The Edgewater Beach Hotel was built by John Tobin Connery and his brother James Patrick Connery. John and James were Brendan's 2nd Great Grand Uncles.
History of Edgewater Beach Hotel (from a booklet on the EBH):
"It was only in 1916 that the Edgewater Beach Hotel opened its doors to the public -- and then against perhaps as great opposition as ever worthwhile venture had. Not only was there actual physical opposition to the proposition, but the attitude of Chicagoans as a whole was that the location was "impossible" -- "entirely too far out;" "never had been attempted;" "no one would locate that far out," etc., etc. A couple of injunctions were issued and enforced but the owners "fought" on.
And here let us pay a tribute to those fine men whose "stick-to-it-iveness" gave Chicago this splendid institution which has served the people of the city faithfully as well:
John J. Corbett, the well-known contractor whose name was associated with the construction of many worthwhile enterprises for many years, the primary instigator of the plan for a great residence hotel for the north side on the shores of Lake Michigan, and whose life ended just at the point when the hotel was accepted as a successful and practically indispensable institution;
John T. Connery, his partner and associate, who was made President of the Company upon the death of Mr. Corbett in June, 1919, and whose unfailing optimism helped to stem the tide of opposition in the early days of the hotel's history;
Benjamin H.Marshall, whose artistic touch can be recognized throughout the interior of the building and to whom goes the credit for the unique layout;
Charles E. Fox, another architect of national and international fame, graduate of Boston Tech, who is reponsible with Mr. Marshall for the stability and beauty of the building.
There is Romance, real romance in every moment of the history of the Edgewater Beach Hotel, particularly with the completion, before the eighth birthday of the institution, of a 600-room addition."
In the mid-1980s, the Chicago Planning Department designated Edgewater as a separate community from Uptown. The dividing line is Foster Avenue.
* In the late 19th century, the area was known as the "celery-growing capital of the Middle West."
* The name "Edgewater" was given by developer John Lewis Cochran to the first subdivision that he purchased in the area in 1885.
* Advertisements in the late 1880s celebrated Edgewater as "the only electric lighted suburb adjacent to Chicago."
* The Edgewater Beach Hotel opened in 1916 as a symbol of the community's affluence. The hotel, which was located at 5349 N. Sheridan, had 1,000 feet of private beach.
* President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Babe Ruth and Mahatma Gandhi were all guests at the Edgewater Beach Hotel.