Remembering Edgewater Beach Hotel

Nothing epitomized the glamour and excitement of Chicago’s jazz age and war years like the fabled Edgewater Beach Hotel.

Much more than a hotel, the Edgewater Beach was a world unto itself—the only urban resort of its kind in the nation. Located on the shores of Lake Michigan on Chicago’s North Side, it offered swimming, golf, tennis, dancing, theater, fine dining, exclusive shopping, fabulous floor shows, unique watering holes, and, of course, some of the best jazz and swing music of its era. It even had its own pioneering radio station, which broadcasted across the nation and burnished its fame. Many of the legends of the big band era played its stages, and many of Hollywood’s leading stars crossed its footlights. It was a stomping ground for both the rich and famous as well as ordinary people who wanted a small taste of the high life. The Edgewater Beach Hotel was world renowned. But the social upheaval of the 1960s, the ascendance of automobile culture, and rapid urban change led to its demise.

Authors John Holden and Kathryn Gemperle are longtime students of Chicago history and board members of the Edgewater Historical Society. The society’s vast collection of materials on the Edgewater Beach Hotel provided the foundation for this unprecedented look back at one of the crowning glories of Chicago’s halcyon days of the 20th century.