The Eldridge Hotel facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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The Eldridge House Hotel
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The Eldridge House Hotel, looking southwest
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 Location in Kansas
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| Location | 701 Massachusetts St, Lawrence, Kansas |
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| Architect | Shepard & Wiser, Mont John Green |
| Architectural style | Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals |
| NRHP reference No. | 86003278 |
| Added to NRHP | December 1, 1986 |
The Eldridge House Hotel is a historic building in downtown Lawrence, Kansas. It is often called the Eldridge Hotel. The hotel is named after Shalor Eldridge. He was an important person who was against slavery. He built the hotel in the mid-1800s. Today, the building is still used as a hotel.
History of the Eldridge Hotel
The story of the Eldridge House Hotel began with the New England Emigrant Aid Company. This company helped people who were against slavery move to the Kansas Territory. They built a temporary place for these settlers in Lawrence. It was called the Free State Hotel.
On May 21, 1856, a group of men who supported slavery attacked Lawrence. They burned down the Free State Hotel. This event is known as the Sacking of Lawrence.
After this attack, Shalor Eldridge built a new hotel. He named it the Eldridge House, after himself. This building stood until August 21, 1863. On that day, a leader named William Quantrill and his group attacked Lawrence. They burned the hotel and much of the city to the ground. This was a terrible event called the Lawrence Massacre.
Eldridge started building another hotel. It was finished in 1866. This new hotel was updated in 1925. It stayed open until the 1960s. Then, it closed because more people were staying in motels.
On July 1, 1970, the Eldridge Hotel building became an apartment complex. But many people in Lawrence wanted it to be a hotel again. In the 1980s, a group of investors raised money. The city of Lawrence also helped. They worked together to turn the building back into a hotel. It was completely changed back into a hotel in the late 1980s.
In 2004, a new group bought the hotel. They made it look like it did in 1925. The hotel opened again the next year.
Haunted Stories at the Eldridge Hotel
Many people say that the ghost of Shalor Eldridge still lives in the hotel. They believe his spirit appears in room 506. This is because the original first stone of the hotel is in that room.
Others say that the hotel's elevator is haunted. A photo taken in the 1980s supposedly shows a ghost in the elevator. The Eldridge Hotel and its ghost were even featured on a TV show. It was called "The Demon Shadow" and was part of the My Ghost Story series in 2011. The hotel's supposed haunting has also been written about in several books.
Gallery
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The Free State Hotel after the Sacking of Lawrence in 1856.
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Lawrence in ruins after Quantrill's Raid. The Eldridge House ruins are in the front.
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The Eldridge Hotel today, looking northwest.
