Young's Hotel (1860–1927) in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

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, was located on Court Street in the Financial District, in a building designed by William Washburn. George Young established the business, later taken over by Joseph Reed Whipple and George G. Hall. Guests at Young's included

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

Elizabeth Cady Stanton Elizabeth Cady Stanton ( Cady; November 12, 1815 – October 26, 1902) was an American writer and activist who was a leader of the women's rights movement in the U.S. during the mid- to late-19th century. She was the main force behind the 1848 ...

William Lloyd Garrison William Lloyd Garrison (December , 1805 – May 24, 1879) was an Abolitionism in the United States, American abolitionist, journalist, and reformism (historical), social reformer. He is best known for his widely read anti-slavery newspaper ''The ...

Charles Sumner Charles Sumner (January 6, 1811March 11, 1874) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1851 until his death in 1874. Before and during the American Civil War, he was a leading American ...

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, and numerous others.

History

Prior to opening his hotel, Connecticut-born George Young had worked for the Hampden House, Springfield, Mass.; United States Hotel, Worcester; and the Old Cornhill Coffee-House, Boston. In 1850 he bought the Cornhill Coffee-House from its aged proprietor, Mr. Taft. "In 1860 the Fifty Associates erected a new building n the site of the coffee-house known as 'Young's Hotel,' of which Mr. Young continued as proprietor. In 1876 he sold out his interest" for $65,000 to Joseph Reed Whipple and George G. Hall (former employees of Parker's Hotel). Young's became one of the first buildings in Boston installed with electric lights (1881). Whipple & Hall built an addition on the hotel in 1882. Frank Hill Smith designed its dining room: "a large and rather low studded apartment, broken by pilasters and beams into three bays. At the end of it is a long mantel and fire-place. ... The walls ... are covered above the red mahogany wainscot with stamped leather of golden arabesque figurings on a groundwork of reddish brown. The semi-circular arches over the windows are filled with stained glass. ... The mantel curves into the room, and is supported by Ionic columns quite clear of the carved griffins. The fireplace is highly ornamental, and is built up of the Chelsea tile, the main feature of which is a bas-relief of dancing figures. Chandeliers and side-sconces of brass in dead finish brighten the room at the proper points, and the outer light is shaded by fleecy hangings. ... This room is 100 feet long by 31 feet wide, and has tables of various size for seating 150 guests." In the 1880s, according to one report, "Boston's chief center of mild dissipation is Young's Hotel" with its pool tables and card-playing

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

students. "The billiard room at Young's -- the most frequent in town -- is very much like all other billiard rooms, save for its extra gorgeousness. There are always to be seen the expert players at the exhibition tables, who perform all sorts of bewildering caroms, as if unconscious of the admiring crowd that looks on."Columbus Enquirer-Sun; Date: 02-14-1889 Further, "here one may see in the afternoon or evening the swellest students from Harvard, in cape coats and patent leather shoes exhibiting the very latest fashions in dress, and toting canes like small trees knobbed with silver. ... You need not be surprised if, as you pass the hotel desk, you see a party of five or six young men inquiring for a room ...

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poker party." After a "disturbance" in 1891, Whipple decreed the hotel would "allow no large bodies of Harvard students to dine ... hereafter." J.R. Whipple continued as owner when the partnership with George Hall dissolved in 1887. Around this time Whipple & Co. also owned the Parker House hotel and

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. In 1892 he instituted an employee policy "compelling all ... waiters to remove their beards." The Boston Waiters' Alliance "embracing every hotel and restaurant in the city" resolved to resist, and were prepared to strike if Whipple fired "those who do not comply." A travel guidebook described Young's in 1895: "The main entrance to this hotel is on Court Avenue, and the hotel extends to Court Square and Court Street. It is one of the largest and best of the hotels on the European plan. One of the features of this hotel is the ladies' dining-room, the entrance to which is on the Court Street side. This is a handsomely decorated room 100 feet long and 31 feet wide. It connects with other large dining-rooms, and a cafe for gentlemen on the ground floor. This hotel is a favorite place with New Yorkers. ... Recognized as among the best otel restaurants in the cityare those connected with Young's Hotel, the Parker House, and the Adams House. That of Young's Hotel is very extensive, occupying a large part of the ground floor of that establishment. It has dining-rooms for ladies and gentlemen, lunch rooms, and convenient lunch and oyster counters." The hotel closed in 1927. Thereafter the building was temporarily occupied by the Boston Weather Service (1929–1933). The structure was demolished around 1940.

Hotel guests

and

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after their (aborted) attempt to walk "from Hartford to Boston, a distance of about a hundred miles," 1874 *

Frederick Jackson Turner Frederick Jackson Turner (November 14, 1861 – March 14, 1932) was an American historian during the early 20th century, based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison until 1910, and then Harvard University. He was known primarily for his front ...

, 1887

Events at the hotel

19th century

* 1865 ** Massachusetts Democratic State Central Committee meeting * 1870 ** "Mrs.

dined informally with the Bird Club ... as a guest of the club" * 1871 ** New England Commissioners of fisheries meeting ** New England Associated Press annual meeting ** "Bird Club" reunion/tribute on the "25th anniversary of the first open schism in the Whig party of this state on the slavery question;" speeches by

, Francis William Bird,

Charles Francis Adams Jr. Charles Francis Adams Jr. (May 27, 1835 – March 20, 1915) was an American author, historian, and railroad and park commissioner who served as the president of the Union Pacific Railroad from 1884 to 1890. He served as a colonel in the Union Ar ...

, E. Rockwood Hoar,

Marshall Jewell Marshall Jewell (October 20, 1825 – February 10, 1883) was a manufacturer, pioneer telegrapher, telephone entrepreneur, world traveler, and political figure who served as List of Governors of Connecticut, 44th and 46th Governor of Connecticut, ...

* 1873 ** "Boston Grange, Order of Patrons of Husbandry" established * 1874 ** 13th New Hampshire Infantry Regiment officers' reunion **

Benjamin F. Butler Benjamin Franklin Butler (November 5, 1818 – January 11, 1893) was an American major general of the Union Army, politician, lawyer, and businessman from Massachusetts. Born in New Hampshire and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, Butler was a ...

"feasted ... by his past political friends" * 1877 ** Massachusetts 22nd Infantry and 3rd Battery Association annual dinner and reunion ** Loyal Legion reception for President

* 1878 ** Dinner of the New England Franklin Club, "complimentary to

" * 1879 **

Mason & Hamlin Mason & Hamlin is an American manufacturer of handcrafted grand and upright Piano, pianos, based in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1854, it is one of two surviving American piano manufacturers from the Golden Age of the Piano, "Golden Age" o ...

Organ Co. 25th anniversary dinner ** New Hampshire Club established * 1880 ** "Farewell dinner to Francis Ellingwood Abbot, on retiring from the editorship of 'The Index'" ** "Charlestown Cadets entertained the Guards at their annual dinner" ** Lunch for

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...

, hosted by the State Central Committee * 1883 ** Boston Society of Civil Engineers 1st annual dinner * 1884 ** Nov. 22 - Charles H. Hill " eats crow" after

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, serving from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. He was the first U.S. president to serve nonconsecutive terms and the first Hist ...

defeats

James G. Blaine James Gillespie Blaine (January 31, 1830January 27, 1893) was an American statesman and Republican politician who represented Maine in the United States House of Representatives from 1863 to 1876, serving as speaker of the U.S. House of Rep ...

in the

U.S. presidential election The election of the president and vice president of the United States is an indirect election in which citizens of the United States who are registered to vote in one of the fifty U.S. states or in Washington, D.C., cast ballots not directl ...

. As reported in a local newspaper: "Before the election an agreement was made between Charles H. Hill and Fred W. Webber of Newton that if Cleveland was elected Hill was to eat crow, and if Blaine won Webber was to eat crow. This morning a crow was killed and sent to Young's hotel. At 6:30 o'clock to night, in the presence of Dr. Webber and eighteen other gentlemen, Mr. Hill sat down to a crow feast which had been prepared, and in anticipation of which he had been fasting since yesterday." ** Beacon Society's Commercial Club and Merchants Club dinner * 1886 ** Founding of

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

Alumni Association and first annual meeting June 28, 1886. According to the Boston Globe: "The first annual dinner of the Boston College Alumni Association was held at Young's Hotel and a large number of graduates of that institution assembled to make merry around the festive board. Previous to the dinner a business meeting was held, at which it was unanimously voted to admit to the association none but the graduates of the college." * 1888 ** Boston Life Underwriter's Association meeting * 1889 ** Cambridge Club "Ladies Night" ** Inglewood Fish and Game Corporation annual meeting * 1890 ** American Academy of Dental Science annual meeting ** Boston Law School alumni dinner * 1891 ** 5th Massachusetts Battery Light Artillery Association 21st reunion meal ** Boston Society of Civil Engineers annual dinner ** Textile Club meeting * 1892 **

Theta Delta Chi Theta Delta Chi () is a social fraternity that was founded in 1847 at Union College, New York, United States. While nicknames differ from institution to institution, the most common nicknames for the fraternity are TDX, TDC, Thete, Theta Delt, an ...

fraternity banquet * 1894 ** Boston Druggists annual meeting ** Dorchester Yacht Club annual dinner * 1895 ** Chickatawbut Club annual meeting and dinner * 1896 ** Theta Delta Chi fraternity annual convention ** Boston Life Underwriters' Association annual meeting ** James H. Eckels, Comptroller of the Currency, addresses the Massachusetts Reform Club **25th Anniversary of the founding of the Apollo Club of Boston, men's chorus, with invited guest the Mendelssohn Glee Club of New York, dinner held May 17, 1896. 4Event invitation, archives Apollo Club of Boston held in custody by the Massachusetts Historical Society.) * 1897 **

Boston City Hospital The Boston City Hospital (1864–1996), in Boston, Massachusetts, was a public hospital located in the South End. It was "intended for the use and comfort of poor patients, to whom medical care will be provided at the expense of the city, and ...

Club annual meeting ** New Hampshire Club dinner * 1899 ** Boston Boot and Shoe Club dinner

20th century

* 1905 ** Boston Co-operative Flower Growers' Association annual meeting and dinner * 1906 ** Kappa Delta Phi fraternity convention * 1907 ** County of Middlesex Bar Association, "complimentary dinner to Charles F. McIntire" * 1908 ** New England Railroad Club meeting * 1909 ** Seventh Annual Dinner of the Members by Inheritance of the Massachusetts Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, and One Hundredth Anniversary of the Birth of Abraham Lincoln * 1912 ** New England Association of Gas Engineers annual meeting * 1914 ** National Bank Cashiers' Association of Massachusetts, annual meeting and dinner * 1915 **

Harry Kendall Thaw Harry Kendall Thaw (February 12, 1871 – February 22, 1947) was the son of American coal and railroad baron William Thaw Sr. Heir to a multimillion-dollar fortune, he is most notable for having murdered the renowned architect Stanford Wh ...

, William Travers Jerome and guests dine, en route to New York * 1920 ** New England Confectioners' Club dinner * 1921 ** Foundation of the British Officers' Club of New England

References

54 Event invitation, archives Apollo Club of Boston held in custody by the Massachusetts Historical Society.

External links

Cornell University
"Restaurant Menus Database." Includes menus related to Young's {{Authority control Hotel buildings completed in 1860 Demolished buildings and structures in Boston 1927 disestablishments in Massachusetts History of Boston 19th century in Boston Financial District, Boston Defunct restaurants in Boston Hotels in Boston Hotels established in 1860 1860 establishments in Massachusetts Buildings and structures demolished in 1940