DN-0001231, Chicago Sun-Times/Chicago Daily News collection, CHM The ladies’ entrance to the Palmer House hotel, which can be seen in the lower left corner of the albumen print, Chicago, September 19, 1903.

The Palmer House not only served transient visitors but also appealed to wealthy permanent residents who found in the palace hotel a convenient way to set up trouble-free, elegant households. Like many Chicago buildings in the late nineteenth century, the Palmer House claimed to be fireproof.Īn albumen print of the second Palmer House Hotel, Chicago, c. The hotel was filled with Italian marble and rare mosaics and was so ornate that it was alternately mocked and praised. Van Osdel opened on November 8, 1873, marking the start of what became known as the nation’s longest continually operating hotel.Īn engraving entitled “Working at Night on Palmer’s Grand Hotel, by Calcium Light,” 1871. The resulting seven-story, $13 million hotel designed by architect John M. Palmer quickly rebuilt on the same site, employing calcium lights so workers could press on through the night. An additional Palmer House was under construction nearby, but both structures were destroyed by the Great Chicago Fire on October 8, 1871.Ī stereograph of the Palmer House ruins after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. With 225 rooms, its furnishings alone cost $100,000, or half the construction cost.

On September 26, 1870, the first Palmer House opened for business at State and Quincy Streets. The crown jewel in the holdings of department store mogul turned real-estate developer Potter Palmer, it was a wedding present to his wife, Bertha. The Palmer House Hotel was long the pinnacle of grandeur and luxury in Chicago and was for decades the hotel of choice for visiting presidents, dignitaries, and businesspeople. In light of the recent news that the Palmer House Hotel faces a $338 million foreclosure suit, CHM staff members take a look back at its three iterations.

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