The story
The first Palmer House, a wedding present from Potter Palmer to Bertha Honoré, opened on September 26, 1870, and burned on October 9, 1871, in the Great Chicago Fire. Work on a second hotel had started thirteen days before the fire. It was finished in 1875 and advertised as "The World's Only Fire Proof Hotel."
The current building is a 25-story hotel with more than 1,000 rooms. Conrad Hilton bought it in December 1945 for $20 million. It is often called the longest continuously operating hotel in North America, though it closed temporarily in 2020 and 2021.
Everything that was here
- 1871–present · still open
Palmer HouseHotel
Potter Palmer built the first Palmer House as a wedding present for Bertha Honoré, and it burned in the Great Chicago Fire about a year after it opened.
See the map in 1872 →
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Connected places
Henrici's
The Metropole Hotel
Muehlebach Hotel
Explore the full web of connections on the map.
Nearby history
Miller's Pub
The 226 Club (Exchequer Restaurant & Pub)
College Inn
Overton Hygienic Building
Russian Tea Time
The Berghoff Restaurant
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