Kuehnle's Hotel was an Atlantic City, New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

 hotel

Hotel

A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...

 first opened on January 9, 1875 by Commodore Louis Kuehnle

Louis Kuehnle

Louis Kuehnle, , known as the Commodore, was an American business entrepreneur and politician considered a pioneer in the growing resort town of Atlantic City in the late 1880s and early 1900s. He was leader of the Republican organization that controlled Atlantic City during the early 1900's...

's father. The Commodore took over the management of the hotel shortly after his eighteenth birthday. Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Kuehnle's Hotel served as the prime meeting place for some of the time's earliest politicians and entrepreneurs.

Prime location

The Kuehnle Hotel was located at the corner of South Carolina and Atlantic Avenues in Atlantic City, NJ. After the building of the Pennsylvania Station Depot, Kuehnle saw much success as many boarders both arriving and departing chose to stay there because of its proximity to the depot.

The Corner Bar

The Corner Bar was the saloon located within the Kuehnle's hotel that served as a hub of Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 politics in Atlantic City and the place where important political decisions were made. http://www.shorpy.com/node/8584

Influence

The Kuehnle's Hotel is credited with influencing some of the world's greatest political forces during the Prohibition Era such as, Harry Bacharach

Harry Bacharach

Harry Bacharach was the five time Mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1912 for 6 months, and from 1916 to 1920, and again from 1930 to 1935. He also served as a city commissioner for Atlantic City, New Jersey.-Biography:...

, Isaac Bacharach

Isaac Bacharach

Isaac Bacharach was an American Republican Party politician from New Jersey who represented the 2nd congressional district from 1915 to 1937....

, and Enoch "Nucky" Johnson. Kuehnle's Hotel served as a place where Kuehnle and Johnson's father often discussed political ventures, allowing young Johnson to participate.

Property auction myth in 1903

In 1903, Kuehnle's Hotel was mistakenly reported sold to John H. Denny from Johnstown, Pennsylvania

Johnstown, Pennsylvania

Johnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States, west-southwest of Altoona, Pennsylvania and east of Pittsburgh. The population was 20,978 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Cambria County...

 for a reported, $300,000 in The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

. Kuehnle's father had bought the property not long before for a reported $6,200. Allegedly, Denny acted as an agent for the Pennsylvania Railroad

Pennsylvania Railroad

The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....

, buying both Kuehnle's hotel and the adjacent southwest corner of the street for a combined $425,000. This purchase was in order to immediately begin construction on a terminal station at the site of Kuehnle's Hotel. The station would also serve as a union for both the Pennsylvania and Reading railroad lines. Both Kuehnle and Denny repeatedly denied claims the deal had taken place.http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F50611F9355412738DDDAC0894DC405B838CF1D3

Property closing in 1919

In 1919, Kuehnle closed the bar at his hotel. He later sold the property and the location was razed to make way for a new bank.

Site

The site is now a grassy field home to the South Carolina and Atlantic Avenue terminal station.

Commodore Louis Kuehnle's Legacy

When Commodore Kuehnle died in 1934, City Hall draped his city commissioners chair as well as the building in black, and commissioned all firehouses to display their flags at half mast. Currently Kuehnle Ave. is one of the few lasting memories of Kuehnle and the Kuehnle's Hotel. However his character as well as the architecture of Atlantic City can be viewed in the HBO series, Boardwalk Empire.