Gibson Hotel

  This Hotel had seen 4 reincarnations during it's lifespan. The Hotel, located on the west side of Walnut Street between 4th  and 5th Street, was first built in 1849. It was closed for 1 year in 1850 because "It was to far out in the country". Reopened, it lasted until 1873 when it was torn down and replaced by a larger building. The second hotel lasted until 1912 when it was destroyed by fire. The third building of 12 stories existed until 1922 when it was enlarged to be "the largest Hostelry in the Midwest". It consisted of 1000 rooms. It became the Sheraton Gibson in 1950 when the Sheraton Corp. bought the building. It was finally closed in 1974 and was razed in 1977.

               
1849                                                                                1873    to    1912                                    

These are not postcards

                               
 Newspaper Drawing                      Walnut St. Entrance          Lobby & 4th St. Entrance    

1873 to 1912

                   
  1912  to 1922

           
                                               1922  to 1950                              Same card

                       
                                                Three cards of the Ball Room                                                      aka The Convention Room

                       
The Roof Garden          or      The Roof Ball Room       or    The Roof Dining Room                The Italian Room

               
Five cards of The Florentine Dining Room

           
Lobby from Mezzanine                                                                     Four cards of the Main Lobby                                                               

       
    The Lounge                        The Fountain Room

1923  GIBSON  HOTEL  BROCHURE

   The following non-postcard images come from a magazine called the Hotel Bulletin which devoted two magazines to the new Gibson Hotel that had just been rebuilt in 1922. I only have section two of the article but it contains 56 pages so I can only dream about what the first half held.

Plan of Basement Level

   A quick service restaurant capable of seating 350 at the tables and another 75 at the double horseshoe counter was located in the basement level. A basement lobby and the barber shop were also on this level.

Plan of Ground Level

   There were 4 entrances to the main lobby from the street level. On the south side there was a long white marble corridor going all the way to 4th Street. There was also an entrance from the Union Trust Building on the northwest corner of 4th and Walnut Sts. There were two entrances on the Walnut St. side of the hotel, the main entrance and a ladies entrance north of the main entrance. The luxurious Lounge was just west of the Lobby. The famous two levels of the Florentine Dining Room that was between the Lobby and 5th St. The Grand Staircase, from the Dining Room, led up to the Mezzanine that extended the full width of the building overlooking Fountain Square. The Della Robbia Room was at the west end of the Mezzanine Level and could be closed off from the rest of the Mezzanine for a private dining room. 

           
Main Lobby                                      Lounge      

                                   
Both Levels of Florentine Room       Florentine's Grand Staircase                  Mezzanine Level                            Della Robbia Room                  

Main Kitchen Layout

   The main kitchen is directly connected to and is chiefly for the use of the Florentine Room. The layout above is in two parts because of its size. The article identifies the numbers on the diagram but I did not try to put them up for technical reasons. If you really must know what a number stands for, let me know and I will look it up.

Plan of Ballroom & Banquet Hall

   The Ballroom and Banquet hall located on the floor above the Mezzanine Floor covered an area of over 3,700 square feet with banquet facilities for 1,200 people. One of the features was a portable stage, 22' x 22' with a seating capacity of 125. There were 6 high speed elevators that carried people rapidly and efficiently to all the floors of the hotel. There were also a number of private dining rooms.

4 Views of Ballroom & Banquet Hall

Plan for Typical Guest Rooms

   There were 10 floors of guest rooms with 100 rooms on each floor. They all either faced the street or the large, light, airy, open courts. Six rooms on each floor contained concealed double or twin beds that were hidden behind paneled French mirrors. They were elaborately furnished so that when the beds were hidden the rooms became a fancy parlor. Floor clerks were stationed in front of the elevators and were in direct charge of that floor. They could call a maid to their station using a silent system whenever needed.

                                         
Typ. Living & Sleeping Rooms                Hide-a Bed                       Views of the Suites             Dressing Room & Bath         

Plan for Roof Garden

   Known as the "Gibson Room" the Roof Garden extended the full length of the 5th Street side of the hotel and was claimed to be the largest and most beautiful of its kind in the world. The 48, x 110' room had a large stage at the west end. It was entirely enclosed in glass and could seat 1,500 guests. Directly connected to the garden was the roof garden foyer which could be closed off from the garden if needed. The large checking facilities in the roof lobby was able to easily handle the large number of patrons that were usually at the Roof Garden.

SHERATON GIBSON

1950-1974

       
      Kon-Tiki Restaurant           Sheraton Lounge

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