In 1884, the original Clarendon Hotel was built on the south half of what is now Wagner Park. Gutted by fire a year later, it was replaced by a new and much larger Clarendon Hotel, which, like other businesses in town, began using electric lighting provided by hydropower from Hunter Creek. Newspaper ads listed room rates at $2.50 – $3.00 per night with special rates for entertainers. The hotel was eventually torn down leaving a large city block essentially vacant, and the space became Wagner Park—named for a "quiet years" mayor.

< The second Clarendon sits in the middle of a highly developed downtown, c. 1885. Notice, the Wheeler Opera House has not yet been built.