Detroit, MICHIGAN - Hotel Pontchartrain

Description: Detroit, MICHIGAN - Hotel Pontchartrain - Private Dining Rooms: It was the “Mother of Motors” and the forefather of luxury hotels in the city. The Hotel Pontchartrain’s name is legendary in Detroit, as were the events that took place within its walls. It was erected on the site of a storied Detroit institution, only to become one itself. Seven presidents are said to have strode down its halls, along with the likes of vaudeville stars, actors and actresses, not to mention thousands of out-of-towners and honeymooners. But above all, the Pontchartrain is most important for its role as the cradle of the auto industry. It was a hotel that literally changed the world. Yet despite the Pontchartrain’s rich history, this storied landmark would stand for only 13 years. “The Pontch,” as it was known, was built in 1907 on the southeast corner of Cadillac Square and Woodward Avenue. More than $300,000 — $6.9 million today — was spent on furnishings alone. Even the ice scoops were made of silver. The building was a whopping ten stories tall, extended 40 feet underground and ate up an entire city block. The basement would house a switchboard for nearly four hundred telephones—more than many towns could boast at the time. It also was said that every breath of air and every drop of water that flowed into the hotel would be purified with filters. Its laundry facility was “large enough to do a small city’s work.” The Free Press wrote in 1907 that “no expense should be spared to make it the very best hotel in the country, and none has been.” This was an unrivaled palace of hospitality in a dusty, still-growing city. Even the building’s name was inherited from royalty: Pontchartrain. The storied hotel’s doors closed for good at midnight on Jan. 31, 1920. The only souls left in the building were a few employees and a couple of guests who, as a special favor, were allowed to stay until Sunday morning. But workers started picking the building apart at 3 p.m. that afternoon, stripping the lobby of its furnishings, hat racks, desks and clocks. This Divided Back Era (1907-15) postcard is in good condition. Chilton Company, Philadelphia. No. A 3553.

Price: 8.5 USD

Location: Brooklyn, New York

End Time: 2024-12-18T03:33:59.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD