The first and only hotel in Janesville was built in 1857 by Malcolm Bankhead, which was a two-story structure made of logs. In 1872, Dennis Tanner purchased it, and tore it down. He replaced it with a much substantial larger, two-story wooden frame building, that contained 22-rooms. The hotel had numerous owners over the years. In 1913, B.R. Holmes acquired it, made numerous upgrades and changed the name to the Diamond Mountain Inn. One of its most interesting owners were the Pollocks, as in the famed artist Jackson Pollock. The hotel was destroyed by fire in 1931.

For those interested in the hotel stood on Main Street, south of the former Masonic Lodge, though that structure was not built until 1910.

Tim