Patterson Hotel (Peacock Alley)

The hotel was constructed in 1910-1911 as a luxury hotel for the booming state capital. It was initially named the McKenzie Hotel in honor of Alexander McKenzie, the powerful turn-of-the-century Bismarck political operator, and was renamed the Patterson Hotel in 1927 for its owner, Edward G. Patterson. At ten stories the building was the tallest structure in Bismarck and dominated the downtown skyline for decades.

During Prohibition the hotel reportedly operated speakeasy spaces in its lower levels — a chapter of the building's history that local guides cite when discussing its haunt reputation. In 1933, immediately after Prohibition's repeal, the Peacock Alley restaurant and bar opened on the ground floor. Peacock Alley formerly occupied that space and now operates a temporary lunch service elsewhere in Bismarck.

The hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. In the 1970s, declining downtown hotel demand led to the renovation of the upper floors into senior efficiency apartments, rebranded as Patterson Place. The ground-floor Peacock Alley restaurant remained throughout the conversion but now operates temporary lunch service elsewhere.

The building is a recurring stop on the URL Radio Downtown Bismarck Haunted History Tour, which links the property to the early-twentieth-century reputation of downtown Bismarck as 'Murderers Gulch' (Broadway) and 'Bloody 4th' (Fourth Street), where gunfights, stabbings, and saloon brawls were common.