Top Ten Oldest Establishments of Their Kind-- Part 2

5.  THEATER:  Teatro Olimpio in Vicenza, Italy.  Opened in 1585

4.  AMUSEMENT PARK:  Bakken in Copenhagen, Denmark.  Opened in 1583

3.  MUSEUM:  Musei Capitolini in Rome, Italy.  Opened in 1471

2.  UNIVERSITY:  The University of al-Quarwiyy in Fez, Morocco.  Opened in 859

1.  HOTEL:  Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan in Japan.  Opened in 705

--DaCoot

1918 Influenza in Butler Co., Pa.,-- Part 3: Medical Help Arrives, Hotels and Tents

Already shorthanded by the war in Europe, the 1918 influenza outbreak in Butler County further depleted medical personnel, sickening nine nurses and a number of staff, and hampering their efforts to combat the disease effectively.  The Pennsylvania Department of Health sent a doctor and three nurses to help.

Meanwhile, the hospital neared full capacity and the city health board considered  requisitioning a hotel in the city as a temporary hospital.  Tents were sent to Butler so patients could receive open air treatment which seemed to improve their health.

By mid-October, however, the Butler City Health Board reported 3,000 cases since the crisis had begun, just a few weeks earlier.

I don't know about you, but this sounds all to familiar.

--Cooter

Sugar Rationing in 1918

From the July 25, 2018, MidWeek (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back."

1918, 100 Years Ago.

"Hotels and restaurants in DeKalb received their sugar allowance cards from the food administration, taking care of their allowance for the next three months.

"The eating places of the city are allowed three pounds of sugar for every 90 meals served, and it is required that the next three months' supply be anticipated, and proper requisition made to the sugar department of the food administration."

Rationing During World War I.  --Cooter

Me and "The Min"

Over the years, as boaters on the Chain of Lakes (since 1985), we often visited the Mineola Bar in the lower level.  I especially enjoyed their fish fries on Fridays which had a great salad/soup bar as well.  Plus, they had a lot of great specials on drinks.

And, that view looking eastward across Fox Lake was something to behold.

They had a historical display of artifacts from the hotel as well as old menus (I always like to see what the prices were in the past).  You just had to appreciate the huge history of that place.

I even deejayed a couple parties on the second level when they had a banquet hall there as well as part of the veranda open.

Sadly, the building itself was largely neglected with but little done to redo it or anything like that.  Eventually the Village of Fox Lake, the mayor in particular, got into a fight with owner Pete Jakstas, or "Mineola Pete" as he is called, and the end result was the closing of the bar and restaurant with the idea of the place being unsafe.  That was several years ago and even without any repairs the place still stands.

I sure wish the village would work out some sort of a deal with Pete to reopen the bar/restaurant as we really miss the place and expect at anytime to have it destroyed.

That Will Be a Huge Loss of History and Beauty When That Happens.  --Cooter

The Chain of Lakes' Mineola Hotel-- Part 5: Jakstas Family Running It

The ad also reported that there were no mortgages or outstanding bills and that the property could receive liberal terms for the purchaser.

Peter and Emma Jakstas responded to Mrs. Howard's desire to sell the Mineola and in 1943 purchased the property and successfully ran the resort through through the years.

In 1953 a hotel guest started a fire on the third floor, but fortunately the fire was contained.

Recognizing the uniqueness of the building and its importance in the history of the area, the National registry of Historic Places added the Mineola to its registry in 1979.

The Jakstas family continued to run the business over the years, but in 1963, closed the hotel part of the building due to a decrease to summertime visitors.

--Cooter

The Chain of Lakes' Mineola Hotel-- Part 4: Hotel For Sale

The Howard family ran the Mineola Hotel from 1891 to the early 1940s when Mrs. Howard put it up for sale.

She place an ad which read:

"For sale or Rent-- On acct of age, wish to sell or rent my 85 room hotel fully equipped & now operating.  13 cottages, 52 Acres of wooded grounds, 1000 feet of shoreline, all sandy beach.

Suitable for Resort, Club, Sanitarium, School or Convalescent Home.

Will sell all or part.

50 Miles NW of Chicago.

Mrs. E. Howard, Fox Lake, IL.  Phone Fox Lake 127W.

Little Old Resort Owner Me.  --Minooter

The Chain of Lakes' Mineola Hotel-- Part 3: All the Modern Amenities and Capone Too

Edson C. Howard purchased the building in 1891 and turned it into a hotel.  At a beginning price of $2 a day, visitors could enjoy hunting, fishing and the beauty of Fox Lake (not to mention the nearby lotus beds).

The hotel had all the modern amenities of the time including indoor plumbing and both hot and cold running water.

The draw to the Chain of Lakes included not only the beauty and water activities, but also easy access to gambling and alcohol.  It is often said that Al Capone and his gang spent time at the Mineola.  Whether he actually did is not known for sure.

The Mineola (or Min as regulars often referred to it) was run by the Howard family and continued to prosper even through the development of the automobile and Prohibition.  However, in the early 1940s, Mrs. Howard put the place up for sale.

--DaCoot

The Chain of Lakes' Mineola Hotel-- Part 2: Beautiful Veranda for CBOT Members

The Mineola's land was purchased in the 1880s for the purpose of building a private hunting club for use by members of the Chicago Board of Trade.

It was built entirely of wood and contained 100 rooms and at the time was recognized as the largest wooden building in Illinois.  Its wide veranda is believed to have been designed by architects Alphonse Howe and Charles Caskey who also designed the famed Grande Hotel on Mackinac Island.

The building itself is a frame three-story structure, 225 feet in length with a square tower rising three stories above the entrance on the second level.    Hipped dormers ran the length of the roof on either side of the tower,

The veranda ran the length of the building and was one of the best spots as guests could sit and relax while enjoying drinks and the view.

--CootMin

The Chain of Lakes' Mineola Hotel-- Part 1: Built in 1884

From the September 28, 2016, Hi-Liter "Looking back at the Mineola" by Sandra Landen Machaj.

"Once the Grand Dame of Fox Lake it now sits deserted on those same shores.  Built in 1884, it has had a long journey from largest hotel on the Chain of Lakes, to a restaurant and bar and finally as an empty building in disrepair fighting to avoid demolition, a long journey since its glory days."

Tjhis pretty well sums up its history.

If you've ever seen a picture of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, this is essentially the Mineola, only smaller.  We never went to it as a hotel, but have had many fun times in the bar and restaurant over the years.  It was located on the lower level and is now all boarded up.  there was even a short time when they had banquets on the main level and, of course, there was that great veranda with that gorgeous view of the length of Fox Lake.

--Cootola

Original Chicago Names-- Part 3: Hilton Chicago and 1 S. State Street

6.  WHEN IT WAS BUILT IN 1927, THE HOTEL NOW CALLED THE HILTON CHICAGO WAS THE WORLD'S LARGEST HOTEL.  ITS ORIGINAL NAME WAS:

A.  The WLH
B.  The Stevens
C.  The Hilton Chicago

7.  THE BIG STORE THAT OCCUPIES THE ORNATE BUILDING AT 1 S. STATE STREET IN THE LOOP IS NOW A TARGET.  BEFORE THAT, THE STORE THAT OCCUPIED THE SPACE WAS CALLED:

A.  Carson, Pirie, Scott & Co.
B.  Schlesinger & Mayer
C.  H.G. Selfridge & Co.

Hilton State.  --Cooter

ANSWERS:

6.  B  The hotel was developed by the father and grandfather of former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.

7.  All of them.   The store was built for Schlesinger & Mayer in the late 1800s, then occupied by Mr. Selfridge before being sold to Carson, Pirie, Scott, which is what most in Chicago called the building.  The entire building is now the Sullivan Center, named after its famous architect, Louis Sullivan.

I got #6 correct, but only guessed A for #7 as I didn't know about the other two businesses.

The Hotel Majestic in McHenry County

While at the McHenry County Historical Society in Union, Illinois, for the William Herndon presentation in April (Herndon was Lincoln's law partner in Springfield), I saw an interesting wooden sign up on the wall by the stage that read:
Modern Rooms Reasonable Rates

Hotel Majestic & Eat Shoppe

Chicken Dinner Every Saturday

J.L. Boze

I have been unable to find out any more information on this hotel, but would have to figure it was somewhere in McHenry County.

--Cooter

Fox Lake/Grant Township Historical Society Meeting March 21, 2015-- Part 1

History of the Chain of Lakes.

Sports Clubs of the late 1800s/early 1900s located in the Chain of Lakes in Illinois often became hotels as in the case of the Waltonian, Mineola, Last Resort and Columbia Hotel.

This last one began in 1887 as the Columbian Pleasure Club, but that had a different meaning from what we might expect a pleasure club to be today.  In 1896, the Columbian Pleasure Club had a big fire which burned down two large dorms where a concrete home now sits near the Gateway House near Electric harbor bar and motel. and the channel leading to petite Lake from Fox Lake.

I always love these little tidbits of lost history, especially since we do so much boating on the Chain of Lakes.

--DaCoot

Haunted Hotels for a Haunted Stay

From the October 19, 2014, Chicago Tribune by Jay Jones.

Even better than going to one of those made-up haunted houses that seem to be everywhere, why not actually go to sleep with the scaries in a real haunted hotel?

Here is a list of five supposedly haunted hotels.  But. like the Eagles said in that song about the one in California, "You can check in, but you can never check out."

1.  THE 1866 CRESCENT HOTEL & SPA (75 Prospect Avenue, Eureka Springs, Arkansas.  They bill themselves as "America's Most Haunted Hotel."  It was a Depression-era hospital for desperate cancer patients.

2.  THE OTESAGA OF COOPERSTOWN (60 Lake Street, Cooperstown, N.Y.) isn't far from the former home of Louis C. Jones, author of "Things That Go Bump in the Night."  At one time it was an all-girls school.

3.  THE QUEEN MARY (1126 Queen's Highway, Long Beach, Ca.).  The former ocean liner is now a floating hotel and attracts 1.5 million visitors a year.  Many, many eerie things, one of which is said to be from a young crewman in the engine room who was crushed to death in 1966 by the closing of a watertight door,

4.  17HUNDRED90 INN (307 E. President Street, Savannah, Georgia).  Resident ghost Anna is not mean, but mischievous.

5.  THE STANLEY HOTEL ( 333 Wonderview Avenue, Estes Park, Colorado).  Book a night in Room 217.  Former housekeeper Elizabeth Wilson haunts it.

And, actually, there is a real HOTEL CALIFORNIA in Santa Monica, California.

"We Are Just Prisoners Here of Our Own Disguise."  --DaCoot

New York City's Jane Hotel: A Titanic Connection

From Wikipedia.

The Jane Hotel is a boutique hotel located in Greenwich Village with a main entrance on Jane Street, hence the name.

It was built in 1908 and originally was the American Seamen's Friend Society Sailors' Home and Institute.

It was used to house Titanic survivors during the American inquest on the sinking.

It was acquired by the YMCA in 1944 and used as a transient hotel and they it was several other hotels before becoming a boutique one.

--Cooter

Charles Hays' Chateau Laurier in Ottawa

From Wikipedia. .//// Opened in 1912 and, with its 429 rooms, one of the grand hotels of the world and very impressive from the outside. It was commissioned by Grand Trunk Railway President Charles Melville Hays and built for $2 million. It was his desire to have similar hotels built all along his railroad. //// He had some problems getting this one built as it is located on land that was part of Major Hill Park, but Canadian Prime Monister Sir Wilfrid Laurier (for whom it was named) assisted in getting the land. //// It was built from 1909-1912, in tandem with the construction of Ottawa's Union Station for railroads. A tunnel connected the two structures. One of the reasons Hays was on the Titanic was so he could be at the hotel on its grand opening on April 25, 1912. //// The hotel is now part of the Fairmont Hotel and Resort Chain which also has the Jaspar Park Lodge (1923) in Jaspar, Alberta; the Macdonald Edmonton (1923) in Edmonton, Alberta; Hotel Vancouver in Vancouver, British Columbia and Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec. //// A Man With a Vision. --DaCoot

Ten Things You Might Not Know About North Korea-- Part 2

4.  North Korea, despite a horrible record on many issues, has an excellent LITERACY RATE.  The CIA Factbook lists it at 99%.  But, what's available to read?

5.  Nortth Korea announced the construction of what was to be the WORLD'S TALLEST HOTEL, but the 105-story Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang has taken 25-years and two in Dubai have surpassed it.  It is expected to open this year, maybe.  Esquire magazine has called it "the worst building in the history of mankind."

6.  Many things are bleak in the country, but North Korea has GOLF.  But only one course and a golf pro there claims that Kim Jong II once shot five holes-in-one during a single round.  He was REALLY  that good.  It's nice to be king, ruler or whatever.

7.  Despite being part of "The Axis of Evil", North Korea does accept American TOURISTS.  But, the US State Department warns that it is a criminal act to show disrespect to the former or current leaders and that unauthorized picture-taking or talking to locals can be considered espionage.

Fore!!!  Rats, Went in the Hole On First Swing Again.  --Dacoot