadena	-	no account filed
April 2004	Hail	Wadena	-	no account filed
July 2004	Hail	Wadena	-	no account filed
August 2001	Hail	Wadena	-	no account filed
July 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Wadena	-	no account filed
July 2000	Hail	Wadena	-	no account filed
August 2000	Hail	Wadena	-	no account filed
July 1999	Hail	Wadena	-	no account filed
September 1998	Hail	Wadena	-	no account filed
June 1997	Hail	Wadena	-	no account filed
June 1997	Hail	Wadena	-	no account filed
September 1996	Hail	Wadena	-	no account filed
October 1996	Hail	Wadena	-	no account filed
July 1996	Hail	Wadena	-	no account filed
July 1996	Hail	Wadena	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Wadena County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

3 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Property	Distance	Listed
Wadena Fire and City Hall	under 500 feet	1989
Peterson-Biddick Seed and Feed Company	0.2 miles	1989
Northern Pacific Passenger Depot	0.2 miles	1989

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 88003010 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Wadena County	All 4 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.