Jacksonville’s California and Oregon street corner, the current site of the telephone exchange building, was previously home to the Lyden House. When J.C. Whipp moved his Marble Works to Ashland in 1902, Michigan native John Lyden converted the old showroom into a boarding house. John and his wife Mary ran it for the next few years, charging 35 cents for a night’s lodging in one of its 11 rooms. Rooms were furnished with washstands, a pitcher, a wash bowl, a chamber pot commode, a “well supplied” towel rack, and an iron bedstead with ample bedding. The hotel was usually full by nightfall.
About 1903, Mary Lyden and her daughters, Helen and Anna (Nan), started the “Hooligan Restaurant.” It became famous for its “good homey table” and “wonderful filling meals,” served for 65 cents. Special dinners could also be ordered. The enterprising Lydens also carried a good supply of items such as pots, pans, canteens, and other tinware in demand by miners and prospectors still hoping to strike it rich in the hills around Jacksonville.
However, Helen married J.B. Abernathy and move to Detroit, Michigan. Mary died in early 1907, and Nan married Christ Kenney later that year. Although Nan may have continued to help her father, the Lyden House became what might best be described as a “flea bag” hotel. But it did offer “guests” a good supply of “Buhac” to discourage unwanted bedfellows.