Grand Rapids Hotel
Encyclopedia
The Grand Rapids Hotel was a hotel
that existed outside of Mount Carmel, Illinois
in Wabash County
, Illinois
, United States
in Southern Illinois in the 1920s
during a timeperiod that is commonly referred to as the Roaring Twenties
, the Jazz Age
, and the Golden Twenties
. The hotel was located on the Wabash River
next to the Grand Rapids Dam. The land the hotel was built on was formerly part of a Piankeshaw
Indian
summer campground. Frederick Hinde Zimmerman, was the nephew of Captain Charles T. Hinde, built the hotel and it is rumored that it was based on the Hotel del Coronado
in San Diego. Captain Hinde was a wealthy man who was an investor in the Hotel del Coronado. The Grand Rapids Hotel was the first major hotel in the region and had a nine hole golf course and a baseball diamond on the grounds. During the hotel's operation it was managed by Mr. O.L. Rapson and Mr. Glenn Goodart. Manager Rapson managed the hotel from from 1922 until 1924, and Manager Goodart managed the hotel from 1924-1929. Many of the leading social organizations of the time had meetings or other social events at the hotel's restaurant and grounds. In 1929 the hotel burned under mysterious circumstances due to a blowtorch incident involving Manager Goodart. Some people claim that gangsters referred to as the Chicago Outfit
associated with Al Capone
would take the train from Chicago
and stay at the hotel. It is not known if the men were smuggling liquor in violation of Prohibition
or merely vacationing.
Currently, the hotel and dam concrete remains are still existing and visible. The front steps of the hotel can be viewed from the river road outside of Mount Carmel, Illinois. In 2011, John Matthew Nolan published a detailed history of the Grand Rapids Hotel.
, Vincennes
, Grayville
, Bicknell
, Evansville
, Haubstadt
Salem
, Marion
, Benton
, Wheatland
, Johnson
, Sparta
played at the baseball diamond on the Grand Rapids Hotel grounds. Mount Carmel baseball legend Don Liddle
briefly played for the Grand Rapids Steppers. Both teams were managed by hotel manager Glenn Goodart.
. Manager Goodart only had one leg due to a train accident. Shortly after the hotel burned down the Wall Street Crash of 1929
occurred and the hotel was never rebuilt due to a lack of money caused by the Great Depression
. Manager Goodart became Finance
Commissioner
for the City of Mount Carmel, Illinois
three months after the Grand Rapids Hotel was destroyed.
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
that existed outside of Mount Carmel, Illinois
Mount Carmel, Illinois
Mount Carmel is a city in and the county seat of Wabash County, Illinois, United States. At the time of the 2000 census, the population was 7,982, while the next largest town in Wabash County is Allendale, population 528. Located at the confluence of the Wabash, Patoka, and White Rivers, Mount...
in Wabash County
Wabash County, Illinois
Wabash County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 11,947, which is a decrease of 7.7% from 12,937 in 2000...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in Southern Illinois in the 1920s
1920s
File:1920s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: Third Tipperary Brigade Flying Column No. 2 under Sean Hogan during the Irish Civil War; Prohibition agents destroying barrels of alcohol in accordance to the 18th amendment, which made alcoholic beverages illegal throughout the entire decade; In...
during a timeperiod that is commonly referred to as the Roaring Twenties
Roaring Twenties
The Roaring Twenties is a phrase used to describe the 1920s, principally in North America, but also in London, Berlin and Paris for a period of sustained economic prosperity. The phrase was meant to emphasize the period's social, artistic, and cultural dynamism...
, the Jazz Age
Jazz Age
The Jazz Age was a movement that took place during the 1920s or the Roaring Twenties from which jazz music and dance emerged. The movement came about with the introduction of mainstream radio and the end of the war. This era ended in the 1930s with the beginning of The Great Depression but has...
, and the Golden Twenties
Golden Twenties
Golden Twenties or Happy Twenties is a term, mostly used in Europe, to describe the 1920s, in which most of the continent had an economic boom following the First World War and the severe economic downturns that took place between 1919–1923, and before the Wall Street Crash in 1929.It is often...
. The hotel was located on the Wabash River
Wabash River
The Wabash River is a river in the Midwestern United States that flows southwest from northwest Ohio near Fort Recovery across northern Indiana to southern Illinois, where it forms the Illinois-Indiana border before draining into the Ohio River, of which it is the largest northern tributary...
next to the Grand Rapids Dam. The land the hotel was built on was formerly part of a Piankeshaw
Piankeshaw
The Piankeshaw Indians were Native Americans, and members of the Miami Indians who lived apart from the rest of the Miami nation. They lived in an area that now includes western Indiana and Ohio, and were closely allied with the Wea Indians...
Indian
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
summer campground. Frederick Hinde Zimmerman, was the nephew of Captain Charles T. Hinde, built the hotel and it is rumored that it was based on the Hotel del Coronado
Hotel del Coronado
Hotel del Coronado is a beachfront luxury hotel in the city of Coronado, just across the San Diego Bay from San Diego, California. It is one of the few surviving examples of an American architectural genre: the wooden Victorian beach resort...
in San Diego. Captain Hinde was a wealthy man who was an investor in the Hotel del Coronado. The Grand Rapids Hotel was the first major hotel in the region and had a nine hole golf course and a baseball diamond on the grounds. During the hotel's operation it was managed by Mr. O.L. Rapson and Mr. Glenn Goodart. Manager Rapson managed the hotel from from 1922 until 1924, and Manager Goodart managed the hotel from 1924-1929. Many of the leading social organizations of the time had meetings or other social events at the hotel's restaurant and grounds. In 1929 the hotel burned under mysterious circumstances due to a blowtorch incident involving Manager Goodart. Some people claim that gangsters referred to as the Chicago Outfit
Chicago Outfit
The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Chicago Syndicate or Chicago Mob and sometimes shortened to simply the Outfit, is a crime syndicate based in Chicago, Illinois, USA...
associated with Al Capone
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
would take the train from Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and stay at the hotel. It is not known if the men were smuggling liquor in violation of Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
or merely vacationing.
Currently, the hotel and dam concrete remains are still existing and visible. The front steps of the hotel can be viewed from the river road outside of Mount Carmel, Illinois. In 2011, John Matthew Nolan published a detailed history of the Grand Rapids Hotel.
Baseball
The hotel had two baseball teams during its nine year existence. The first team was the Grand Rapids Steppers and it existed from 1925-1927. The second team was the Mount Carmel Boosters and it only existed during the 1928 season. The baseball teams that the hotel sponsored and managed were very successful and played teams from all around the area. Baseball teams from HazletonHazleton, Indiana
Hazleton is a town in White River Township, Gibson County, Indiana, United States. The population was 263 at the 2010 census.- History :Hazleton is the second oldest town in Gibson county after Princeton. It was named in honor of Gervas Hazleton, the second settler in the county to permanently...
, Vincennes
Vincennes, Indiana
Vincennes is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Indiana, United States. It is located on the Wabash River in the southwestern part of the state. The population was 18,701 at the 2000 census...
, Grayville
Grayville, Illinois
Grayville is a city in Edwards and White counties in Illinois. The population was 1,725 at the 2000 census. Grayville is the birthplace of naval hero James Meredith Helm.-Geography:Grayville is located at ....
, Bicknell
Bicknell, Indiana
Bicknell is a city in Knox County, Indiana, United States. The population was 3,378 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Bicknell is located at...
, Evansville
Evansville, Indiana
Evansville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Indiana and the largest city in Southern Indiana. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 117,429. It is the county seat of Vanderburgh County and the regional hub for both Southwestern Indiana and the...
, Haubstadt
Haubstadt, Indiana
Haubstadt is a town in Johnson Township, Gibson County, Indiana, United States. The population was 1,529 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Haubstadt is located at ....
Salem
Salem, Illinois
Salem is a city located in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is the county seat of Marion County. The population was 7,485 at the 2010 census.Salem is the birthplace of William Jennings Bryan and his brother vice presidential candidate Charles W. Bryan, the G. I. Bill of Rights, and Miracle Whip salad...
, Marion
Marion, Illinois
The city of Marion is the county seat of Williamson County, Illinois. The 2010 census counted 17,193 residents, making Marion the 25th most populated city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area, in Illinois, and the second most populous city in Southern Illinois, outside of the Metro-East, behind...
, Benton
Benton, Illinois
Benton is a city in Franklin County, Illinois, United States. The population was 7,087 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Franklin County. The city is part of the Metro Lakeland area.- History :...
, Wheatland
Wheatland, Indiana
Wheatland is a town in Steen Township, Knox County, Indiana, United States. The population was 480 at the 2010 census.-History:Wheatland was founded in 1806. James D...
, Johnson
Johnson, Indiana
Johnson is an unincorporated town in Montgomery Township, Gibson County, Indiana, USA.-Geography:Johnson is located at at an elevation of 430 feet....
, Sparta
Sparta, Illinois
Sparta is a city in Randolph County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,486 at the 2000 census.The city was the principal filming location for the 1967 film In the Heat of the Night.-Geography:Sparta is located at ....
played at the baseball diamond on the Grand Rapids Hotel grounds. Mount Carmel baseball legend Don Liddle
Don Liddle
Donald Eugene Liddle was an American left-handed pitcher in professional baseball who played four seasons in the Major Leagues for the Milwaukee Braves, New York Giants and St. Louis Cardinals from through...
briefly played for the Grand Rapids Steppers. Both teams were managed by hotel manager Glenn Goodart.
The Blowtorch Incident
The Grand Rapids Hotel burned to the ground on July 24, 1929 due to a suspicious blowtorch incident involving manager Glenn Goodart. According to newspaper articles, manager Goodart was alone and accidentally burned the hotel by dropping a blowtorch. At the time there were suspicions whether the fire was intentional, but manager Goodart was never prosecuted for arsonArson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
. Manager Goodart only had one leg due to a train accident. Shortly after the hotel burned down the Wall Street Crash of 1929
Wall Street Crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 , also known as the Great Crash, and the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout...
occurred and the hotel was never rebuilt due to a lack of money caused by the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. Manager Goodart became Finance
Finance
"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...
Commissioner
Commissioner
Commissioner is in principle the title given to a member of a commission or to an individual who has been given a commission ....
for the City of Mount Carmel, Illinois
Mount Carmel, Illinois
Mount Carmel is a city in and the county seat of Wabash County, Illinois, United States. At the time of the 2000 census, the population was 7,982, while the next largest town in Wabash County is Allendale, population 528. Located at the confluence of the Wabash, Patoka, and White Rivers, Mount...
three months after the Grand Rapids Hotel was destroyed.
See also
- Roaring TwentiesRoaring TwentiesThe Roaring Twenties is a phrase used to describe the 1920s, principally in North America, but also in London, Berlin and Paris for a period of sustained economic prosperity. The phrase was meant to emphasize the period's social, artistic, and cultural dynamism...
- Wall Street Crash of 1929Wall Street Crash of 1929The Wall Street Crash of 1929 , also known as the Great Crash, and the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout...
- The Great DepressionGreat DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
- Mount Carmel, IllinoisMount Carmel, IllinoisMount Carmel is a city in and the county seat of Wabash County, Illinois, United States. At the time of the 2000 census, the population was 7,982, while the next largest town in Wabash County is Allendale, population 528. Located at the confluence of the Wabash, Patoka, and White Rivers, Mount...
- Wabash County, IllinoisWabash County, IllinoisWabash County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 11,947, which is a decrease of 7.7% from 12,937 in 2000...
- Southern Illinois
- Wabash RiverWabash RiverThe Wabash River is a river in the Midwestern United States that flows southwest from northwest Ohio near Fort Recovery across northern Indiana to southern Illinois, where it forms the Illinois-Indiana border before draining into the Ohio River, of which it is the largest northern tributary...
- Don LiddleDon LiddleDonald Eugene Liddle was an American left-handed pitcher in professional baseball who played four seasons in the Major Leagues for the Milwaukee Braves, New York Giants and St. Louis Cardinals from through...
- blowtorch
- arsonArsonArson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
- Hotel del CoronadoHotel del CoronadoHotel del Coronado is a beachfront luxury hotel in the city of Coronado, just across the San Diego Bay from San Diego, California. It is one of the few surviving examples of an American architectural genre: the wooden Victorian beach resort...
- Chicago OutfitChicago OutfitThe Chicago Outfit, also known as the Chicago Syndicate or Chicago Mob and sometimes shortened to simply the Outfit, is a crime syndicate based in Chicago, Illinois, USA...
- Al CaponeAl CaponeAlphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
- ProhibitionProhibitionProhibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...