Edgewater Beach Hotel (1916-1970) & Apartments

The origins of the Edgewater Beach Hotel are thought to begin with baseball. In the 1910s, successful businessman and president of the Miami Coal Company John T. Connery attempted to purchase the Chicago Cubs. In the final hour, however, the deal fell through. Unsuccessful in launching a sports management career, Connery instead turned to hotel management.

Purchasing a vacant lot across from his home, Connery hired the architectural firm Marshall and Fox to construct a grand hotel overlooking Lake Michigan. Noted Chicago architect Benjamin Marshall designed an eight story, 400 room hotel in Spanish Baroque style. Located in Chicago’s posh, modern Edgewater neighborhood, the hotel opened its doors in 1916. Mary Nelson, John Connery’s granddaughter, recalled, “When the hotel first opened, my grandfather was going from empty room to empty room in the evening turning on the lights on the Sheridan Road side to make the hotel look occupied. That was not necessary for very long, as the hotel soon became very popular.”[3] In 1924, a second, even larger building opened, containing 600 rooms across 18 floors. In 1929, Edgewater Beach Apartments opened to the north of the hotel providing long-term accommodations.

The hotel served as a social hub for not only Chicago celebrities, but also nationwide notables, including Marilyn Monroe and Judy Garland, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower. The hotel offered extensive amenities to visitors: shops, a radio station (WEBH), tennis courts, putting greens, fine dining, shows, and of course a beautiful beach walk. A seaplane could ferry in the wealthiest of guests. Connery served as the Edgewater Beach Hotel Corporation’s president, and William Dewey managed the hotel. As historian Kenan Heise has noted that Dewey was “a showman…He was good at booking top names into the Edgewater Beach, and that was very much a part of its allure.”[3]

In 1947, the Edgewater Beach Hotel was sold several times, landing in possession of the Hotel Corporation. By the 1950s, the hotel slid. The city of Chicago purchased the hotel’s lakefront beach to extend Lake Shore Drive. The advent of air conditioning ended the value of the lakefront breeze. The neighborhood’s reputation roughened, and the hotel began to lose its glitzy allure. By the 1960s, the hotel had again changed hands and suffered from maintenance issues; whole sections were closed off to the public. In 1967, the hotel’s owners declared bankruptcy, and occupants were told to leave. Loyala University briefly used the former hotel as a dorm, but in 1970 the two hotel buildings were demolished. As local resident Phyllis Nickels lamented, “It was a big part of the neighborhood, so we were awfully mad when they were going to take it down.”[3]

Today, a senior living facility stands upon the site of the now gone Edgewater Beach Hotel. Still standing, however, are the Edgewater Beach Apartments, which are cooperatively owned. The Apartments are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

1. "Edgewater Beach Hotel." Edgewater Historical Society. Web. Accessed November 29, 2020. http://www.edgewaterhistory.org/ehs/local/edgewater-beach-hotel

2. "Edgewater Beach Hotel." Chicago Time Machine. Web. Accessed November 29, 2020. https://interactive.wttw.com/timemachine/edgewater-beach-hotel

3. Ginny Weissman. "The Edgewater Beach Hotel: Magic by the Lake." Chicago Stories. WTTW. PBS. Web. Accessed November 29, 2020. https://interactive.wttw.com/a/chicago-stories-edgewater-beach-hotel

4. "Edgewater Beach Apartments." 1994. National Register of Historic Places, Registration Form. National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Digitized. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28891966

5. Adam Linger. "Edgewater Beach Memories." 1990. Edgewater Scrapbook. Web. Accessed November 30, 2020. http://www.edgewaterhistory.org/ehs/articles/v03-2-5

6. "John T. Connery, Hotel Owner, 76." June 7, 1937. New York Times. Web. Accessed November 30, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/1937/06/07/archives/john-t-connery-hotel-owner-76-operator-of-edgewater-beach-in.html

7. Bill Motchan. "The Edgewater Beach Apartments Offer a Lake View and A Link to the Past." November 20, 2014. Chicago Architecture. Web. Accessed November 30, 2020. https://www.chicagoarchitecture.org/2014/11/20/the-edgewater-beach-apartments-offer-a-lake-view-and-a-link-to-the-past/