Hotels
- Title (Dublin Core)
- American Hotel
- Description (Dublin Core)
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Hotel information
City: Ann Arbor
Address: 123 W. Washington St.
Appears in the 1950-1955 Green Books
Closed in 1971 -
"The American Hotel, originally named the Germania, was a prominent establishment in the early 20th century, serving as a hub for traveling salesmen and a social center for the Germania Society. Michael Staebler, the founder of the hotel, transformed it into the American in 1895, with his son Albert and daughter-in-law Dora taking over in 1905. Warren Staebler, born in 1910, practically grew up in the hotel, where he and his family resided. The hotel was known for its formal dining room, serving good food that attracted locals, especially on Sundays."
"Over time, the hotel faced changes in its fortunes. The heyday of downtown hotels waned as traveling salesmen transitioned from trains to cars, enabling more direct customer visits. Prohibition impacted the hotel's saloon, which eventually became part of the family's car dealership. In 1971, the hotel closed its doors for good. Subsequently, the building underwent renovations and was converted into elegant offices, and the original hotel dining room and lobby were repurposed into a Sweetwaters Cafe. Warren Staebler, who operated a gas station later in life, fondly remembers his unique childhood growing up in the hotel." (aadl.org) - More information about the American Hotel
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- Title (Dublin Core)
- Allenel Hotel
- Description (Dublin Core)
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Hotel information
City: Ann Arbor
Address: 126 El Huron St.
Appears in the 1950-1955 Green Books
Demolished in 1964 to make way for another hotel -
"The Allenel was the direct descendant of Cook’s Temperance House, which opened in 1836. Owner Solon Cook and his wife, Anna, were teetotalers. (Anna managed the Ladies Total Abstinence Benevolent Society, and Solon was a trustee of the Presbyterian Church.) A harness maker, Solon Cook exchanged saddles and harnesses for produce, lumber, and feed for his horses, who pulled the “omnibus” that took hotel guests to and from the train station. The Cooks ran the hotel until after the Civil War, enlarging it twice.
In 1871, the wooden Cook’s Hotel was demolished and replaced by a four-story brick building. The Cooks had retired by then, but the new hotel retained their name and a reputation as “the” destination for visitors to town. In 1896, presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan stayed at Cook’s and gave a speech standing on the marquee above the entrance. According to contemporary accounts, Huron Street was jammed as far as the eye could see." (aadl.org) - More information about the Allenel Hotel
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- Title (Dublin Core)
- Gotham Hotel
- Description (Dublin Core)
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City: Detroit
Address: 111 Orchstra Place
Appears in the 1950-1955 Green Books
Closed in 1963 -
"The building stood at 111 Orchestra Place at John R, about a block north of Mack, and saw a who's-who list of visitors over its two decades as one of the country's leading Black hotels: Jackie Robinson, Langston Hughes, Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis Jr. and Billie Holiday.
The building started its life as just another simple structure catering to the city's white majority, the Hotel Martinique. It was built for Albert B. Hartz by A.W. Kutsche & Co. and designed in the Italian Renaissance style by architect Percival R. Pereira. The building permit was approved March 28, 1923, and construction started a few days later, on April 1. The total investment was about $800,000 (about $11 million today, when adjusted for inflation).
But this was segregated Detroit, and African-Americans were unfairly not allowed to stay in downtown hotels. With more and more African-Americans moving to the city for the good-paying factory jobs, Detroit was in need of not just more hotels, but fancier ones. Indeed, as the city entered the 1940s, there were only seven or eight hotels serving Black people in Detroit -- if you could even call them that. Some were nothing more than a flophouse.
Black Detroiters were deserving of something better, and the Gotham would soon embark on its most glorious years." (historicdetroit.org) - More information about the Gotham Hotel
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- Title (Dublin Core)
- Carlton Plaza Hotel
- Description (Dublin Core)
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City: Detroit
Address: 2915 John R St
Appears in the 1951-1955 Green Books
Opened in 1924, still in operation as luxury loft apartments -
"The eight-story hotel was equipped with 200 rooms and 200 baths, as well as a cafeteria, a barbershop and a beauty parlor. It was "beautifully appointed and equipped with almost every imaginable modern convenience" and "bids fair to become one of Detroit's most popular hotels, admirably located," the Free Press reported the morning after its opening. "
"The Carlton also had an important social significance during the Jazz Age. In a segregated city, wealthy and affluent Black Detroiters during the 1920s and '30s came to the Carlton Plaza to listen to some of the biggest names in jazz. By 1960, the Carlton had become the most popular hotel for upper-middle-class Black people who were still denied accommodations at white-only hotels downtown. " (HistoricDetroit.org) - More information about the Carlton Plaza Hotel
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- Title (Dublin Core)
- Biltmore Hotel
- Description (Dublin Core)
- "The Biltmore Hotel was one of the most well-known hotels on St. Antoine. Purchased by entrepreneur Theodore Jones in 1916, it eventually became a top-tier hotel for Black visitors, with guests and visitors frequently noted in The Chicago Defender and other Black-owned publications. Years later, Club Three 666 Manager Richard L. King recalled that it was located on St. Antoine between Beacon and Adams, with a restaurant in the basement." (Black Bottom Digital Archive)
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