Tremont House was a leading hotel in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, that served as the Headquarters for the Illinois Republican Party

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...

 during the 1860 Republican National Convention

1860 Republican National Convention

The 1860 National Convention of the Republican Party of the United States, held in Chicago, Illinois at the Wigwam, nominated former U.S. Representative Abraham Lincoln of Illinois for President and U.S. Senator Hannibal Hamlin of Maine for Vice President...

 held at the nearby Wigwam

Wigwam (Chicago)

The Wigwam was a convention center and meeting hall that served as the site of the 1860 Republican National Convention. It was located in Chicago, Illinois at Lake Street and Market near the Chicago River. This site had previously been the site of the Sauganash Hotel, Chicago's first hotel...

 as they lobbied for Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

's nomination. Both Lincoln and Stephen Douglas started their Senatorial campaigns from the balcony of this hotel. It was the third hotel bearing this name constructed at the Southeast corner of Lake Street and Dearborn in Chicago. It was a 260-room hotel by early Chicago architect John M. Van Osdel

John M. Van Osdel

John Mills Van Osdel was an American architect who is considered the first Chicago architect. He is considered a peer of the most prominent architects in the history of Chicago...

, who is known as the architect of the Illinois Executive Mansion

Illinois Executive Mansion

The Illinois Executive Mansion is the official residence of the Governor of Illinois. It is located at 410 E. Jackson Street in Springfield, Illinois and is open to tours on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings, free of charge. The Georgian style Mansion was designed by Chicago architect John M....

. It was a block masonry structure with the finest amenities of the day. The original Tremont House built in 1833 had been named after the Boston Tremont House. In 1861, this building served as Douglas' deathplace.

Today, a Tremont Hotel is part of the Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is a hospitality ownership and management organization, headquartered in White Plains, New York. One of the world's largest hotel companies, it owns, operates, franchises and manages hotels, resorts, spas, residences, and vacation ownership properties...

 network and is located at 100 East Chestnut Street, between Michigan Avenue

Michigan Avenue (Chicago)

Michigan Avenue is a major north-south street in Chicago which runs at 100 east south of the Chicago River and at 132 East north of the river from 12628 south to 950 north in the Chicago street address system...

 on the Magnificent Mile

Magnificent Mile

The Magnificent Mile, sometimes referred to as The Mag Mile, is a neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, that runs along a portion of Michigan Avenue extending from the Chicago River to Oak Street in the Near North Side community area. The district is located adjacent to downtown; it is also one block...

 and Rush Street

Rush Street (Chicago)

Rush Street is predominantly a northbound one-way street in the Near North Side community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States...

. The Hotel houses the Chicago location of Mike Ditka

Mike Ditka

Michael Keller Ditka, Jr. is a former American football NFL player, television commentator, and coach. Ditka coached the Chicago Bears for 11 years and New Orleans Saints for three years. Ditka and Tom Flores are the only two people to win Super Bowls as a player, an assistant coach, and a head...

's restaurant. This block of Chestnut is also known as Mike Ditka Way.

George M. Pullman

George Pullman

George Mortimer Pullman was an American inventor and industrialist. He is known as the inventor of the Pullman sleeping car, and for violently suppressing striking workers in the company town he created, Pullman .-Background:Born in Brocton, New York, his family moved to Albion,...

 made his reputation as a building raiser before becoming famous for sleeping cars. In 1861, Ely, Smith and Pullman lifted the Tremont House six feet in the air; it was just one of many Chicago buildings raised

Raising of Chicago

During the 1850s and 1860s engineers carried out a piecemeal raising of the level of central Chicago. Streets, sidewalks and buildings were either built up or else physically raised up on jacks...

 to match the upward shifting street grade during the mid nineteenth century.

The hotel burned to the ground a third time during the Great Chicago Fire

Great Chicago Fire

The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned from Sunday, October 8, to early Tuesday, October 10, 1871, killing hundreds and destroying about in Chicago, Illinois. Though the fire was one of the largest U.S...

. During the interim, John Drake (1826-1895)

John Drake (1826-1895)

John Burroughs Drake was a hotelier who was part owner of the Tremont House hotel in Chicago, Illinois. He managed the Grand Pacific Hotel from 1874–1895. His sons, John B. Drake and Tracy C. Drake were the developers and proprietors of the Blackstone Hotel and Drake Hotel, which are both located...

 bought a hotel at Michigan Avenue

Michigan Avenue (Chicago)

Michigan Avenue is a major north-south street in Chicago which runs at 100 east south of the Chicago River and at 132 East north of the river from 12628 south to 950 north in the Chicago street address system...

 and Congress that served as the temporary New Tremont House. Drake bought this temporary Hotel as a successful bet that it would escape the fire the day the Tremont caught fire.

Some sources ambiguously cite this as the Headquarters of the 1860 National Republican Convention. The Wigwam

Wigwam (Chicago)

The Wigwam was a convention center and meeting hall that served as the site of the 1860 Republican National Convention. It was located in Chicago, Illinois at Lake Street and Market near the Chicago River. This site had previously been the site of the Sauganash Hotel, Chicago's first hotel...

 served as the convention center. This hotel provided the hotel and meeting accommodations for the Illinois Republican Party during the convention.

A Tremont Hotel (1873–1937, pictured left) was built on the site. The rebuilt hotel remained along with the Palmer House

Palmer House

The Palmer House Hilton is a famous and historic hotel in downtown Chicago.-History:There have been three Palmer House Hotels at the corner of State and Monroe Streets in Chicago....

, Grand Pacific Hotel

Grand Pacific Hotel (Chicago)

The Grand Pacific Hotel was one of the first two prominent hotels built in Chicago, Illinois after the Great Chicago Fire. The hotel, designed by William W...

 and the Sherman House a leading hotel after the Great Fire. It was built in the commercial palazzo

Palazzo

Palazzo, an Italian word meaning a large building , may refer to:-Buildings:*Palazzo, an Italian type of building**Palazzo style architecture, imitative of Italian palazzi...

architecture style of the day and claimed to be fireproof.