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Where Hospitality Met History—Chicago’s Grand Welcome
Before Chicago became the city of steel, jazz, and skyscrapers, it was a frontier town with muddy streets and a dream. That dream found its most elegant expression in the rise of its hotels—palaces of comfort, commerce, and civic pride. From the humble Sauganash Hotel in 1831, where travelers found respite at Wolf Point, to the opulent Tremont House, where Lincoln and Douglas once addressed crowds from its balcony, Chicago’s early hotels were more than lodgings—they were stages for history.
This section invites you to stroll through a timeline of architectural ambition and social transformation. Discover how the Great Fire of 1871 didn’t just destroy—it cleared the canvas for a new era of hotel design, culminating in the “Big Four” post-fire marvels: the Palmer House, Grand Pacific, Tremont, and Sherman House. These weren’t just buildings; they were declarations of Chicago’s resilience and cosmopolitan spirit.
By the time the World's Columbian Exposition arrived in 1893, the city boasted over 1,400 hotels and lodging houses. Whether you’re drawn to the grandeur of the Stevens Hotel (once the world’s largest), the lakeside elegance of the Drake Hotel, or the postcard-perfect charm of long-lost second-class inns, this chronology offers a window into the soul of a city that always knew how to roll out the welcome mat.
So unpack your curiosity, check in with wonder, and let Chicago’s hotel history sweep you off your feet.
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| This photograph was taken between 1857 and 1859 when the Lake House was a Hospital for the poor. The Rush Street bridge opened in 1857. |
№ 1. Wolf Point Tavern opened in December 1828, with Accommodations.
