Burwell House Hotel in Gibson City, Illinois (circa 1890)
GRAND OPENING OF THE BURWELL HOUSE
A home thrown open to the "Boys," and the
traveling public of which Gibson may justly feel proud. A host of invited guests from home and
abroad partake of a banquet at 6 p.m. this evening prepared by J. R. Lott and
wife the genial host and hostess.
Who will always be found pleasant people.
For some months, attention of our home people and visitors
from abroad has been directed to the fine brick hotel being erected by Mr. M.
T. Burwell, a well-known banker, real estate broker, and wealthy citizen. The hotel building is 26 x 160 feet, two
stories high, and basement, built very completely with every convenience usual
to a first class hotel, the whole structure costing about $15,000. To-day this hotel is opened to the public by
Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Lott who formerly kept the St. Nicholas in this city, and
who enjoy a wide reputation for keeping a first class hotel, and a hearty
patronage in the past, together with their ___ and elegant quarters, insures
them a hearty patronage and good wishes from the general public in which we
cordially join, and trust they may do well.
THE BUILDING
The Burwell House is nicely located in the center of our
beautiful city, with face fronting on Sangamon Avenue and main entrance facing
north on Second Street. The basement is
occupied with barber shop and bath room, presided over by Mark Anthony, one of
the first settlers of our city, who will be pleased to give hot and cold baths,
and attend to the shaving and hair dressing of the guests and the public, his
rooms are furnished with open grates, as are nearly all the rooms in the house,
being finished in marble, something not usually found in hotels, and something
that will be appreciated by the guests.
In the basement, east of this is the kitchen connected to
the dining room above by a dumb waiter, east of this is a wash room, and facing
east with a wide entrance is the sample room for travelling men to show their
wares. Off the north of the basement is
a wide hallway and to the north of this and under the sidewalk are the coal
houses. Connected with the basement is
the inexhaustible tubular well, with force pump and two mammoth cisterns, all
of which will furnish an ample supply of pure water for the whole home.
On the first floor and on the east the large and elegant
office is located, where the smiling clerk, Mr. Frank Mears, presides as
clerk. Frank is a new clerk at this
hotel, but guests will find that he is not new to the business by any means; he
always sleeps with one eye open to accommodate the needs of the public.
West of the office is the hall leading to the front and rear
entrances and off of this you enter the spacious dining room, the wash room, or
ascend the grand stair case to the floor above. There are three exit stairways from above,
which would prove admirable in case of fire; the one spoken of, one on the
outside leading to the rear and one leading to the front on Sangamon Avenue . The rest of the first floor is occupied by
E. S. Ross' hardware and two elegant offices, one occupied by C. C. Oliver, O.
H. Damon, and C. F. Buckman, the other by Hall & Ross headquarters grain
office.
The upper story is divided throughout by a hall 160 feet in
length, on either side of which are the hotel rooms, large, airy and well
lighted. On this floor are two elegant
parlors, also a hall leading to a veranda in front that will seat a hundred
people on a summer evening.
The whole work of making the hotel was calculated to make
everything safe, substantial and handy, and we mention here the excellent
management of Mr. N. C. Davidson superintendent of the work; he used to be a
Kentuckian, but he has worked so long in superintending the building of so many
houses for Mr. Burwell and others, and has received so much praise on his
Illinois work that he is completely Sucorized, and a citizen and contractor in
every way first class.
The Gibson Iron Works made the door approaches, railings,
and over a ton of window weights; D. P. Huffman made the excellent job of
plastering; in fact nearly all the work has been done by our own numerous
mechanics, and has been well done. S.
A. Armstrong and John Curtis deserve special mention for artistically finishing
the papering and painting.
We have taken considerable
space in giving the people a birds-eye view of this elegant hotel, and we think
deservedly so. Few places like Gibson,
of 2,000 inhabitants, can boast of as good a hotel with furnishings of so neat
and useful character. Mr. Burwell was
one of the first settlers in Gibson, the first banker, who has spent years of
labor in bringing in capital, building up every interest for the good of the
city, and in our mammoth Opera House Block, of which he was builder and is the
present owner, this hotel building, as well as other buildings, one may see
that his investments here have reached into the thousands of dollars. He lives at present in Normal, Illinois,
where he has one of the finest properties and homes in McLean county, but his
interests here are still large, and with his family he thinks there is no place
like Gibson.
Mr. Burwell's new venture in this hotel we trust may be one
of his most profitable investments, and the rental of the building, which is
now bringing him about $1,400 per year, seems to be quite a handsome sum on the
investment, and we are glad of it.
The furnishings of the Burwell House are excellent. The rooms are carpeted with Brussels, halls
and stairways are carpeted, the parlor furnishings are elegant plush suites,
and the sleeping rooms are furnished with extra suites, and shows what our
furniture dealer, Mr. S. L. Harnit, can do in the way of fitting out a big
hotel.
The invitations sent out for the opening banquet are being
kindly responded to-day by the arrival of numerous guests, and it is a pleasure
to hear them speak well of the appointments of this hotel and our thriving
city. Mr. Burwell arranged for low
rates on the L. E. & W. R'y. Among
the arrivals are the following distinguished guests:
From Bloomington: F. M. Andrus, J. W. Law, J. R. Dodge, H.
Augustine, Judge Tipton and daughter Miss Belle, Geo. Spencer, wife and two
daughters, F. J. Fitzwilliams and daughter, M. T. Burwell and family, Peter
Whitmer and wife,
From Paxton: Miss Maria Boggardus
[the rest is cut off]
[Note: portions of this article were nearly illegible and
may not have been transcribed correctly.]
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HOTEL OPENING
As previously announced, the new Burwell Hotel was formally
opened to the public last night by a grand banquet. The guests were numerous, and everything
passed off pleasantly. The guests from
abroad were.
H. Augustine, "
Judge Tipton, "
Miss Belle Tipton, "
J. A. Clark and wife, "
Geo. Spencer and wife, "
F. J. Fitzwilliam and wife, "
J. H. Light and wife, "
J. W. Law, "
L. C. Hay, Leader, "
P. Whitmer, "
Wm. Walker, "
Owen Scott and wife, Bulletin;
M. T. Burwell and family,Normal ,
S. M. Wylie, Paxton
M. H. Cloud, "
Titus Sudduth and wife,Normal
J. Richmond and wife, Elliott
W. D. Strawn and wife, Risk.
Judge Tipton, "
Miss Belle Tipton, "
J. A. Clark and wife, "
Geo. Spencer and wife, "
F. J. Fitzwilliam and wife, "
J. H. Light and wife, "
J. W. Law, "
L. C. Hay, Leader, "
P. Whitmer, "
Wm. Walker, "
Owen Scott and wife, Bulletin;
M. T. Burwell and family,
S. M. Wylie, Paxton
M. H. Cloud, "
Titus Sudduth and wife,
J. Richmond and wife, Elliott
W. D. Strawn and wife, Risk.
The supper was all that could be desired, and the guests
were much pleased with their hospitable entertainment.
Source: Newspapers clippings from the Burwell/Tate Family Papers, 1850-1930 (K0233), Folder 1. Burwell family scrapbook and
photo album, 1879-1908, photocopied.*
*BURWELL-TATE FAMILY PAPERS, 1850-1930 (K0233), The State Historical Society of Missouri, 800 East 51st Street, 306 Miller Nichols Library UMKC, Kansas City, MO 64110.
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