The St. Francis Hotel is one of the five original structures preserved within the National Historic Site, and its survival is remarkable given that Nicodemus has been a near-ghost town for well over a century. In the town's heyday it served travelers and the broader commerce of the community — a hotel was a sign of ambition, a declaration that this was a real town with a future. It stands today as a reminder of how fully the founders imagined the place they were building.