Formerly: The Palmer House
Chicago, Illinois · Founded 1870 · Building: 1923–1925
Chicago's Palmer House traces its hotel lineage to 1870, but the 25-story building now standing in the Loop was completed in 1925.
Potter Palmer opened the first Palmer House in 1870 as a wedding gift for Bertha Honoré Palmer. The Great Chicago Fire destroyed it in 1871, but a successor hotel opened in 1873 and the current 25-story building was completed in 1925. Today the property operates as Palmer House - a Hilton Hotel, carrying a long hotel lineage while occupying a third-generation building.
Potter Palmer opens the first Palmer House in Chicago as a wedding gift for Bertha Honoré Palmer.
Source: Chicago History Museum, "The Palmer House: Next Door to Everything"
The Great Chicago Fire destroys the first Palmer House and another Palmer hotel structure under construction nearby.
Source: Chicago History Museum, "The Palmer House: Next Door to Everything"
A second Palmer House opens, beginning the post-fire hotel era on the site.
Source: Palmer House, "Our History"
Bertha Palmer asks the hotel's pastry team for a portable dessert suited to boxed lunches for the World's Columbian Exposition. The hotel traces its Palmer House brownie to this request.
Source: Chicago History Museum, "The Palmer House Brownie Recipe"; Palmer House, "Our History"
Construction begins on the third-generation Palmer House, replacing the 1873 hotel with a larger 25-story building.
Source: Clio, "Palmer House Hilton"; Axios Chicago, May 5, 2026
The current 25-story Palmer House building is completed.
Source: Chicago History Museum, "The Palmer House: Next Door to Everything"; Axios Chicago, May 5, 2026
Hilton acquires the Palmer House, bringing the hotel into the Hilton system.
Source: Chicago History Museum, "The Palmer House: Next Door to Everything"; Axios Chicago, May 5, 2026
Thor Equities acquires the Palmer House real estate while Hilton continues operating the hotel under its brand.
Source: Clio, "Palmer House Hilton"
Palmer House closes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Source: Secondary hotel-operation histories
Palmer House reopens to guests after its pandemic closure.
Source: Secondary hotel-operation histories
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
The Chicago History Museum preserves an original 1893 Palmer House brownie recipe, and hotel histories link the dessert to Bertha Palmer's request for a portable World's Fair lunch item. The hotel calls it the original brownie, but the dessert was not documented under the name "brownie" until later, so universal invention priority should be stated cautiously.
Palmer House and Historic Hotels of America describe the hotel as an early adopter—and in some accounts the first hotel—to use telephones, electric light, and a vertical steam lift. This audit did not review primary engineering, patent, or comparable hotel records sufficient to verify the claimed firsts.
The 1873 Palmer House was replaced by the current 25-story hotel, constructed from 1923 to 1925. The present building's historic lineage does not make its structure an 1873 building.
The property has a long hotel lineage, but the original building was destroyed in 1871 and the current hotel was closed to guests from 2020 until June 2021. It should not be described as continuously open without qualification.
Hilton's current property page lists Palmer House - a Hilton Hotel as an active Chicago Loop hotel. The present owner of the real estate should be separately confirmed through a current property record.
The first Palmer House opened in 1871 and burned 13 days later in the Great Chicago Fire.
The first Palmer House opened on September 26, 1870. It was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire on October 8, 1871, more than a year after opening.
Source: Chicago History Museum, "The Palmer House: Next Door to Everything"
The current Palmer House building dates to 1873.
The 1873 hotel was later replaced. The present 25-story building was constructed from 1923 to 1925.
Source: Chicago History Museum, "The Palmer House: Next Door to Everything"; Clio, "Palmer House Hilton"
Hilton still owns the Palmer House real estate because it acquired the hotel in 1945.
Hilton currently operates the hotel, while historical summaries identify Thor Equities as the property owner following a 2005 acquisition. A current Cook County title record is needed to confirm the present owner.
Source: Hilton property page; Clio, "Palmer House Hilton"
Palmer House survived because the name, location, and hospitality business were rebuilt after disaster and repeatedly adapted to a changing Chicago Loop. The 1870 hotel gave way to an 1873 replacement after the fire, then to the present 1925 structure when a larger modern hotel was needed. Hilton acquired the hotel in 1945; Thor Equities later acquired the real estate while Hilton continued as the operating brand. Its continuity is substantial but not literal uninterrupted guest operation, since it closed from 2020 to 2021.
Yes. The first Palmer House opened on September 26, 1870 and was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire on October 8, 1871. A second Palmer House opened on November 8, 1873.
The Palmer House traces its brownie to an 1893 request by Bertha Palmer for a portable World's Columbian Exposition dessert. The Chicago History Museum preserves a Palmer House recipe from that year, although the dessert was not initially documented under the name "brownie," so the broad invention claim should be treated cautiously.
No. The first hotel was destroyed in the 1871 fire, and the 1873 replacement was later demolished. The current 25-story Palmer House building was constructed from 1923 to 1925.
Hilton operates Palmer House - a Hilton Hotel. Historical ownership summaries identify Thor Equities as the real-estate owner after its 2005 acquisition, but this audit did not verify current title ownership through Cook County property records.
17 East Monroe Street, Chicago, IL 60603
(312) 726-7500
Check the hotel's official site before visiting for current lobby, dining, event, historic-display, and guest-access policies.