Hotel Tuller

History

The Hotel Tuller was originally constructed in 1906 by Lew Whiting Tuller. The hotel originally had nine floors; five additional floors were added in 1910. A 14-story annex was added to the southeast of the original building in 1914, and it was a popular site for conventions and banquets. A final addition to the west was made in 1923, bringing the room count to 800, each with a private bath. The hotel's Arabian Room was the largest ballroom in Detroit, with a capacity of 600 people.

Starting in the early 1920s, the Tuller had a difficult time competing with other Detroit hotels, most notably the Statler Hotel and the newly built Book-Cadillac Hotel. In 1927 the Tuller went bankrupt; a 1928 plan to demolish the structure and replace it with a 35-story, 1,500-room Biltmore hotel was abandoned due to the Great Depression. In 1940, the former boxer Kid McCoy was found dead in his room in the hotel. The Tuller was purchased by new owners in 1944, and experienced a complete makeover; the lobby was renovated by the architectural firm of C. Howard Crane. In 1959, a fire at the hotel killed 3 people, who were trapped in an elevator when a fire broke out in the lobby.

The hotel fell into disrepair and was shuttered in 1976 after having been a low-end, extended-stay property. The city of Detroit deemed this building beyond repair, demolished it in 1991, and the site has remained a parking lot ever since.

Lew Tuller

Lew Whiting Tuller was born in Jonesville, Michigan in 1869. His father was an architect and builder, and when he finished his schooling, Lew joined his father in business. He moved to Detroit in 1894, and built a number of apartment houses and other buildings in the city. Tuller built the hotel that bears his name in 1906, and, being unable to lease the building, he began running it as a hotel himself. His foray into hotel management was successful, and he built three other hotels in Detroit: the Eddystone, Park Avenue, and the Royal Palm.

The increasing competition among Detroit hotels, combined with the financial instability of the late 1920s and with a series of unsuccessful real estate deals operated by Tuller, caused him to lose his empire: the Eddystone and the Royal Palm Hotels were foreclosed in 1928, and Lew Tuller went so far as to conceal himself, in a desperate attempt to prevent the Hotel Tuller from entering receivership.

Lew Tuller died in Pontiac, Michigan in 1957, at the age of 88.

Gallery

File:Hotel tuller ad.png|Advertisement for the Hotel Tuller, 1918 File:Hotel Tuller (NBY 22966).jpg|The Hotel Tuller in a postcard, circa 1910s File:Hotel Tuller, Detroit, Michigan (69068).jpg|The Hotel Tuller in an old postcard File:Grand Circus Park and Edison Memorial Fountain, Detroit, Mich (62391).jpg|Postcard showing the Thomas Edison Memorial Fountain. The Hotel Tuller is visible in the background

References

References

1. [https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.mi0247 Historic American Buildings Survey], Survey number HABS MI-335
2. Ibbotson, Patricia. (2007). "Detroit's Historic Hotels and Restaurants". Arcadia Publishing.
3. [https://books.google.com/books?id=cFxZRg_Z24kC Jon Milan]''Detroit: Ragtime and the Jazz Age'', pp. 81-82
4. [https://books.google.com/books?id=FTTiAAAAMAAJ Clarence Monroe Burton, William Stocking, Gordon K. Miller], ''The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Volume 3,'' 1922, p. 870
5. Austin, Dan. [https://www.historicdetroit.org/building/tuller-hotel/ Tuller Hotel]. ''Historic Detroit''. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
6. [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=oEsyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=aa8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=3843,913057&dq=hotel-tuller+detroit&hl=en Owosso Argus-Press - Sep 14, 1961]
7. Austin, Dan. (2012). "Forgotten Landmarks of Detroit". The History Press.
8. [https://www.nytimes.com/1940/04/19/archives/kid-mcoy-a-suicide-in-detroit-hotel-norman-selby-in-private-life-he.html ''New York Times''], April 19, 1940, Friday, Page 23
9. [https://archive.today/20120715160913/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wa0yAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KOwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=736,741045&dq=hotel-tuller+detroit&hl=en ''Miami News''], Jan 18, 1959
10. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110604134152/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/493877582.html?dids=493877582:493877582&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Jan+18,+1959&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=3+Die,+200+Rescued+in+Detroit+Hotel+Fire&pqatl=google ''Los Angeles Times''], Jan 18, 1959 p. 29
11. Austin, Dan. [https://historicdetroit.org/architect/lew-w-tuller/ Lew W. Tuller (Jan. 4, 1869 - Jan. 5, 1957)]. ''Historic Detroit''. Retrieved May 1, 2016.