Nicollet Hotel
The Nicollet Hotel was located on Washington Ave. at the confluence of Hennepin and Nicollet in Minneapolis. Thanks to Jeff Neuberger for help with this page.
The first hotel at that location was opened on May 26, 1858. According to the photos in the MHS database, it was known as the Nicollet House until about 1905. The photo below shows that by 1908 it was known as the Hotel Nicollet.
Hotel Nicollet, 1908. Photo courtesy Minnesota Historical Society
That first hotel was replaced by a much larger building, opening in June 1924. It had 637 rooms on 12/13 stories. It faced Gateway Park, which still looked inviting in the 1925 postcard below. In the course of 30 years the Gateway would thoroughly disintegrate into Skid Row, and the Gateway Building pictured below would be demolished at the end of July, 1953.
VENUES
Within the hotel there were various places to eat, drink, and dance, with changes made from time to time. I can’t promise to name them all during its 50-year history, but here are some of the more successful ones.
In 1935 Chickie and Sunny was a Famous Nicollet Hotel Dance Team, per an ad in the Hennepin County Review (they were moonlighting at the Vine Hill Tavern).
THE MINNESOTA TERRACE AND THE CHATTERBOX
This was a $50,000 addition made to the hotel, opening on October 8, 1936. Bob Crosby was the first orchestra leader. It consisted of the Minnesota Terrace, a dining room/supper club/dance venue, and the Chatterbox cocktail lounge.
Minneapolis Star, October 8, 1936
Minneapolis Tribune, November 27, 1936
Stebbins:
Once during the 1940s, when Fats Waller’s band was playing along with the all-Negro Naval Dance Band, a jam session par excellence developed. In 1944 the Terrace featured a Gay Nineties Revue, starring the Three Gay Blades, Earl and Josephine Leach, the Lovely Selma Marlowe Dancers, and Perry Martin and His Orchestra. The Minnesota Terrace lasted through 1952. It was Minneapolis’ major ballroom, where one could hear a “name” dance band. The Marigold was a runner-up with an occasional name band.
Photos above and below dated 1937, Minnesota Historical Society
Dining room and dance floor, Minnesota Terrace
Saralyn Durheim found this ad in her grandmother’s things and graciously shared it with us!
THE NEW CHATTERBOX
According to ads in the Minneapolis papers, the Chatterbox gave way to the Chatterbox for Ladies from June 7 to June 20, 1940. Apparently the concept didn’t catch on, or it was too sexist, even in 1940….
THE WAIKIKI ROOM
Neil Messick of the Nicollet Hotel created the Waikiki Room after thinking it about it for eight years. James Lileks has pointed out that it might not have been such a good idea for returning servicemen who spent their time of service in the jungle, but the women loved it.
Another note: Although Don the Beachcomber (born Ernest Beaumont-Gantt, who legally changed his name to “Donn Beach,”) was instrumental in opening the Waikiki Room in 1952, he opened his own franchise at the Hilton Hotel in St. Paul in 1966.
1955 Image courtesy Minnesota Historical Society
SOUL’S HARBOR
Despite being purchased by the Albert Pick Hotels Company in 1957 and renamed the Pick-Nicollet Hotel, time and location were not kind to the venerable building, and it fell into disrepair. In 1973 it was purchased by the Calvary Temple for $1.5 million. The religious organization primarily used it for housing, but found it difficult to keep up with payments, and went bankrupt in 1985. Everything inside the building was sold, and it stood empty until it was finally demolished in 1991. It was used as a parking lot for at least 28 years.