Grand Rapids Hotel

The Grand Rapids Hotel also known as the The Grand Rapids Resort, was a hotel that existed outside of Mount Carmel, Illinois in Wabash County, Illinois, United States in Southern Illinois from 1922 to 1929. The hotel was located on the Wabash River next to the Grand Rapids Dam on land that was originally purchased by Thomas S. Hinde. Before the hotel was built, the property where the hotel was located was a site of a former homestead, and was used by Frederick Hinde Zimmerman for multiple small shops that sold goods to fisherman and tourists. Frederick Hinde Zimmerman was the founder and owner of the hotel, and he completed construction and opened the hotel to the public on August 7, 1922. The hotel had 36 rooms and one large assembly room that served as a dining room, meeting hall, and was used for weddings, exhibitions, anniversaries, and other important occasions. The hotel was one of the first major resorts on the southern portion of the Wabash River and quickly was able to attract tourist from across the country because of its location on the river and ease of access provided by the railroad. During its nine-year existence the hotel established a reputation for luxury and high quality. In later years, after manager Glenn Goodart took over operation of the hotel it gradually began to lose patronage due to incompetent business planning and flooding of the Wabash River in the summers of 1927, 1928, and 1929. On July 29, 1929 Glenn Goodart burned the Grand Rapids Hotel to the ground by dropping a blowtorch in the basement shop. Three months before Goodart burned the hotel down, the United States Senate Committee on Commerce had decided to remove the Grand Rapids Dam by revoking funding. Due to the onset of the Great Depression shortly after the hotel was burned down it was not rebuilt. The same year Goodart burned the hotel down he was elected as Finance Commissioner for Wabash County, Illinois.