Formerly: Auditorium Annex · Congress Hotel
Chicago, Illinois · Founded 1893 · Building: 1893
A 1893 Michigan Avenue hotel built for World’s Fair visitors, later expanded with its Gold Room and surrounded by modern ghost lore.
Congress Plaza Hotel opened in 1893 as the Auditorium Annex, a R. H. Southgate development intended to complement the Auditorium Building across Michigan Avenue and accommodate World’s Columbian Exposition visitors. Clinton J. Warren designed the original north tower. A major 1902–1907 south-tower expansion by Holabird & Roche added the Gold Room and helped create the hotel’s present scale.
R. H. Southgate opens the Auditorium Annex on Michigan Avenue to complement the Auditorium Building and receive World’s Columbian Exposition visitors.
Source: Chicago Architecture Center, "Congress Hotel"; Congress Plaza Hotel official history
Clinton J. Warren’s original north tower becomes the first completed portion of the hotel.
Source: Chicago Architecture Center, "Congress Hotel"; Congress Plaza Hotel official history
Construction begins on the south tower, designed by Holabird & Roche.
Source: Congress Plaza Hotel official history; Haunted Rooms, "Congress Plaza Hotel, Chicago"
The south tower and Gold Room are completed; the hotel’s history describes the Gold Room as America’s first air-conditioned ballroom.
Source: Congress Plaza Hotel official history
Historical reference material identifies the property as operating under the Congress Hotel name by this year.
Source: Public historical summary of Congress Plaza Hotel
The hotel’s own history dates a formal change from Auditorium Annex to Congress Hotel to this year.
Source: Congress Plaza Hotel official history
Franklin D. Roosevelt accepts the Democratic presidential nomination in Chicago and pledges himself to a "new deal for the American people." This review did not verify a Congress Hotel Gold Room location for the speech.
Source: Franklin D. Roosevelt, "Address Accepting the Presidential Nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago"; Time, "F.D.R.'s Disputed Legacy"
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
This review did not locate reliable Chicago police, federal, newspaper, or archival evidence identifying a Capone suite at the Congress or linking hotel rooms to his criminal operations. The claim should not be repeated as established hotel history.
Holmes operated in Chicago during the World’s Fair era, but this review found no reliable record placing him at the Auditorium Annex or connecting specific victims to its lobby. The story remains unsupported folklore.
Modern ghost tours and paranormal articles repeat stories of Peg Leg Johnny, Room 441, and other alleged apparitions. The identity, death, and historical basis of Peg Leg Johnny are not established in the materials reviewed, and no paranormal appearance can be verified.
The frequently repeated Room 441–1408 connection is unsupported. Local historical commentary identifies it as a later invention rather than a fact of Stephen King’s writing or the hotel’s history.
The hotel is a surviving 1893 property built to accommodate World’s Columbian Exposition visitors, but this review did not identify or compare all other surviving Chicago hotel enterprises associated with the fair. No oldest or continuous-operation title can be established here.
Everything below has been reported by two or more independent sources — this is an informational record of what's said about this place, not a verified account of paranormal activity. Still Open America doesn't certify hauntings as real.
Multiple accounts describe a dark or female figure in Room 441, commonly reported standing or hovering over the bed, tugging bedding, kicking guests awake, or entering and leaving the bathroom. Reports also associate the room with unexplained sounds and objects moving.
A male apparition known as Peg Leg Johnny is reported in hotel public areas, rooms, and hallways. The legend commonly attributes flickering or switching lights and electronics, odd noises, and other mischievous disturbances to this figure.
The identity and claimed death of Peg Leg Johnny could not be confirmed in the historical materials reviewed for the main entry.
Several accounts say a young boy is seen or heard running through the twelfth-floor corridors. The recurring legend identifies him as Karel Langer and associates the reports with the 1939 deaths of Adele Langer and her two sons after a fall from the hotel.
Contemporary reporting cited by CBS Chicago places the Langer family's hotel room on the thirteenth floor, while modern ghost accounts commonly place the activity on the twelfth floor.
The Gold Room is repeatedly said to be haunted by a woman in Victorian-era clothing. Accounts also describe unexplained activity in the ballroom, including reports of a figure appearing in photographs.
A recurring hotel legend describes a gloved hand protruding from a wall or closet area, usually called the Hand of Mystery. Retellings attribute it to a construction worker allegedly trapped behind a wall during the hotel's construction.
No construction accident, death record, or other historical source was located to confirm that a worker was trapped behind a wall during construction of the hotel.
Accounts describe unexplained organ or piano music, sounds resembling roller skates, screams, and a female presence in or near the Florentine Room and its adjoining restroom. Some reports also describe televisions changing channels without anyone operating them.
Congress Plaza Hotel opened in 1893 as the Congress Hotel.
The property opened as the Auditorium Annex in 1893. Sources show Congress Hotel usage by 1908, while the hotel’s official history places a formal name change in 1911.
Source: Chicago Architecture Center, "Congress Hotel"; Congress Plaza Hotel official history
The south tower and Gold Room were added in a single 1902 expansion.
Holabird & Roche’s south tower was built between 1902 and 1907, with the Gold Room completed as part of that multi-year expansion.
Source: Congress Plaza Hotel official history; Haunted Rooms, "Congress Plaza Hotel, Chicago"
Congress Plaza Hotel Room 441 inspired Stephen King's 1408.
The Room 441–1408 story is a later unsupported legend; no evidence located in this review establishes it as a source for Stephen King’s work.
Source: Chicago historical commentary, "The Unbelievable Story of the Chicago Congress Plaza Hotel"
Congress Plaza Hotel has endured because it occupies a prominent Michigan Avenue and Grant Park location while retaining a recognizable World’s Fair-era identity. Its building history is layered: an 1893 north tower, a 1902–1907 south tower, and subsequent modernization rather than one frozen historic structure. The hotel’s architecture, convention role, and later ghost-tour reputation keep it in Chicago’s cultural conversation.
Congress Plaza Hotel opened in Chicago, Illinois, in 1893 as the Auditorium Annex, built by R. H. Southgate to help serve visitors to the World’s Columbian Exposition. Clinton J. Warren designed its original north tower, and Holabird & Roche designed the south-tower expansion completed in 1907. The property later became known as the Congress Hotel and remains open on Michigan Avenue.
No verified evidence establishes Congress Plaza Hotel as Chicago’s oldest operating hotel. It opened in 1893 and is historically important as a surviving hotel built to accommodate World’s Columbian Exposition visitors, but this review did not complete a citywide comparison of older hotel businesses and their operating continuity.
The earliest source located in this review is a 2015 reporter account describing already-circulating stories about Peg Leg Johnny and Room 441. That article documents modern retellings, not the first time the hotel was described as haunted. Earlier Chicago newspaper and ghost-guide research is needed to date the legends’ origin.
520 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60605
(312) 427-3800
Confirm current public access, event schedules, and restaurant/bar arrangements with the hotel before planning a non-guest visit.