| Grand Hotel 1880-1925 The Grand Hotel was built at 325 W Milwaukee in 1879 by Mr. David Jeffris to replace the old Williams House (previously known as the Borden House). The Williams House burned in 1877. The Grand opened to the public January 1, 1880 with 75 rooms were available for the traveling public. At this location the hotel was easily accessible from the nearby train stations. Notice the trees are still immature. The Grand preceded the Monterey Hotel at this location. |
JANES HOTEL - Owned by Charles Stevens. He then sold this to J. P. Dickson and built the "Janesville Stage House" JANESVILLE STAGE HOUSE - 1837. First significant hotel in Janesville. The structure was torn down in 1859. MEYERS HOTEL was built on its place later in 1861 and had 100 rooms. ROCK COUNTY HOUSE - 2nd significant hotel in Janesville was opened by Volney Atwood at the corner of Main and Court streets. It was kept by him only for a short time, and he was succeeded by a Mr. Blood, and then later by Sol Hud- son, who ran the hotel as the American House. AMERICAN HOUSE - 1840. Corner of Court & Main Street. In 1867or 1868 it was destroyed by fire. AMERICAN HOTEL -1847 In 1847 a three-story brick block next to the Rock County House — then called the American Hotel — on Main street was erected by Morris C. Smith and his partner. It was later occu- pied by William Conrad as a store building. STEVENS HOUSE -1848 Early in this year Charles Stevens began building a large hotel, to be called the Stevens House, at the corner of Milwaukee and Franklin streets, where the Hyatt House was afterwards situ- ated. The new hotel was to be something grander than had ever been erected in Janesville. On June 1, 1848, the "Gazette" pub- lished an article concerning it, in which it was stated that it would require more than an acre of plaster. It was finally finished and opened on October 12 by Landlords Churchill and Sibley, and was run as a hotel until it was burned in 1853. On election night, the first Tuesday of April, the Stevens House was destroyed by fire during one of the most violent gales of wind ever experienced ; it was a wonder that more of the city was not burned, as there was no fire department except a volun- teer bucket brigade. The burning of the Stevens House prompted the common council to take action in securing a better fire de- partment and apparatus, though this was not accomplished for some time thereafter. The HYATT HOUSE was built on the ruins of the Stevens House, but met the same fate...was entirely destroyed by fire in 1867, no insurance. The burning of the Hyatt House, spoken of hereafter, and the Chicago fire in 1871, finished the financial destruction of Mr. Smith, though he kept his spirits and continued in the prac- tice of law at Janesville until almost the time of his death, which occurred October 17, 1892. Stevens built another hotel on North First Street over Main. When Mr Stevens sold it, it was re-named UNION HOUSE. NEW ENGLAND HOUSE - 1850. Sold hands and was renamed again the STEVENS HOUSE. JANESVILLE CITY HOTEL - 1851 owned by John King. He died a year later in 1852 and then the Hotel was suspend until 1854. Management proved a failure and was sold. The new Hotel was called the Janesville House and operated under Auspicious circumstances.. Was released to another person and the name changed to SCHUYLER. Was released again and became the FARMERS HOTEL. Again, it kept getting re-leased over and over again. Another new 2nd SCHUYLER HOUSE - 1861. On Bluff Street, North of Court. This building was sold 2 more times. Was partially destroyed to fire. It was rebuilt. Then resold again to Mr. Pember and re-named the PEMBER HOUSE. The OGDEN HOUSE , a five-story building on the northerly side of Milwaukee street between Main and Bluff, was built by J. M, May; it was used for commercial purposes for a couple of years, but was turned into a hotel (The MERCHANTS HOTEL) after the Stevens House burned in 1853. In 1859 the postoffice was located in this building. LONDON HOTEL 1892 - currently there, but not operating as a hotel anymore London Hotel was built late 1892, and opened 1893 next to Frick Printing Co. The address of the London Hotel was 121 E. Milwaukee across from Myers Opera House . the London Hotel in Janesville, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. It looks like in 1975, Joseph Forrestal was the owner then based on this: Council (Janesville) [City] council won't swallow liquor license shuffle [when Joseph Forrestal, owner of the London Hotel and Bar, applied for a hotel liquor license for the London Hotel in order to get his former class B license transferred to a new restaurant, Back Stage of Janesville] 13 May 1975, p. 2 Over it's 100 year existence, there's probably been many owners (a guess) The DAVIS HOUSE - 1861 JEFFRIES HOUSE - corner of Milwaukee and High Street. 50 rooms History of hotels in Janesville. Mentioned are: Henry Janes' cabin; Charles Stevens; Janesville Stage House; Myers Hotel; Peter Myers; Volney Atwood; Rock County House; Sol Hudson; American House; Stevens House; A. Hyatt Smith; Hyatt House; Merchants Hotel; Ogden House; Nelson Hurlbut; J. M. Riker; Sanford Williams; Peters Block; Borden House; Williams House; David Jeffris; Grand Hotel; Monterey Hotel; London Hotel; Fred Jones; Bismark House; Empire Hotel; Union Hotel; Interurban Hotel; Park Hotel; Lucille Hotel; St. Charles Hotel; European Hotel; Railroad Hotel. Reference: Page 588 http://books.google.com/books?id=c1RSZ0EZVIIC&q=hotels+janesville#v=snippet&q=hotels%20janesville&f=false http://www.archive.org/stream/rockcountywiscon02brow/rockcountywiscon02brow_djvu.txt http://www.hedbergpubliclibrary.org/local_history_database_results.php Tags: Janesville Wisconsin, WI Hotel Hotels |
| Railroad Hotel |
| Old Historic Hotels in Janesville Wisconsin 1837-1945 |
| Williams Hotel & Kens Klub |
| Monterey Hotel 1930 Newspaper article from 2018 current owners Located at 15 N. High Street, the Monterey Hotel dominates the West Milwaukee Historic District. On August 23, 1929, the Janesville Gazette announced that its contest to name the city’s newest hotel resulted in the name “Monterey.” The Art Deco hotel opened on Lincoln’s birthday, February 12, 1930 at the south-east corner of High and West Milwaukee Streets. A portion of this building was built in 1880 and served as the Grand Hotel. In 1930, the remodel was completed. It was designed by architect Paul Frederick Olsen of the Frank Perry Firm of Chicago. In 1960, John and Jacqueline Kennedy stayed here while on a presidential campaign trip. It currently stands empty. |
| Interurban Hotel |
| Hyatt House (Hotel) 1857-1867 Destroyed The Hyatt House, the most luxurious hotel building ever erected in the city of Janesville, was completed and opened for business May 7th, 1857. It occupied the former site of the old Stevens House Hotel, which burned in 1853, at the northeast corner of Milwaukee and Franklin Streets. The five story brick hotel was built by its name sake, A. Hyatt Smith, at the cost of $140,000. Everything about the structure was substantial and imposing with the dining hall being so large that between four and five hundred guests could be seated at one time. This hotel had become quite famous and had become a tremendous asset to the city of Janesville. Its destruction was a great loss. The fire was described as "a grand a sight as is often witnessed." The air was said to have been very still and the flames and smoke shot upward hundreds of feet in one vast sheet, bursting out of the windows and doors. It was most fortunate that there were no strong winds. As it was the freight depot caught fire twice during the blaze and all the buildings in the immediate vicinity were blistered by the fires intense heat. The fire was thought to have started in the kitchen after a fire had built in the cook stove and from there it spread at an alarming rate. Noted as the grandest building ever to grace Janesville's downtown, the Hyatt House was destroyed by fire on January 12th, 1867. Newspaper article: TERRIBLE CONFLAGRATION !!! THE HYATT HOUSE IN TOTAL RUINS !! A YOUNG WOMAN BURNED TO DEATH ! HER REMAINS NOT RECOVERED NARROW ESCAPE OF THE OCCUPANTS OF THE BUILDING ! LOSS OF PROPERTY $150,000 ! Our city was the scene this morning of the most disastrous fire that ever visited it. Soon after 3 o'clock the Hyatt House was discovered to be on fire in the kitchen. The flames spread with surprising rapidity, so much so that it was with the utmost difficulty that the occupants of the building escaped, nearly all of them with nothing on save their night clothes; and a young woman named MAGGIE EMERSON, an employee in the house, less fortunate than the others, was cut off from retreat and perished in the flames. She was last seen at a window in the fifth story, where she called for help; but no help could reach her. Soon after her entreaty for assistance, two garments were thrown out of a window, it was supposed by her. Quite a number of the inmates of the hotel made their escape by crawling out on their hands and knees, while others nearly suffocated with smoke, threw themselves with frantic energy against a partition, which separated the hotel from the building occupied as offices, and tore it down, thus effecting their escape dwont the stairway farthest removed from the fire. One man let himself down to the balcony from an upper story by tying the bed clothing together. It is truly wonderful that no more lives were lost, when the extent of the building is considered, and the quick work which the flames made is taken into account. The Hyatt House was built in 1856 and 1857 by MR. A. HYALL SMITH, the citizens contributing liberally toward the enterprise. It cost not far from $130,000 |
| Hotel Corneau 1890-1910 |
| Meyers Hotel 1860 At a cost of $60,000, the Myers Hotel was the first large hotel built in Janesville. It was built in 1860 by Peter Myers, who made a fortune in lard, pork packing, and other meat products. When the Myers opened in November 1861, it was operated by Myers personally. It had about 100 rooms, plus commercial space on its first floor. It remained one of Janesville’s finest hotels more than halfway into the 20th Century. |
| Commercial Hotel 1880 |
| London Hotel 1845-1893 121-123 E MILWAUKEE ST The Victorian Structure was built in 1845, duplicating a building in London England . |
Photo taken 1930
Photo taken 2007
