Muehlebach Hotel facts for kids

The Hotel Muehlebach sign in downtown Kansas City. The building with no windows was added in the 1950s for events.

The Hotel Muehlebach is a famous hotel building in Downtown Kansas City. Many important people have stayed there, including every U.S. President from Theodore Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan. Today, it is part of the larger Kansas City Marriott Downtown hotel.

A Look Back: The Hotel's History

How the Muehlebach Hotel Started

The land where the hotel stands was bought in 1914 by George E. Muehlebach. His family owned the Muehlebach Beer Company. He tore down the church that was there and built a new, tall hotel. It was 12 stories high and cost $2 million to build. The hotel opened in May 1915 and was named the Hotel Muehlebach.

Early Fame and Famous Guests

In 1922, something cool happened at the hotel. A band called the Coon-Sanders Original Nighthawk Orchestra started broadcasting their music live from the hotel. This was one of the first regular radio shows ever!

Later, a manager named Barney Allis took over in 1931. During his time, many famous people visited the hotel. These included Helen Keller, writer Ernest Hemingway, baseball legend Babe Ruth, and music stars like Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and The Beatles.

The "White House West"

The Hotel Muehlebach was also a favorite spot for U.S. Presidents. Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover all stayed there. But the most frequent visitor was Harry S. Truman, who was from Missouri. He stayed in the hotel's special Presidential Suite so often that people started calling the Muehlebach "White House West."

Changes Over the Years

In 1952, the hotel got bigger. A new 17-story building, called the Muehlebach Tower, was added next to the original hotel. Barney Allis sold the hotel in the 1960s. In 1976, the Radisson Hotels chain bought it and spent $6 million to make it new again. It was then called the Radisson Muehlebach Hotel. However, it closed its doors about ten years later in 1986.

The Muehlebach Today: Part of Marriott

Becoming the Kansas City Marriott Downtown

In 1996, Marriott Hotels bought the Muehlebach. They wanted to make it part of their big hotel next door, the Kansas City Marriott Downtown. The 1952 Muehlebach Tower was taken down in a controlled explosion. In its place, a new, modern Muehlebach tower was built in 1998. This new tower looked similar but met all the modern building rules.

A special "skybridge" was also built. It connects the two hotel buildings on their second floors. The original 1915 Muehlebach building's lobby and ballrooms were fixed up to look like they did in the past. These beautiful spaces are now used for big events and meetings by the Marriott. The old hotel rooms above are not used anymore.

A crowd watches the 1996 explosion that took down the Muehlebach Towers.

Special Moments and Famous Visitors

The Start of Barbershop Harmony

The Hotel Muehlebach is famous for another reason! In 1938, two businessmen met by chance in the hotel's lobby. They found two other men and started singing together during a snowstorm. A few weeks later, they gathered more singers in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This meeting led to the creation of the Barbershop Harmony Society. This is a huge international group with 25,000 members who love to sing barbershop music. A special plaque in the hotel's lobby remembers this important meeting.

Presidents and Celebrities at the Muehlebach

Many famous people have stayed at the Muehlebach over the years:

• During a big political meeting in 1928, Herbert Hoover often visited the hotel.
• The famous businessman Howard Hughes stayed in the special presidential suite in 1945.
• Harry S. Truman used the hotel's penthouse suite as his office when he visited his home nearby. He even signed an important law, the Truman Doctrine, at the hotel in 1947. He also predicted his election victory to his staff there in 1948. The presidential suite was later named the Harry S. Truman Presidential Suite in his honor.
• Roy O. Disney, Walt Disney's brother, stayed there in 1956 before visiting their hometown.
• In 1974, President Gerald Ford stayed at the Muehlebach. He was there for a big meeting and shook hands with many students in the lobby.
• During the 1976 Republican Convention, both Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan stayed at the Radisson Muehlebach. They were trying to get support for their campaigns.
• Science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein was a special guest at a science fiction convention held at the hotel in 1976. He stayed in the Harry S. Truman Presidential Suite.
• Other well-known guests included Babe Ruth, The Beatles, and Elvis Presley.