When I mentioned to Pat Randall I wanted to do a story about the hotel, she came over with a box of old Payson pictures, and two huge ledgers her Grandpa Hilligass kept, dated 1913, all transaction recorded by hand. Pat Randall and Terry Wilbanks share a common bond,since both of their family's have owned the property, Terry's family over the past 50 years, and Pat's Grandparents, William H. (Billy) and Clara Hilligass, in the early 1900's, when it actually was a house built by James and Mary Ellen Boardman. In 1915 William and Clara added onto the building, converting it to a boarding house. I discovered a receipt dated June 12, 1928, in Pat's box of pictures. It reads "Received of Mrs. Laura Neatherlin, $7,200.00, in two checks for the purchase of what is known as the Hilligass Hotel Property."
The hotel changed hands several times after that, until Dallas and Anna purchased the Lone Pine Hotel in 1950, and the property has stayed in the Wilbanks family since that day.
Besides providing me with the old Payson records and photos, Pat also arranged a meeting with Terry.
Terry took me on a tour of the property and the inside of the hotel, and allowed me to take pictures. Part of the tour was the old barn out back, that is actually older than the house, and the "root cellar" which he said also served as a place to put the ladies in if they had too much to drink. He was kidding of course, but it took me a moment to figure that out. I missed a lot of what Terry was telling me, because I was totally in awe of how beautiful the hotel is, and I was so intent on capturing it all in my camera, I had to go back another day with a tape recorder to get Terry's information.
The hotel doesn't have a telephone, and Terry doesn't have a computer, but the hotel is occupied about 85% of the time, mostly by word of mouth. What the hotel does have is an enormous amount of family heirlooms and mementos, and Terry's many, many trophy fish, and other wildlife. Almost every inch of every wall is covered with family memorabilia and antiques. The hotel could very easily serve as a Wilbanks Museum.
Anna and Dallas have passed on, and Larry also passed away. Duke operated the hotel until Terry returned from Montana in 1997, and since that time, Terry has repaired and refurbished almost all of the hotel. Every where you look there are items Terry has hand crafted, a butcher block and wagon wheel pot hanger in the kitchen, the patio floor out back, along with handcrafted patio furniture.
The Wilbanks have done all the work with no federal grants, everything was done not with the hope of getting the hotel on a "Historic Register", but because the family has a deep appreciation for tradition and family history, and take a lot of pride in the hotel and it's history.
When Terry isn't wandering around the hotel with his tool pouch, he's FISHING. Terry loves to fish, and the hotel is a perfect showplace for his trophy's. One of his favorite T-shirts says "Shut up and FISH."
And one of my most favorite places on Main Street, is the Lone Pine Hotel.
Rooms are rented on a weekly basis for $135
For more info, contact Duke Wilbanks at 928-951-0979
There will be a 4th of July breakfast from 7 AM till 10, for the Pioneers of Rim Country.
For an on-line tour of the Lone Pine Hotel, go to: