From: NEWS at the Palmer House Hilton, Concierge Desk
Chicago was just a baby in the 1870's when Potter Palmer took her in his hand and molded her to fit his dreams. Those were the days when cable cars circled the Loop Instead of subways, and a policeman once wheeled a crook two miles down State Street in a wheelbarrow for want of a paddy wagon. It was in those brash, brazen days of Chicago that the heavy-bearded, heavy spending Palmer opened a dry goods store and shocked people with his liberal policies: return of goods and giving credit.
After Palmer sold his store to Marshall Field, he looked at the muddy, squalid lane called State Street and decided to make it the glittering center of Chicago. He moved back houses, got politicians to pave the street and began building an empire for on September 26, 1871, the first Palmer House was open to the public. Thirteen days later it was a smoldering heap and the "wickedest city in the world" was in ruins.
Y: 13 days after Potters building was complete it burned to the ground! - Are you kidding me, I get mad when I work on something and my computer crashes!
Y: And then look! An amazing invention is a result of the destruction. . .
In the few precious moments before the Great Chicago Fire reached the Palmer House, Chicago's pioneer architect, John Mills Van Osdel, carried all of his construction plans and records to the hotel's basement and dug a pit, buried the documents and then covered them over with two feet of sand and damp clay. He not only preserved the documents, but also devised a method of fireproofing with clay tile that was used for many years thereafter. .
Y: And the story gets even better! What a wild, bold, daring move on behalf of Palmer. . .
Potter Palmer, undaunted by the destruction of his entire fortune, left for St. Louis immediately and negotiated a record loan - on his own signature - of $17 million. He began reconstructing his many properties and among them his most enthusiastic endeavor, the rebuilding of the Palmer House.
Choosing a site across the street from the former building, construction was begun on the second Palmer House. Less than a year later, in July in 1873, it was opened to the public. Its first guests were Chicago people who closed their city residences for the summer to move into the hotel. The first transient guest registered on November 8, 1873.
To complete the structure in such a short time, workers and carpenters labored day and night. At night they lighted their work by calcium light never before used so extensively. Palmer was racing to finish the hotel before his rival, The Grand Pacific Hotel would open.
When the Grand Pacific Hotel opened and Palmer lost, he retaliated by building a board and shingled shack in the lobby of this $2,500,000 inn with a sign perched simply on top saying "This is What the Grand Pacific is made of." He made no bones about the fact that his House was the first fireproof hotel in the country and, with true showmanship, challenged anyone to START A FIRE in any of its rooms! The challenge was addressed to "The proprietors of any hotel in Chicago, particularly of the Grand Pacific who are falsely claiming that their houses are practically fireproof and at the same time paying insurance for a hazardous risk."
Anyone could try to start a fire in any Palmer House room. "The doors are to be left closed for an hour, " his statement read. "If at the expiration of this time the fire does not spread beyond the room, the person is to pay for all damages and for the use of the room." No one ever forgot that always a businessman, he remembered to include the charge for the use of the room.
Y: And on the story goes - there is so much to know about Palmer House but to learn you must seek out the information. Official Tours are offered through the Architectural Foundation once a month on a Saturday and if I had not spent some time with the Concierge I don't believe anyone would have told me about the magic. It certainly is not provided on the hotel's website. It dawned on me to look further as I am here to assist with a corporate meeting and this is one of the hotels we are using. Though I was impressed by the lobby I wondered why this hotel was chosen once in my room it seems a little bit just like another old city style sort of place but I knew there must be something special. The first glimpse of the magic began on the 11th floor, on my way to preview a suite, where I saw pictures of Judy Garland and George Burns on the wall - just two of the amazing performers of the past who have grace the halls and the Empire Ballroom Stage. I visited the Empire Ballroom last night and just sat there and imagined what it must have been like to see Judy Garland perform in 1938-39 on her Wizard of Oz Tour.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment