This wasn't a gimme. The hotel in question, now replaced by the Continental Illinois Bank Building on the block bounded by Clark, LaSalle, Jackson, and Quincy, is the famous Grand Pacific Hotel. But the 1912 photo deployed in yesterday's post is not the image commonly associated with the hotel. You see, the early photographers and sketch artists were more fond of the place when it was at full size and strength with Palazzo-style ornament. In the late 1890s, that specimen—rivaling the Palmer House in grandeur—was cut in half with the eastern side left standing. Architects Jenney and Mundie set about remodeling the remnants and it reopened as the third Grand Pacific Hotel, a proud building but lacking in pomp. The hotel remained in operation another 25 years until being razed 1921. Thanks for playing!
·Hint: The Spawn of One of Chicago's Signature Early Hotels [Curbed Chicago]
·Grand Pacific Hotel II [Chicagology]
·Grand Pacific Hotel [Wikipedia]
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