Tremont House (Chicago): Difference between revisions
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Stephen A. Douglas died at the hotel on June 3, 1861.<ref name="GCF1"/><ref>DN-0060398, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago Historical Society.</ref> |
Stephen A. Douglas died at the hotel on June 3, 1861.<ref name="GCF1"/><ref>DN-0060398, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago Historical Society.</ref> |
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In 1865,[Mary Todd Lincoln|Mary Lincoln]] stayed at the hotel for one week following the [[Assassination of Abraham Lincoln|assassination]] of her husband. [[Robert Todd Lincoln|Robert Lincoln]] and [[Tad Lincoln]] stayed with her during that time.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Madness of Mary Lincoln|last=Emerson|first=Jason|publisher=Southern Illinois University Press|year=2007|isbn=978-08093-2771-3|location=Carbondale, Illinois|pages=20–22}}</ref> |
In 1865, [[Mary Todd Lincoln|Mary Lincoln]] stayed at the hotel for one week following the [[Assassination of Abraham Lincoln|assassination]] of her husband. [[Robert Todd Lincoln|Robert Lincoln]] and [[Tad Lincoln]] stayed with her during that time.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Madness of Mary Lincoln|last=Emerson|first=Jason|publisher=Southern Illinois University Press|year=2007|isbn=978-08093-2771-3|location=Carbondale, Illinois|pages=20–22}}</ref> |
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The hotel burned to the ground during the [[Great Chicago Fire]] in 1871.<ref name="EAC29" /><ref name="Jamesobit"/> |
The hotel burned to the ground during the [[Great Chicago Fire]] in 1871.<ref name="EAC29" /><ref name="Jamesobit"/> |
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Revision as of 08:57, 1 August 2022
The Tremont House was a hotel located in Chicago, Illinois. A modern hotel also bears the same name.
Original
First hotel
The original hotel was built in 1833. It was a three-story wooden structure located at the northwest corner of the intersection of Lake and Dearborn streets. It was lost to a fire in 1839.[1] It took its name from the Boston Tremont House.[2] It was established by brothers Ira Couch and James Couch.[3][4]
Second hotel
The second hotel was built after the loss of the first,[1] breaking ground in December 1839 and opening in May 1840. The structure was a three-story frame structure located at the southeast corner of the intersection of Lake and Dearborn streets.[1]It had 93 ft (28 m) of frontage on Dearborn street and 100 ft (30 m) of frontage along Lake Street It was lost to a fire on July 21, 1841. By the time that the second building burnt down, the brothers had purchased the land on which the hotel stood, owning 180 ft (55 m) feet of frontage of the block along Dearborn Street and 140 ft (43 m) of frontage on the block along Lake Street.[4]
Third hotel
After the loss of the second building, a third hotel building was constructed on the same site. It was a five and one-half floor block masonry brick structure with 260 rooms, and was designed by John M. Van Osdel.[1][5][2][4] The new hotel covered the entirety of the land that the Couch brothers had acquired before the loss of previous building.[4] It was equipped with the finest amenities of the day, costing $75,000 to construct.[2] Before its opening, the new large building was ridiculed as "Couch's Folly" by those that expected it to fail.[3][4] The third hotel opened its doors on September 29, 1850.[4] For a time, it was considered the leading hotel in the western United States.[1][3]
Three years after the third incarnation of the hotel opened, the building was leased and the furniture was sold to David Allen Gage and George W. Gage.[4]
The building was among the largest to be physically raised when Chicago heighted the grade of its streets in the 1850s and 1860s.[1] In 1861, Ely, Smith and Pullman lifted the Tremont House six feet in the air[6] (George Pullman made his reputation as a building raiser before becoming famous for manufacturing sleeping cars).[7] The building was one of many buildings in Chicago raised to match the upward shifting street grade during the mid nineteenth century.
During the 1858 United States senatorial race in Illinois, Stephen A. Douglas, who regularly stayed at the hotel while in Chicago, delivered a July 9, 1858 speech that included a rebuke to Abraham Lincoln's House Divided Speech. Lincoln, who was in Chicago to attend an opening session of United States District Court, appeared at the hotel that night to deliver a rebuttal.[1] This, in a sense, was the start of each individual's campaigns for senate.[5]
The hotel served as the headquarters for the Illinois Republican Party during the 1860 Republican National Convention (held at the nearby Wigwam) as they lobbied for Abraham Lincoln's nomination.[2][8]
Stephen A. Douglas died at the hotel on June 3, 1861.[1][9]
In 1865, Mary Lincoln stayed at the hotel for one week following the assassination of her husband. Robert Lincoln and Tad Lincoln stayed with her during that time.[10]
The hotel burned to the ground during the Great Chicago Fire in 1871.[11][4]
Interim post-fire hotel operation
During the interim period following the fire, the hotel operated as the "New Tremont House" out of a structure that John Drake had bought at Michigan Avenue and Congress.[11] Drake bought this temporary Hotel as a successful bet that it would escape the fire as the fire was raging across the city.[11]
Fourth hotel
The fourth hotel was designed by John M. Van Osdel, who had designed the previous third hotel. It opened its doors in 1873. It stood six floors.[1] It was constructed James Couch and the estate of Ira Couch, who had himself passed away in 1857.[3][4] The rebuilt hotel remained along with the Palmer House, Grand Pacific Hotel and the Sherman House as a leading hotel after the Great Chicago Fire.[2] It was built in the commercial palazzo architecture style of the day and claimed to be fireproof.[2]
The building stood until 1937, but the hotel had closed earlier.[1] In 1902, the building was purchased by Northwestern University, and housed its law, dental, and business schools.[1]
Modern hotel
The Tremont Chicago Hotel is at 100 East Chestnut Street, between Michigan Avenue on the Magnificent Mile and Rush Street. The hotel housed the Chicago location of Mike Ditka's restaurant, which closed in 2020.[12] This block of Chestnut is also known as Mike Ditka Way.[13]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Tremont House". The Great Chicago Fire & The Web of Memory. Chicago Historical Society and Northwestern University. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f Berger, Molly (2005). "Hotels". The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago. Chicago Historical Society. Retrieved March 28, 2007.
- ^ a b c d "TREMONT HOUSE". WTTW Chicago. December 1, 2013. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "James Couch Killed". Chicago Tribune. February 11, 1892. p. 1. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
- ^ a b Host, William R. and Brooke Ahne Portmann, "Early Chicago Hotels," Arcadia Publishing, 2006, p. 11., ISBN 0-7385-4041-2.
- ^ "The Tremont House Improvement". Chicago Daily Tribune. January 22, 1861. Archived from the original on May 7, 2013.
- ^ Leyendecker, Liston E. (2005). "George Pullman and His Town". Encyclopedia of Chicago. Retrieved February 27, 2007.
- ^ Karamanski, Theodore J. (2005). "Wigwam". The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago. Chicago Historical Society. Retrieved March 28, 2007.
- ^ DN-0060398, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago Historical Society.
- ^ Emerson, Jason (2007). The Madness of Mary Lincoln. Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press. pp. 20–22. ISBN 978-08093-2771-3.
- ^ a b c Host, William R. and Brooke Ahne Portmann, "Early Chicago Hotels," Arcadia Publishing, 2006, p. 29., ISBN 0-7385-4041-2.
- ^ Sneed, Michael (May 19, 2020). "Ditka on his iconic Ditka's eatery closing: 'It's over and it was good'". Chicago Sun-Times.
- ^ Sager, Mike (October 1, 1999). "Is Ditka Nuts?". Esquire.