Chicago History: The Edgewater Beach Hotel Traditional Cache

From Wikipedia:

The Edgewater Beach Hotel was a hotel in the far-north neighborhood community of Edgewater in Chicago, Illinois. Built in 1916, it was located between Sheridan Road and the lake at Berwyn Avenue. The complex had a private beach and offered seaplane service to downtown Chicago. During its lifetime, the hotel served many famous guests including Marilyn Monroe and U.S. Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower. The hotel was known for hosting big bands such as the bands of Tommy Dorsey, Xavier Cugat, and Wayne King, which were also broadcast on the hotel's own radio station.

The 1951–54 extension of Lake Shore Drive from Foster Avenue to Bryn Mawr Avenue cut the hotel off from the beach leading to a reduction in business. The hotel closed in 1967 and the main buildings were demolished shortly after. The Edgewater Beach Co-op or Apartments, built in 1927, is the only part of the hotel complex to survive and is a Chicago Landmark and part of the Bryn Mawr Historic District where many Art Deco buildings can be found. It is the only pink high rise building in Chicago.

From WTTW.com:

During the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, the Edgewater Beach was Chicago's place to see and be seen. Countless weddings, proms, dances and other events drew neighborhood residents. On any given night, you could rub elbows with celebrities such as Bette Davis, Tallulah Bankhead, Nat King Cole, Perry Como, Marilyn Monroe, and major sports figures including Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, to name a few. All the big bands played there: Tommy Dorsey, Xavier Cugat, Wayne King and many others. Hotel manager (and later president) William Dewey "was a showman," says historian Kenan Heise. "He was good at booking top names into the Edgewater Beach, and that was very much a part of its allure."