The Hotel Kewanee is a former hotel in downtown

Kewanee, Illinois Kewanee () is a city in Henry County, Illinois, United States. "Kewanee" is the Winnebago word for greater prairie chicken, which lived there. The population was 12,509 at the 2020 census, down from 12,944 in 2000. Geography According to the ...

, located at 125 North Chestnut Street.

History

The Hotel Kewanee was built in 1916. It is a four-story brick building, and during its heyday it featured over 100 guest rooms, a restaurant, a full bar, a lounge, a ballroom, and many local businesses in its storefronts on the ground floor. Peoria architects

Hewitt & Emerson Hewitt & Emerson was an architectural firm based in Peoria, Illinois. It was founded in 1909 as the partnership of architects Herbert E. Hewitt and Frank N. Emerson. After 1927 it was known successively as Hewitt, Emerson & Gregg; Emerson, ...

designed the building, which cost $150,000. At the time of its opening in 1916, it was known as The Parkside Hotel. This moniker lasted until the 1950s, when it was renamed The Hotel Kewanee following a major renovation. Longtime proprietor Charlie Summers, Sr. and his family owned and operated the hotel from 1962 to 1992. During this time, the hotel hosted a full-scale restaurant, bar, and lounge that were open to the public. It also hosted private functions in its ballroom until 1977, when the ballroom was replaced with additional hotel rooms. The Hotel Kewanee hosted many famous guests over the years, including: U.S. Senator

Everett McKinley Dirksen Everett McKinley Dirksen (January 4, 1896 – September 7, 1969) was an American politician. A Republican, he represented Illinois in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. As Senate Minority Leader from 1959 unt ...

(R-IL); Governor Richard Buell Ogilvie (D-IL);

Maureen Reagan Maureen Elizabeth Reagan (January 4, 1941 – August 8, 2001) was an American political activist and the first child of U.S. president Ronald Reagan and his first wife, actress Jane Wyman. Her brother is Michael Reagan and her half-siblings ar ...

, daughter of President Ronald Reagan;

Margaret Whiting Margaret Eleanor Whiting (July 22, 1924 – January 10, 2011) was an American popular music and country music singer who gained popularity in the 1940s and 1950s.Mapes, Jillian.Margaret Whiting, Iconic Standards Singer, Dies at 86. ''Billboard' ...

, pop singer;

Bob Crosby George Robert Crosby (August 23, 1913 – March 9, 1993) was an American jazz singer and bandleader, best known for his group the Bob-Cats, which formed around 1935. The Bob-Cats were a New Orleans Dixieland-style jazz octet. He was the younge ...

, bandleader and brother of actor Bing Crosby;

Suzy Bogguss Susan Kay Bogguss (born December 30, 1956) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She began her career in the 1980s as a solo singer. In the 1990s, six of her songs were Top 10 hits, three albums were certified gold, and one album re ...

, country music singer; U.S. Senator

John Tower John Goodwin Tower (September 29, 1925 – April 5, 1991) was an American politician, serving as a Republican United States Senator from Texas from 1961 to 1985. He was the first Republican Senator elected from Texas since Reconstruction. Tower ...

(R-TX); and

Marjabelle Young Stewart Marjabelle Young Stewart (May 16, 1924 – March 3, 2007) was an American writer and expert on etiquette. Early life Stewart was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, to Marie and Clarence Cullen Bryant (a great-grandson of poet William Cullen Bryant) ...

, author and etiquette expert. WKEI, a Kewanee-based radio station, had its studios on the fourth floor of The Hotel Kewanee from 1961 to 1981. In 2006, it was named to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. The Henry County Housing Authority acquired the building in the early 2000s. It has been renovated for use as senior citizen housing and was renamed Parkside Apartments.

References

External links

Historic postcard with images of the Hotel Kewanee

Historic postcard with images of the hotel in its early years, when it was known as The Parkside Hotel
{{NRHP in Henry County, Illinois Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois Kewanee, Illinois National Register of Historic Places in Henry County, Illinois Hotel buildings completed in 1916