LeClaire Hotel
Encyclopedia
LeClaire Hotel is an historic building located in downtown Moline, Illinois
, United States
. It was named a Moline Historic Landmark in 1993 and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1994. The building is now an apartment building known as the LeClaire Apartments.
. At the time it was built it was the tallest building in the what today is known as the Quad Cities
. It is named after Antoine LeClaire
, a US Army interpreter who served at the treaty signing ceremony that ended the Black Hawk War
. He and his wife, the daughter of a Sauk chief, were significant landowners in the area. Most of their property was in Iowa
, but they also owned land that became the original plat for the city of Moline.
The LeClaire Hotel was a luxury hotel that hosted celebrities and US presidents, including John F. Kennedy
and Ronald Reagan
. There was a ballroom on the fifteenth floor called the Top Hat that hosted tea dances that were accompanied by a big band orchestra. The hotel closed in the mid-1980s and sat for ten years without an owner. The Alexander Company bought the property and did an extensive renovations from 1995-1996 to convert the building into an apartment building.
ornamental motifs that were executed by St. Louis
artisan Fedrico Aquadro.
Moline, Illinois
Moline is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States, with a population of 45,792 in 2010. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline and Rock Island in Illinois and the cities of Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa. The Quad Cities has a population of...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It was named a Moline Historic Landmark in 1993 and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1994. The building is now an apartment building known as the LeClaire Apartments.
History
The building was built in 1915 on the east side of downtown MolineMoline Downtown Commercial Historic District
Moline Downtown Commercial Historic District is a historic district located in Moline, Illinois, United States. Centered on 5th Avenue, it is roughly bounded by 12th Street to 18th Street, 4th Avenue to 7th Avenue. The distinct covers and includes 114 buildings...
. At the time it was built it was the tallest building in the what today is known as the Quad Cities
Quad Cities
The Quad Cities is a group of five cities straddling the Mississippi River on the Iowa–Illinois boundary. These cities, Davenport and Bettendorf and Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline , are the center of the Quad Cities Metropolitan Area, which, as of 2010, had an estimated population of...
. It is named after Antoine LeClaire
Antoine LeClaire
Antoine LeClaire was a US Army interpreter, landowner in Scott County, Iowa and Rock Island County, Illinois, businessman, philanthropist and principal founder of Davenport, Iowa-Early life:...
, a US Army interpreter who served at the treaty signing ceremony that ended the Black Hawk War
Black Hawk War
The Black Hawk War was a brief conflict fought in 1832 between the United States and Native Americans headed by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted soon after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis, and Kickapoos known as the "British Band" crossed the Mississippi River into the U.S....
. He and his wife, the daughter of a Sauk chief, were significant landowners in the area. Most of their property was in Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, but they also owned land that became the original plat for the city of Moline.
The LeClaire Hotel was a luxury hotel that hosted celebrities and US presidents, including John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
and Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
. There was a ballroom on the fifteenth floor called the Top Hat that hosted tea dances that were accompanied by a big band orchestra. The hotel closed in the mid-1980s and sat for ten years without an owner. The Alexander Company bought the property and did an extensive renovations from 1995-1996 to convert the building into an apartment building.
Architecture
The 15-story building is 168 ft (51.2 m) tall and is supported by a reinforced concrete superstructure. The exterior is covered in brick with stone on the ground floor and the mezzanine. It features a symmetrical façade, a rounded arch entry that is flanked by rounded arch windows, belt courses and deep projecting eaves with bracketing. The interior features elements such as the wood paneled pier supports, checkerboard patterned flooring, mezzanine stairway marble treads, newel posts, rails, and balustrade ironwork, paneled wall woodwork, beamed ceiling and pilasterPilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
ornamental motifs that were executed by St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
artisan Fedrico Aquadro.