The Baldwin Hotel, named for its original owner, State Senator George T. Baldwin, was constructed between 1900-1905 in Linkville (now Klamath Falls) a town Senator Baldwin believed would become the center of activity for Southern Oregon.

Due to Linkville's inland location, much of the material used in the construction had to travel great distances, being hauled from the coast by mule-drawn freight wagon. Steel beams used in the foundation were brought to Linkville via Cape Horn.

The hotel was intended to be up-to-date and comfortable. Original features were individual warming stoves and hot and cold running water.

The Baldwin Hotel proved to be the center of social activities for South Central Oregon during the early 1900's. Among the dignitaries to visit Linkville and sign the guest register were: John Muir of California; Zane Grey, the novelist; E.G. Harriman, the railroad baron; James Garfield, while serving as Secretary of the Interior; and three Presidents while in office: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson. Theodore Roosevelt vacationed several times in the Linkville area, gateway to Crater Lake.

The hotel served as a rest stop or terminus for a succession of transportation lines, including a stage coach company, an early boat passenger service, a freight line, and after 1909, a branch line railroad of the Southern Pacific System. At various times, the hotel housed offices of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Geographic Society. Since 1978, the building has been home to the Baldwin Hotel Museum.

Adapted from the NRHP Nomination Form.