Sherman House Hotel

The Sherman House as a hotel in Chicago, Illinois that existed from 1837 until 1978, with various iterations standing at the same site at the northwest corner of Randolph Street and Clark Street.

Sherman House Hotel
Location of Sherman House Hotel in Chicago metropolitan area
LocationNorthwest corner of Randolph Street and Clark Street in Chicago Illinois
Coordinates41°53′07″N 87°37′54″W
Built1836–1837
Demolished1872 (first hotel)
1971 (second hotel)
1910 (third hotel)
1950s (original portion of fourth structure)
1980 (1920s annex)
Rebuilt1860–1861; 1872–1873; 1910–1911 (annex constructed in 1925)
ArchitectWilliam W. Boyington (second and third structures)
Holabird and Roche (fourth structure)

Long one of the city's major hotels, the hotel declined in the 1950s, closed in 1973, and its building was demolished in 1980 to make room for the James R. Thompson Center.

First hotel

From 1836 to 1836, Francis Cornwall Sherman constructed the hotel at the northwest corner of Randolph Street as the "City Hotel".[1] It was three stories tall.[1][2] It was renamed the Sherman House in 1844 after Sherman remodeled it, with two stories added to it.[1][2]

In 1839, Sherman retired from managing the hotel, handing over management to the firm of James Williamson and A.H. Squier.[1] The next year, Williamson retired from the firm, and William Rickards acquired his interest.[1] Proprietorship of the hotel remained in the possession of Rickards and Squier until 1851, when they sold their proprietorship to the firm of Brown & Tuttle.[1] In 1854, the firm became Tuttle & Patmor when A. H. Patmor acquired Brown's share in that firm.[1] In 1858, proprietorship was acquired by Martin Hodge and Hiram Longly.[1]

Second hotel
The second Sherman House Hotel
The second Sherman House Hotel

At the same site as the first hotel, Francis Cornwall Sherman built a new structure, breaking ground on May 1, 1860 and opening the new structure to guests on July 1, 1861.[3] The structure was designed by William W. Boyington.[1] It became one of the city's grand hotels, alongside the Tremont House.[4] The front of the building was made of Athens marble on the levels above it storefronts.[1][3] Its primary entrance was along Clark street, with a two-story portico.[3] To the right of the main enterance was the building's ladies' entrance.[1] The building was 161 feet long along Randolph Street and 181 feet long along Clark Street.[2][1][3] The building had an open court in its center, and rose six stories.[1] There was an western section of the building along Couch Place that rose seven stories.[1] The building was designed in modern Italian style.[1]

The hotel was lost in the Great Chicago Fire in 1871.[5] Before the fire, the hotel was operated by George W. Gage.[6]

Little Sherman House

Following the fire, the hotel operation briefly relocated to the former Gault House at Madison Street and Clinton Street, until they could build their new structure.[2] While operating at this site, it was referred to as the "Little Sherman House".[2]

Third hotel
Third hotel
Third hotel

Francis Cornwall Sherman rebuilt his hotel.[7] From 1872 to 1873, the hotel's third structure was constructed at the same site as the previous hotels.[2][7][5] The third hotel, as with the second, was designed by William W. Boyington.[2][7][5] The building was 160 feet long along Randolph Street and 181 feet long along Clark Street.[5] As with the previous building, the entrance was located along Clark Street.[5] The ladies' entrance was along Randolph Street.[5] The building had a courtyard, and featured fireproof vaults.[5] The building was constructed from grey sandstone quarried from a newly-opened quarry in Kankakee, Illinois.[5] The building was 115 feet tall.[5] It contained 300 luxurious rooms, including suites.[5]

The hotel was one of the city's "big four" post-fire hotels, the other three being the Grand Pacific, Palmer House, and the Tremont House.[5]

The hotel attracted high-profile theatre actors to reside in it, including Joseph Jefferson and Maurice Barrymore.[5]

The hotel came to be the Chicago headquarters of the Democratic Party.[5]

In 1904, Joseph Beifeld became owner of the hotel.[5] For the twenty years prior to that, the hotel had been run by J. Irving Pierce, who had been proceeded by three generations of the Sherman family in operating the hotel.[5]

The hotel was home to the famous College Inn restaurant.[5]

In September 1909, the hotel closed to be replaced with a new structure.[2][5]

Fourth hotel

Constructed from 1910 to 1911, and designed by Holabird and Roche, the new 757-room Sherman House Hotel retained the establishment's status of being one the nicest hotels in the city at the time it opened, until the 1950s.[2][7][8] It was a modern hotel housed in a twelve-story skyscraper of steel and masonry construction.[2] It was constructed in the second empire style.[9] In the 1950s, its reputation began to decline.[8]

The hotel contained a new College Inn.[2][10]

As with the previous hotel, the new hotel was the Chicago headquarters of the Democratic Party, housing the formal headquarters of the Cook County Democratic Party.[11][12]

In 1920, the building's decorative mansard roof was demolished and an additional six floors were added to the building, bringing it to seventeen stories.[2]

On April 12, 1924, the AM radio station WLS began broadcasting from a studio in the hotel.[13][14]

An 23-floor annex was constructed in 1925.[2][8]

The hotel's venues, such as the College Inn, Panther Room, Well of the Sea, and Scuttlebutt Lounge, for years, were famed institutions.[2] The hotel, for years, anchored a vibrant district of the city full of popular theaters, restaurants, and hotels.[2] It attracted many celebrities.[12] It hosted events, such as the 1938 NFL Draft.[15][16] In the 1950s and 1960s, the demolition of the adjacent Ashland Block skyscraper (and its replacement with a Greyhound Lines bus terminal), the demolition of the Garrick Theatre/Schiller Building, and the land clearance taking place to make way for the Chicago Civic Center (now named the Richard J. Daley Center) greatly diminished the liveliness of this district.[2]

The structure that was completed in 1911 was demolished in the early 1950s, leaving only the 1925 annex.[8]

In 1969, a 10x57 large foot concrete relif sculpture entitled The Form Makers: 1836–1969 by Nehemia Azaz added to the lobby of the hotel.[17]

In either the 1971 or 1972, a decision was made to strip the building to its steel frame and reconstruct it as a modern building with a glass curtain wall.[2] At the time the hotel was operated by Ernie Byfield.[18] The hotel was closed in 1973, its contents were sold, and the building subsequently sat vacant for roughly seven or eight years.[2] The renovation never materialized, as ownership had been unsuccessful in receiving financing for the partial demolition and reconstruction of the building.[2]

In 1980 the remaining building (the 1925 annex) was demolished to be replaced with the State of Illinois Center (since renamed the James R. Thompson Center).[2][7][8][19]

References
  1. "Sherman House II". chicagology.com. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  2. "Sherman House (4th Building) by Holabird & Roche Built 1911 & 1920, Closed 1971, Demolished 1980 | PreservationChicago". Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  3. "Sherman House". chicagology.com. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  4. Rogues, Rebels, And Rubber Stamps: The Politics Of The Chicago City Council, 1863 To The Present by Dick Simpson, Routledge, Mar 8, 2018 (page 30)
  5. "Sherman House III". chicagology.com. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  6. Chicago Tribune, Sept. 26, 1875
  7. "Sherman House". The Great Chicago Fire & The Web of Memory. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  8. "Sherman House IV". chicagology.com. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  9. "Sherman House Hotel, Chicago | 136864 | EMPORIS". www.emporis.com. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  10. Sawyers, June. "THE GRAND OLD DAYS OF CHICAGO`S LUXURY HOTELS". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  11. Kifner, John (8 April 1971). "Daley's Followers Take Victory Seriously (Published 1971)". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  12. "HARRY CROSSEY, 88". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. 8 January 2004. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  13. "The Beginning". The History of WLS Radio. Scott Childers. March 2, 2010. Archived from the original on January 19, 2010. Retrieved July 30, 2010.
  14. "WLS, Chicago Celebrates 89th Anniversary with Special Event", Talkers Magazine. April 12, 2013. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  15. "NFL Draft Locations". www.footballgeography.com. October 2, 2014. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
  16. Salomone, Dan (October 2, 2014). "NFL Draft headed to Chicago in 2015". Giants.com. New York Giants. Archived from the original on September 30, 2015. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
  17. Steffes, Patrick. "Chicagoland's Million Vacant Lots, and Other Recent Research Finds – Forgotten Chicago | History, Architecture, and Infrastructure". forgottenchicago.com. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  18. "Sherman House Hotel - WTTW Chicago Public Media - Television and Interactive". wttw.com. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  19. "Sherman House Hotel". WTTW Chicago. 24 October 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
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