Allerton Hotel for Women facts for kids
The Allerton Hotel for Women is now known as the Renaissance New York Hotel 57. It is a hotel located at 130 East 57th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Arthur Loomis Harmon designed this seventeen-story building in 1920. It was built on the southwest corner of Lexington Avenue and 57th Street. The Allerton House Company built it for $700,000.
The hotel originally had stores on its ground floor. It was meant to house six hundred business and professional women. It also offered shelter to young girls. When finished in 1923, the Allerton Hotel had room for four hundred people. All rooms were taken before it was even completed. There was a long waiting list to get in. It was so popular that people expected more hotels like it to be built.
Who Owned the Allerton Hotel?
James Stewart Cushman was a founder and former owner of the Allerton hotel chain. He started this group of hotels in 1916. The hotels offered reasonably priced rooms. Important people like George W. Perkins and Arthur Curtiss James joined Cushman. The hotel chain was named after Mary Allerton. She was an ancestor of Cushman and came to America on the Mayflower.
Cushman lived at 815 Fifth Avenue (Manhattan). He passed away in March 1952 at eighty years old.
How the Allerton Hotel Chain Grew
The Allerton Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, opened in 1924. It was also owned by the Allerton Company of New York. This company managed a hotel chain that grew to eight hotels. These included hotels in Detroit, Michigan, and Cleveland, Ohio.
The owners of the Allerton Hotel bought more land in New York City. In December 1923, they bought the property where the De La Salle Institute used to be. This land was located at 106 West 59th Street. They also bought the Kinlock Apartments. These were at the northwest corner of Sixth Avenue and 58th Street.
In October 1926, they bought the Temple Rodeph Sholom site. This was at the corner of Lexington Avenue and 63rd Street. William H. Silk was the secretary for the Allerton Hotel at that time. The owners then built a new hotel at Lexington Avenue and 63rd Street.
In September 1942, the Allerton Hotels leased the Club Hotel. This eight-story building was at 317 West 45th Street. It had one hundred sixty-five sleeping rooms. It also had a reception room, lounge, library, and dining room. This helped the hotel chain offer low-cost rooms in Midtown Manhattan.
There were six Allerton Hotels in New York City. In October 1958, the Allerton Hotel became part of a new hotel chain. This new group was called Mansion Hotels. It included hotels in six cities. The Henry Hudson Hotel and Midston House in New York City were part of it. The Detroit-Leland Hotel and the Allerton Hotel and Belmont Hotel in Chicago were also in the group. Together, they had 4,600 rooms.
Other Facts About the Hotel
The Women's University Club made the Allerton Hotel its main office. This started in May 1956. Their old office was at the New York Biltmore Hotel.
Many people in Chicago believed that the Chicago Allerton Hotel was built or owned by Robert Allerton. He was the son of Samuel Allerton. However, this is not true. Mr. Cushman simply asked Robert Allerton if he was okay with the hotel being named "Allerton." Mr. Allerton agreed.
