Hotel Jefferson (St. Louis, Missouri)

Hotel Jefferson
Location 415 N. Tucker Blvd., St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Coordinates 38°37′57″N 90°11′50″W / 38.63250°N 90.19722°W / 38.63250; -90.19722Coordinates: 38°37′57″N 90°11′50″W / 38.63250°N 90.19722°W / 38.63250; -90.19722
Area 1.4 acres (0.57 ha)
Built 1904 (1904), 1928 (1928)
Architectural style Classical Revival
NRHP Reference # 03001066[1]
Added to NRHP October 24, 2003

The Hotel Jefferson is a historic hotel in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. It opened in 1904 to serve visitors to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition and was named in honor of Thomas Jefferson.

The original east half of the building was designed by Barnett, Haynes & Barnett; the Classical Revival structure features terra cotta decorations. The hotel was opened to the public for the first time on April 2, 1904, for a charity ball sponsored by the St. Louis chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy and the Confederate Memorial Society.[2] The hotel opened to overnight guests on April 29, 1904, the day before the World's Fair.[2] The Democratic National Convention was held at the hotel in 1904 and 1916.[2]

The hotel was sold in 1927 and in 1928 the new owners constructed a huge addition on the west side of the hotel designed by the firm Teich & Sullivan, doubling its capacity and adding two banquet rooms. The Jefferson Plaza Garage was added to the hotel in the same year; the garage includes elements of the Art Deco and Tudor Revival styles. The garage helped to alleviate St. Louis' downtown traffic congestion and serve visitors with cars; the Hotel Jefferson is the only historic downtown hotel with its own original parking garage.

The Jefferson hosted conventions and celebrities in the city for the next two decades and was recognized by Gourmet magazine as "one of the best hotels in St. Louis".[3] The Jefferson was sold to Hilton Hotels in 1950, retaining its original name. In 1954, Hilton purchased the nationwide Statler Hotels chain. As a result, they owned multiple large hotels in many major cities. In St Louis, for example, they owned both the Jefferson and the Statler Hotel St. Louis. This was found by the government to be an anti-trust violation and Hilton was required to sell The Jefferson to The Sheraton Corporation in 1955.[4] The hotel was renamed The Sheraton-Jefferson. It was again renamed The Jefferson Hotel in 1973, though still operating within Sheraton.

The hotel finally closed on July 23, 1975. It reopened in 1977[5] as a residence for the elderly called the Jefferson Arms Apartments.[3] The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 24, 2003.[1]

In 2006, developers cleared the building of residents and planned to convert it to condominiums; however, the project collapsed.[6] As of 2015, the building is tied up in ongoing litigation and remains vacant.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 3 (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20121019010057/http://www.dnr.mo.gov/shpo/nps-nr/03001066.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2012. Retrieved January 9, 2013. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. 1 2 Stiritz, Mary M.; Laura Johnson (May 2003). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Hotel Jefferson" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Jefferson Hotel". Umsl.edu. 1904-05-01. Retrieved 2015-09-19.
  5. ↑ Lussenhop, Jessica (2013-10-09). "Portraits of the Spooky, Abandoned Ballroom in the Jefferson Arms (PHOTOS) | News Blog | St. Louis News and Events | Riverfront Times". Blogs.riverfronttimes.com. Retrieved 2015-09-19.
  6. ↑ Bryant, Tim (March 16, 2012). "Jefferson Arms project is dealt a setback". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Jefferson Arms shows complexities of downtown dealmaking : Business". Stltoday.com. 2015-02-14. Retrieved 2015-09-19.


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