Traymore Hotel
Encyclopedia
The Traymore Hotel was a resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey
. Begun as a small boarding house in 1879, the hotel expanded and became one of the city's premier resorts. As Atlantic City began to decline in its popularity as a resort town, during the 1950s and 1960s, the Traymore diminished in popularity. By the early 1970s the hotel was abandoned and severely run down. It was imploded and demolished between April and May 1972, a full four years before the New Jersey State legislature passed the referendum that legalized gambling in Atlantic City.
. The name "Traymore" came from the hotel's steadiest customer, "Uncle Al Harvey", a rich Maryland
er who had named his estate "Traymore" after his home town in Ireland
.
The first hotel was rather flimsy, as it was destroyed by a severe winter storm on January 10, 1884. It was quickly rebuilt and enlarged. When rebuilt, the owners made the hotel stronger and more modern, adding indoor plumbing and bathrooms. They also added a spacious lawn between the hotel and the Boardwalk that proved to be valuable when a September 1889 storm struck the city. The lawn protected the hotel from any serious damage. The hotel's modern appointments led to it becoming very popular. It stayed open year round, and by 1898 it grew into the city's largest hotel with over 450 rooms. By 1906 the Traymore's owner, Daniel White, hired the firm of Price and McLanahan to construct a new tower which brought the hotel right up to the boardwalk.
. Located across from the Traymore on Ohio Avenue and the Boardwalk, owner Josiah White III, Daniel White's cousin, had contracted the services of Price and McLanahan to build an extension to his Marlborough house which had opened in 1901. The result was the modern Blenheim hotel which was one of the first hotels constructed using reinforced concrete
.
Built during the autumn and winter of 1914–15, White contracted with Price and McLanahan
to replace the existing wooden-frame Traymore with a massive concrete structure that would rival the Marlborough Blenheim. Price's Traymore was built directly behind the 1906 tower, and was designed to take advantage of its ocean views: hotel wings jutted out further from the central tower toward Pacific Avenue, thus affording more guests ocean views. The new Traymore opened in time for the 1915 season, and was a success. Built with tan brick and capped by yellow-tiled domes, the Traymore instantly became the city's architectural showpiece when it opened in June 1915. The hotel was such a success that White commissioned a 25-story additional tower to be built, but was unable to secure funding for the project due to World War I.
The Traymore catered to an upscale clientele, and was described in 1924 as "the Taj Mahal
of Atlantic City," decades before Donald Trump
opened a casino resort with that name.
The Traymore featured four faucets in every bathtub: hot and cold city water, hot and cold ocean water. There was a fifth faucet in the sink for ice water.
The Traymore Hotel Outdoor and Indoor Swimming Pools were built 1954 to designs by architect Samuel Juster
of New York City
.
and the Caribbean
, led to decline of Atlantic City as the premier ocean resort. By the early 1970s, the hotel was defunct and was causing its owners large financial deficits. It was decided to demolish the hotel, despite a campaign to save the architectural landmark.
On April 27, 1972 the hotel experienced the first of three planned controlled implosions
implemented by Jack Loizeaux
. By May 1972 the hotel was completely demolished. For a time, the once-famous hotel held the Guinness World Record
for largest controlled demolition—with a capacity of nearly 6.5 Mcuft, the Traymore was the largest (though not highest) structure yet demolished. The spectacle is captured in the 1980 film Atlantic City.
For years the Traymore site remained as a parking lot owned by Caesars Atlantic City
, which bought the land in the late 1970s. The casino held on to the property, initially wanting to develop a hotel on it, however, Caesars' existing property is several blocks away, making a hotel not feasible on the Traymore site.
In 2006, Pinnacle Entertainment
announced that it purchased the Traymore site and the adjacent Sands Atlantic City
casino hotel. Pinnacle demolished the Sands and planned to develop a new casino on the combined land. Harsh economic times later caused Pinnacle to delay construction of the new resort. In February 2010, the company announced that it had canceled its construction plans and would instead seek to sell the land.
.
The demolition of the Traymore made an appearance in the opening of Louis Malle
's 1980 film Atlantic City. However, the Traymore was demolished in 1972 for financial reasons and not in anticipation of legalized gambling; gambling would fail to pass two years later in a 1974 New Jersey referendum. Gambling was legalized four years after the demolition in 1976 with Resorts International
being the first legal casino to open up in 1978.
The hotel has also been recreated for the new HBO drama Boardwalk Empire, which uses the Atlantic City skyline, circa 1920, as the back drop for the series opening titles along with the famed Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel
.
'William L. Price: Arts and Crafts to Modern Design'
New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2000. pp. 164 - 171, 236 - 251.
Includes numerous reproductions of architectural renderings and construction photographs.
George E. Thomas and Susan Nigra Snyder
'William Price’s Traymore Hotel: Modernity in the Mass Resort'
The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts, Miami: Wolfson Foundation, 2005. (Issue 25, The American Hotel) pp. 183 - 211.
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...
. Begun as a small boarding house in 1879, the hotel expanded and became one of the city's premier resorts. As Atlantic City began to decline in its popularity as a resort town, during the 1950s and 1960s, the Traymore diminished in popularity. By the early 1970s the hotel was abandoned and severely run down. It was imploded and demolished between April and May 1972, a full four years before the New Jersey State legislature passed the referendum that legalized gambling in Atlantic City.
Beginnings
Like most of the pre-casino Atlantic City resorts, the Traymore went through several incarnations. It started off as a modest ten-room wooden cottage boarding house located at Illinois Avenue and the BoardwalkBoardwalk
A boardwalk, in the conventional sense, is a wooden walkway for pedestrians and sometimes vehicles, often found along beaches, but they are also common as paths through wetlands, coastal dunes, and other sensitive environments....
. The name "Traymore" came from the hotel's steadiest customer, "Uncle Al Harvey", a rich Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
er who had named his estate "Traymore" after his home town in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
.
The first hotel was rather flimsy, as it was destroyed by a severe winter storm on January 10, 1884. It was quickly rebuilt and enlarged. When rebuilt, the owners made the hotel stronger and more modern, adding indoor plumbing and bathrooms. They also added a spacious lawn between the hotel and the Boardwalk that proved to be valuable when a September 1889 storm struck the city. The lawn protected the hotel from any serious damage. The hotel's modern appointments led to it becoming very popular. It stayed open year round, and by 1898 it grew into the city's largest hotel with over 450 rooms. By 1906 the Traymore's owner, Daniel White, hired the firm of Price and McLanahan to construct a new tower which brought the hotel right up to the boardwalk.
Expansion
By 1914 the Traymore, which had been the city's most popular hotel, now had stiff competition from the Marlborough-Blenheim HotelMarlborough-Blenheim Hotel
The Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel was a historic resort hotel property in Atlantic City, New Jersey, built in 1902-1906, demolished in 1979.In 1902, Josiah White III bought a parcel of land near Ohio Avenue and the Boardwalk, and built the Queen Anne style Marlborough House. The hotel was financially...
. Located across from the Traymore on Ohio Avenue and the Boardwalk, owner Josiah White III, Daniel White's cousin, had contracted the services of Price and McLanahan to build an extension to his Marlborough house which had opened in 1901. The result was the modern Blenheim hotel which was one of the first hotels constructed using reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...
.
Built during the autumn and winter of 1914–15, White contracted with Price and McLanahan
Will Price
William Lightfoot Price was an influential American architect, a pioneer in the use of reinforced concrete, and a founder of the utopian communities of Arden, Delaware and Rose Valley, Pennsylvania.-Career:...
to replace the existing wooden-frame Traymore with a massive concrete structure that would rival the Marlborough Blenheim. Price's Traymore was built directly behind the 1906 tower, and was designed to take advantage of its ocean views: hotel wings jutted out further from the central tower toward Pacific Avenue, thus affording more guests ocean views. The new Traymore opened in time for the 1915 season, and was a success. Built with tan brick and capped by yellow-tiled domes, the Traymore instantly became the city's architectural showpiece when it opened in June 1915. The hotel was such a success that White commissioned a 25-story additional tower to be built, but was unable to secure funding for the project due to World War I.
The Traymore catered to an upscale clientele, and was described in 1924 as "the Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal is a white Marble mausoleum located in Agra, India. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal...
of Atlantic City," decades before Donald Trump
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump, Sr. is an American business magnate, television personality and author. He is the chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump's extravagant lifestyle, outspoken manner and role on the NBC reality show The Apprentice have...
opened a casino resort with that name.
The Traymore featured four faucets in every bathtub: hot and cold city water, hot and cold ocean water. There was a fifth faucet in the sink for ice water.
The Traymore Hotel Outdoor and Indoor Swimming Pools were built 1954 to designs by architect Samuel Juster
Samuel Juster
Samuel Juster, AIA, was a minor American architect who practiced in mid-20th-century New York and New Jersey.-Early life and education:...
of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Demise and present status
The hotel remained popular well into the 1950s, but as Atlantic City declined in the 1960s, the Traymore did as well. The availability of home air conditioning and swimming pools, coupled with cheap and efficient air jet services to destinations in FloridaFlorida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
and the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, led to decline of Atlantic City as the premier ocean resort. By the early 1970s, the hotel was defunct and was causing its owners large financial deficits. It was decided to demolish the hotel, despite a campaign to save the architectural landmark.
On April 27, 1972 the hotel experienced the first of three planned controlled implosions
Building implosion
In the controlled demolition industry, building implosion is the strategic placing of explosive material and timing of its detonation so that a structure collapses on itself in a matter of seconds, minimizing the physical damage to its immediate surroundings...
implemented by Jack Loizeaux
Controlled Demolition, Inc.
Controlled Demolition, Inc. , founded by Jack Loizeaux in 1947, is a firm headquartered in Phoenix, Maryland that specializes in the use of explosives to create a controlled demolition of a structure, with the structure collapsing on itself into a pile of debris contained within the site of the...
. By May 1972 the hotel was completely demolished. For a time, the once-famous hotel held the Guinness World Record
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
for largest controlled demolition—with a capacity of nearly 6.5 Mcuft, the Traymore was the largest (though not highest) structure yet demolished. The spectacle is captured in the 1980 film Atlantic City.
For years the Traymore site remained as a parking lot owned by Caesars Atlantic City
Caesars Atlantic City
Caesars Atlantic City is a luxury hotel, casino, and spa resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Like Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, it has an ancient Roman theme. Atlantic City's second casino, it opened in 1979 as the Caesars Boardwalk Regency. The . casino has over 3,400 slot machines, and is one of...
, which bought the land in the late 1970s. The casino held on to the property, initially wanting to develop a hotel on it, however, Caesars' existing property is several blocks away, making a hotel not feasible on the Traymore site.
In 2006, Pinnacle Entertainment
Pinnacle Entertainment
Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. is a gaming and hospitality company based in the Las Vegas Valley, Nevada that was created in 1938. It owns and operates casinos in the United States and Argentina.- Company names over time :...
announced that it purchased the Traymore site and the adjacent Sands Atlantic City
Sands Atlantic City
The Sands Casino Hotel was a casino and hotel that operated from August 31, 1980 until November 11, 2006 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It was formerly known as the Brighton Hotel & Casino. It consisted of a 21-story hotel tower with 532 rooms and a 5-story podium housing the casino and various...
casino hotel. Pinnacle demolished the Sands and planned to develop a new casino on the combined land. Harsh economic times later caused Pinnacle to delay construction of the new resort. In February 2010, the company announced that it had canceled its construction plans and would instead seek to sell the land.
Popular culture
The hotel is briefly mentioned in the 1925 musical play No, No, NanetteNo, No, Nanette
No, No, Nanette is a musical comedy with lyrics by Irving Caesar and Otto Harbach, music by Vincent Youmans, and a book by Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel, based on Mandel's 1919 Broadway play My Lady Friends...
.
The demolition of the Traymore made an appearance in the opening of Louis Malle
Louis Malle
Louis Malle was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer. He worked in both French cinema and Hollywood. His films include Ascenseur pour l'échafaud , Atlantic City , and Au revoir, les enfants .- Early years in France :Malle was born into a wealthy industrialist family in Thumeries,...
's 1980 film Atlantic City. However, the Traymore was demolished in 1972 for financial reasons and not in anticipation of legalized gambling; gambling would fail to pass two years later in a 1974 New Jersey referendum. Gambling was legalized four years after the demolition in 1976 with Resorts International
Resorts Atlantic City
Not to be confused with the Las Vegas, Nevada based casino/resort operator Resorts International Holdings.Resorts Casino Hotel is a hotel and casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Resorts was the first casino hotel in Atlantic City, becoming the first legal casino outside of Nevada in the United...
being the first legal casino to open up in 1978.
The hotel has also been recreated for the new HBO drama Boardwalk Empire, which uses the Atlantic City skyline, circa 1920, as the back drop for the series opening titles along with the famed Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel
Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel
The Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel was a historic resort hotel property in Atlantic City, New Jersey, built in 1902-1906, demolished in 1979.In 1902, Josiah White III bought a parcel of land near Ohio Avenue and the Boardwalk, and built the Queen Anne style Marlborough House. The hotel was financially...
.
Further reading
George E. Thomas, introd. Robert Venturi,'William L. Price: Arts and Crafts to Modern Design'
New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2000. pp. 164 - 171, 236 - 251.
Includes numerous reproductions of architectural renderings and construction photographs.
George E. Thomas and Susan Nigra Snyder
'William Price’s Traymore Hotel: Modernity in the Mass Resort'
The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts, Miami: Wolfson Foundation, 2005. (Issue 25, The American Hotel) pp. 183 - 211.