The Monroe Hotel

Last month, I found a letter for sale on ebay, written on Hotel Monroe letterhead over 121 years ago. Naturally, I bought it! It was a letter from Charles J. Mullikin to his wife Betty back in Champaign, IL. I found out that later he became mayor of Champaign! He was down in Louisiana on business and was trying to calm his wife down, due to gossip about her going round in one of her clubs! Never did say what the gossip was.

Isn’t the letterhead gorgeous? Having realized I have never really talked about the Monroe Hotel, I thought I would rectify that!

The Monroe Hotel building was built in 1900 by Earnest Fudickar. He leased out the property as a hotel to an Alex. Dreyburgh and it was called the Grand, and had its grand opening on September 24, 1900. On Thanksgiving Day the next month, the Dreyburgh family held a grand ball where 200 people showed up and the attendees didn’t leave until 3 the next morning! It is not known when the Grand became the Monroe Hotel.

It appears Mr. Bradley, the Manager listed above, settled in Monroe January of 1903. He would have been manager only a few months before the above letter was written. He ended up leaving in late 1910.

In 1924 an annex was built next to it, expanding the building from 56 rooms to 240 rooms, making it the largest hotel in Louisiana outside New Orleans! In 1929 six more floors and a rooftop bungalow (called the pink penthouse) were added to the annex, making it into the building we all are familiar with. The annex was eventually made into private condos and the original Monroe Hotel building was made into a private home for the Kidd family. I hope it can be preserved as well as the annex was! I hear it has now been bought and is in good hands.

Though the Monroe Hotel has faded into history, a building down the road is being turned into a new Monroe Hotel! Let’s hope it lives up to the legacy of the original.