What was the tallest building ever demolished in Chicago?

CHICAGO — Several historic buildings call the Windy City home, and over the years, a handful of notable buildings have been torn down to make way for the skyline’s next generation.

While many of those buildings are now lost to history, keen record-keeping by residents who loved the city offers some insight into what once stood.

Among those giants is one building that may not have been able to endure the test of time physically, but left an indelible mark on the city’s architectural history.

The notable building, the Morrison Hotel, once stood at the corner of Clark Street and Madison Street, and for years held the title of world’s tallest hotel. Nowadays, while lost to time, it still holds one special distinction: the tallest building ever torn down in Chicago.

The building was named after Orsemus Morrison, an early settler of Chicago and politician.

Morrison moved to the area that would become Chicago in 1833 and, after working construction jobs for several years, was eventually elected as the town’s first High Constable and Town Collector in 1835, upon the formation of the Chicago Police Department.

Morrison held the role through 1837, when Chicago was incorporated as a city.

Following his time as the city’s High Constable, Morrison went on to serve as Cook County Coroner and alderman of the 1st Ward. During that time, in 1839, he purchased the plot of land where the hotel would go on to stand for just $250.

The land was eventually developed in 1860 when a hostel was built, but the Great Chicago Fire destroyed it in 1871. Two years later, an eight-story hotel was built on the site.

The building was eventually acquired by Harry Moir, who set out to make the hotel the tallest in the world in 1903.

Two additional 21-story units designed by Marshall and Fox were later completed in 1911 and 1916.

By 1915, the building had been replaced by a 21-floor, 500-room facility that had been designed by Marshall and Fox.

The hotel continued to grow in size through 1925, when a major expansion by the firm Holabird & Roche added a 46-story tower, earning the hotel the distinction of “tallest in the world,” a title it held for about 30 years.

By 1931, a fourth, 21-story section was added, bringing the total number of rooms to 2,210.

The building was sold in 1937 and renamed Hotel Chicagoan. It kept the name until it was purchased by the First National Bank of Chicago in 1953 and leased to the Morrison Hotel for operation.

The Morrison Hotel maintained the title of the tallest hotel in the world until it was unseated by the Hotel Pennsylvania, constructed in New York City in 1962.

The size of the structure was not the only thing that distinguished it from its neighbors. The Morrison was also home to the Cook County Democratic Organization and was known to host a handful of famous guests, including Presidents Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and John F. Kennedy, boxer Jack Dempsey and jazz trumpeter Clyde McCoy.

The building was also home to the Terrace casino, opened by “the Last of the Red-Hot Mamas” Sophie Tucker, as well as a high-end nightclub called the Carousel Room.

The end of the road eventually came for the Morrison Hotel in 1965 when it was demolished to make way for the First National Bank Building, now known as Chase Tower, which was completed in 1969.

Despite its destruction, the spirit of the Morrison Hotel lived on, as prior to its demolition, bits and pieces of the hotel were sold off at auction and sent around the country.

The building managed to snag one more accolade in its dying days, as engineers said it was the tallest building ever demolished at the time it was torn down.