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BELLE PLAINE — During its heyday, the Herring Hotel in the small Benton County community of Belle Plaine was the place to stay.The automobile was all the rage and the hotel’s location along the Lincoln Highway made it a convenient stop.Built in 1900 by businessman Will Herring, the Craftsman-style hotel served a diverse assortment of clients, including some of the country’s most notable politicians and celebrities, including Mark Twain, Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan.Today, the building — listed on the National Register of Historic Places — sits mostly empty, in need of major renovations.