University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, February 20, 1991
11
Features
Courtesy of Kansas State Historical Society
The second Eldridge Hotel, built in 1863 and seen in this photograph taken in 1867, was torn down in 1924 to build the present hotel.
LEFT: At one time the current front desk of the Eldridge Hotel was a bar.
History can be uncovered in Eldridge
By Michael Christie
Kansan staff writer
A few years ago, a woman came into the Eldridge Hotel and told the manager that she remembered seeing John Wayne running up and down the lobby steps when he was in town, working on "Dark Command," a film about William Clarke Quantrill's raid on Lawrence
Lawrence hotel reveals past events and trends
The Eldridge Hotel is deep in such history.
From the site of the building to the names of its 48 suites, the hotel has a 10-story tower.
Four hotels have existed on the site of the Eldridge Hotel, 701 Massachusetts St. The original hotel was called the Free State Hotel and was burned by pro-slavery activists in 1858.
A picture of the burning Free State Hotel is on Lawrence's city seal.
Col. Shalar Eldridge rebuilt the first hotel in 1861, which subsequently was burned in the sack of weapons by Quantrill and his mob in 1893.
Hutton even built a meeting hall into the new Eldridge for KU groups because the Kansas Union was not built yet.
The second Eldridge Hotel remained standing for 61 years, until 1926. This time the hotel's owner, Ralph Burr, fled down and rebuilt the Eldridge.
The basement room of the Eldridge
was built in tribute to what was then the Big Six athletic conference, now the Big Eight Conference. Visitors to the sports bar under the Eldridge building of Hudson Valley original conference members that Hutson built into the floor in stone.
The rooms in the all-suite hotel are named after famous Lawrence residents, past and present. The second-floor suites are all named in honor of KU personalities, such as Phog Allen and James Naismith.
The hotel closed in 1970 due to a lack of business after more than 40 years of operation. The lobby remained open as a restaurant until
1986, when the building was gutted so that the Eldridge Hotel could reopen.
From 100 small rooms, workers made 48 suits to make the rooms more luxurious.
"In 1926, they didn't spend any money on rooms," said Bob Phillips, general manager of the current Eldridge Hotel.
Rooms were smaller then because people did their entertaining in the hotel bar or restaurant.
"It just wasn't acceptable to invite someone to your room, just for conversation." Phillips said.
Although the rooms were made larger and relatively modern, the
lobby underwent a change to reflect the past.
"They had a lot of glass in here. It looked very '70s," he said.
The question of how much the management should change the hotel arose during the renovation.
The front desk was a bar when the lobby was just a restaurant. Brass rails lined the front of the bar.
"We talked to the historical society, and they said 'Everyday' is a piece of history." Phillips said.
The decision was made to keep certain elements of all the eras the
When the hotel was re-established.
Phillips said he asked the historical society if he should fill in the holes from where the rails were screwed into the marble.
"They said, 'Leave it. It makes it more historical,' Phillips said.
Phillips said the fish pond in the lobby was a good example of the mix of eras found in the hotel.
"This is not the original pond, but the statue was from the original pond," he said.
Wilbur Norton. Lawrence resident, loaned the statue of a little boy to the hotel after it reopened in 1896.
When the hotel closed in 1970, someone bought the statue and put it in the yard of the house that Norton bought about 17 years ago. His neighbors told him that the statue came from the hotel, he said.
A series of lectures designed to help non-Muslims understand Islam
The Islamic Center of Lawrence
presents
b. Understanding the Muslim & Arab culture and mentality
3. Islam through the eyes of American-Muslim women converts (How Islam changed their lives)
Program The Concept of Jihad in Islam
Imam Hamed Ghazali President of MSA and Imam of Islamic Center of Lawrence
A group of American Muslim women converts
2. a) Fundamentals of Islam
Prof. Jeffrey Lang
KU Prof. and Advisor
Assoc. MSA Assoc. (MSA)
7:30 pm Thursday, Feb 28, 1991
r:30 pm, Wednesday February 20,1991
7:30 pm Tuesday, March 5, 1991
Place
Big 8 Room
Kansas Union
KU, Lawrence
Free admission, Free refreshments For more information, call 841-9768
Jayhawk Room Kansas Union KU, Lawrence
Attention All Juniors Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honorary
Pine Room Kansas Union KU, Lawrence
*Scholarship • Athletics • Creative and performing arts
*Campus government, social, service, and religious activities
- Campus government, social, service, and religious activities
* Journalism, speech and the mass media
Deadline is March 8
Candidates must have demonstrated superior leadership in
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