from 1917 to 1985 at
5927 Columbia Avenue
Hammond, Indiana
The Lyndora Hotel, on postcard views from the 1930's.
from 1917 to 1985 at |
The Lyndora Hotel, on postcard views from the 1930's. |
The Lyndora Hotel complex was built by the Standard Steel Car Company in 1917, and was located in the historic Pullman District on Columbia Avenue, bordered on the north by Lyons Street and to the south by Highland Street and to the east directly across the street from then Maywood Park (Now Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park). The company found it necessary to build this type of housing in order to recruit management employees during World War I, due to the shortage of housing facilities in the Hammond area.
The Lyndora Hotel takes its name after the daughter of Mr. John Hansen then president of the Standard Steel Car Company. The Lyndora hotel was easily accessible with a convenient street car line located right at its front steps. Single and Double rooms totaling 150 were available for guests. Also featured was a elegant and pleasing lobby with music and entertainment for hotel patrons and visitors, and a spacious dining room that served delicious food reasonably priced.
The Lyndora Hotel featured itself in a 1933 brochure touting its proximity to Chicago's Century of Progress World's Fair. It stated that if you were planning to drive to Chicago for the World's Fair, stop off in Hammond - on the outskirts of Chicago and outside the city's congestion - less than half an hour from the World's Fair. Free parking was provided for hotel guests along with convenient garage (automobile service) facilities right at the hotel. Excellent food was served in the Lyndora Hotel dining room. Prices in 1933 were - Club Breakfast 25¢, 35¢ and 40¢. Luncheon 50¢. Dinner 75¢. In 1933 room rates were - Single room without bath $1.00 and $1.50 with bath $2.00 and $2.50. Double room, without bath $2.50, with bath $3.50, twin beds $4.50. Special rates were available to groups and families along with weekly rates for Fair visitors. The Lyndora Hotel at the time was also home to radio station WWAE, which had a studio on the premises.
The Lyndora Hotel, later in time would be known as Saint Ann's Home for the aged. It was then closed in 1981 and purchased by the Huguenot National Church based in Glen Ellyn, IL in 1983. In which they had hoped to reopen the building to once again house elderly patients. Unfortunately the building was destroyed by two apparent arson fires in the early morning hours of November 1, 1985. The structure was then razed on the last days of November 1985. So ends the history of a once grand lady, The Lyndora Hotel . . . gone but not forgotten.
The Lyndora Hotel site which now stands vacant since it's demolition in 1985, will soon be home to the new Ophelia Steen Family Health and Services Center, which will serve as the replacement for the Brooks House (Demolished during the Urban Renewal program of the 1970's) - which in itself has an interesting history all of it's own.
Join the Hammond Historical Society if you are interested in learning more about the history of the city of Hammond - Membership dues are now currently $10.00 per year for individuals, $25.00 per year corporate.
Contact the - Hammond Historical Society * 564 State Street * Hammond, IN 46320 * Phone 931-5100
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