From pistachio-green walls to lawsuits to ghosts, the Camas Hotel has seen it all. The hotel, the oldest commercial building in downtown Camas, celebrates its 100th birthday this year.
Built in 1911 by Paul Hinz, the hotel was originally named the Commercial Hotel because the Camas Hotel was already a business across the street.
The new hotel thrives
Hinz was known as a strict man who raised his three children in the hotel after his wife died at a young age.
“Paul Hinz was a very colorful character,” said his granddaughter Rosemary Greenlee of Oklahoma. “Apparently he was quite a ladies man and quite a cook.”
Hinz was born in Prussia and ended up in Portland in 1897 when he was injured while working as a sailor. Intrigued with the area, he moved first to Vancouver and then to Camas.