Edgewater Beach Hotel
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| Edgewater Beach Hotel | |
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| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
 The Edgewater Beach Apartments, built in 1928
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| Location: | 5555 North Sheridan Road, Chicago, Illinois |
| Coordinates: | 41°59′1″N 87°39′17″W / 41.98361°N 87.65472°W |
| Built/Founded: | 1928 |
| Architect: | J.B. Dibelka |
| Architectural style(s): | No Style Listed |
| Governing body: | Private |
| MPS: | Bryn Mawr Avenue Historic District |
| Added to NRHP: | August 16, 1994 |
| NRHP Reference#: | 94000979 [1] |
The Edgewater Beach Hotel was a hotel in the far-north neighborhood community of Edgewater in Chicago, Illinois. Built in 1916 and owned by John Tobin Connery and James Patrick Connery, it was located between Sheridan Road and Lake Michigan at Berwyn Avenue.[2] The complex had a private beach and offered seaplane service to downtown Chicago.[3][4] During its lifetime, the hotel served many famous guests including Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Charlie Chaplin, and U.S. Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower. The hotel was known for hosting big bands such as the bands of Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Xavier Cugat, and Wayne King, which were also broadcast on the hotel's own radio station, a precursor to WGN with the calls WEBH. On June 14, 1949, Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Eddie Waitkus was shot and nearly killed by an obsessive fan at the hotel; this later would be a large part of the inspiration behind Bernard Malamud's novel The Natural. The 1951–54 extension of Lake Shore Drive from Foster Avenue to Bryn Mawr Avenue cut the hotel off from the beach leading to a reduction in business. The hotel closed in 1967 and the main buildings were demolished shortly after.[2] The Edgewater Beach Co-op or Apartments, built in 1928,[5] is the only part of the hotel complex to survive and is part of the Bryn Mawr Historic District where many Art Deco buildings can be found.
The developers also built a sister hotel, the Edgewater Gulf Hotel, in Biloxi, Mississippi. Both projects were designed by the Chicago architectural firm of Marshall and Fox.
 Then: the Edgewater Beach Hotel viewed from the north in 1923 |
 Now: photograph from a similar position in 2006 |
 Site of the Edgewater Beach Hotel viewed from the southeast in 2006]] |
[edit] References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2007-01-23. http://www.nr.nps.gov/.
- ^ a b Enright, Laura (2005). "Architecture". Chicago's Most Wanted: The Top 10 Book of Murderous Mobsters, Midway Monsters, and Windy City Oddities. Dulles, VA: Brassey's. p. 31. ISBN 1574887858.
- ^ "Edgewater Beach Hotel". Emporis. http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=152726. Retrieved on 2008-08-21.
- ^ Ginny Weissman. "The Edgewater Beach Hotel: Magic by the Lake". Chicago Stories. WTTW11. http://www.wttw.com/main.taf?p=1,7,1,1,13. Retrieved on 2008-08-21.
- ^ "Edgewater Beach Apartments". Emporis. http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=1174133. Retrieved on 2008-08-21.
[edit] External links
- Memories of the Edgewater Beach Hotel
- Facsimile of early 1920s Brochure from the Edgewater Beach Hotel
- Vintage Image of Edgewater Beach Apartments
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