THE HISTORY OF THE MIDLAND HOTEL
The Midland Hotel first opened for business on August 7, 1899 with the name of the “Power Hotel”. The developer of the Power Hotel was Mr. Wilke Power. Mr. Power was an investor from Philadelphia who moved to the Midwest. Mr. Wilke decided to invest in the building of a hotel that he envisioned to be magnificent.
The hotel was constructed from limestone queries in the Wilson area. The limestone posts were brought in by horse and wagon, made into smaller stone pieces and set into the outside structure of the hotel.
The people in the surrounding areas as well as people in Kansas City and Denver knew of and frequented the Power Hotel. Being located across from the railway station, it was a popular stop for vendors and businessmen that traveled the Union Pacific Railroad to sell their wares. These vendors were called Drummers. They would bring their trunks with items to sell, to the basement of the hotel and buyers would come from surrounding towns to sample their wares and make orders. The tavern located in the basement of the Midland Hotel has been named the Drummers Tavern after those vendors.
The hotel was always lively, full of people visiting, traveling through and vendors selling their wares.
In 1902, the Power Hotel was destroyed by fire. A committee of townsmen agreed to purchase the site and reconstruct the hotel with the help of donations and many interested people in the community.
The reconstructed hotel was considered state of the art for its time, and was considered a “first class” hotel. It had the first kerosene lighting and later converted to acetylene lighting before going to electricity. It had a hot water heating apparatus early on.
A 60-foot windmill was erected behind the hotel, which provided the water for drinking and bathing. This water was stored on the third floor. A large coal bin in the basement housed a boxcar load of coal that was filled once a year.
By 1915, the Midland Hotel was thought of by many as the classiest hotel in Kansas-it was occupied almost 100% of the time.
By 1920, a new wing was added on the Midland Hotel. This wing housed the people who operated the hotel.
By 1930, a blow was dealt to the Wilson hotel, as well as to all of the United States—The Great Depression. 
Money was scarce and travel had all but ceased. At that point, the third floor of the hotel was converted to a chicken coop in which chickens were raised and housed
, before being used
for the dining room. For several years after, the hotel began to fade.
In 1960, the hotel was being noticed again. John and Agnes Hill bought the hotel and provided a home atmosphere as well as Czech dinners and ethnic foods. Years later, The Midland Hotel would be known for its “80” ounce steak. If you could eat it all, you got the meal free! The restaurant and hotel was known for good food and reasonable rates.
In 1972, The Midland Hotel was the setting for several scenes used in the still popular movie “Paper Moon” starring Ryan and Tatum O’Neal. Hollywood came and went, leaving great memories of the filming with the Wilson community, and bringing notoriety again to the great Midland Hotel.
In 1988, the hotel closed its doors. Lack of money for upkeep, aging equipment and financial woes caused the closing.
The beautiful Midland Hotel was restored and reopened for business in July of 2003. This restoration was accomplished by the efforts of The Wilson Foundation, a group of local business and professional people who realized the value of maintaining the history of this great town for this generation and for generations to come. Now taking its rightful place on the National Historic Registry, The Midland Hotel has been enjoyed by many guests from near and far. Welcome to Wilson, Kansas and welcome to the Historic Midland Hotel.