Relaxing
on a divan reading a magazine she seems not to have a care in
the world. A porter is walking through the hotel doors effortlessly
carrying luggage. We know from this advertisement that he is
entering the “European-styled” Hotel Lorlen. Located
at the southeast corner of Broad and Pleasant, the new hotel
joined nine others operating in Beloit in 1930. The building,
which had been in use since 1850, had already undergone some
significant renovations and enlargements before becoming a hotel.
The corner’s first use was by a church which came into existence
over the issue of slavery.
During the pre-Civil War era, churches wrestled with the controversy
surrounding slavery and whether or not it was appropriate to
speak on the issue from the pulpit. Beloit Congregationalists
were among those who were torn by this country-dividing issue,
and the rift that developed led to the formation in Beloit of
the Presbyterian Church. Though some yearned to become Presbyterian
before the controversy arose, the desire to speak out against
slavery in church convinced them and others that the time had
come to establish a separate church. This faction of the Congregational
Church organized as a new evangelical society in Benjamin Brown’s
home on State Street. The Society emerged as the Presbyterian
Church, and was formally organized March 21, 1849. By all accounts
the two churches worked well together during the transition.
The next step was to find property on which to build a church.
This occurred on April 30, 1849, when the new trustees purchased
a 16’ x 122’ lot at the southeast corner of Broad &
Pleasant. The story of this site begins with the new, and the
first, First Presbyterian Church when it was dedicated July 23,
1850.
The simple, elegant structure with Ionic pillars and a graceful
steeple cost $10,000. Originally 46’ x 70’ in size,
the church walls were 20 inches thick and stood the test of time;
the steeples didn‘t fare as well. Records indicate there
were four different steeples on the church in its 57 years at
this site. The steeples were replaced and the building enlarged
several times. The first Reverend to serve was Alfred Eddy but
the first sermon preached was by Beloit College’s first
President, Aaron Lucius Chapin. The Church prospered and the
congregation grew to the point that a new church building was
required. It was the Reverend Chauncey T. Edwards, D.D., who
assisted the congregation with its move to build a new church
at 501 Prospect St. In 1907 the old site and building were sold
to Dr. Arthur Helm. Among Beloit’s most distinguished doctors
he had a good idea of what to do with this solid building at
Broad and Pleasant.
At
that corner Dr. Helm established what was then the third hospital
in town, organized January 28, 1907. Early hospitals in Beloit
were geared to teach nurses and this practice continued with
Dr. Helm until the construction of the Beloit Municipal Hospital.
His training school for nurses was accredited in 1912. The establishment
was called Beloit Hospital, but shortly after 1922 the name was
changed to Beloit Clinic. The other hospitals at this time were
Strong Emergency organized in February 5, 1903, and St. Mary’s
organized by a group of Catholic sisters July 2, 1903.
The newly renovated two-story Beloit Hospital had 25 beds. Dr.
Helm established rates at $10 per week for the ward, $14 to $25
weekly for private rooms, $3 for minor operations, $5 for major
ones. These rates were comparable to those existing at the other
hospitals. But business for the three private hospitals was never
good, and all were confirmed in the decision to close their doors
when, in 1928, the Beloit Municipal Hospital opened on Olympian
Boulevard. The consensus of opinion was to let the city handle
the administrative headaches. The new Municipal Hospital opened
with its 100 beds at a cost of $275,000 and this was a pivotal
change for Beloit in how medical treatment would be administered
to its citizens. One knowledgeable historian commenting on the
early private hospitals stated that “those first hospitals
were no great shakes in the matter of appearance and equipment,
but they had their day and played a useful and important part
in the city’s development.” The Beloit Hospital/Beloit
Clinic left the building empty at Broad and Pleasant in 1928
awaiting a future buyer with other ideas for its use.
That is when Lory & Lenthart out of Champaign, Illinois,
purchased the old Hospital and converted it into a “New
and Modern, European-styled Hotel,” calling it Hotel Lorlen.
There is no listing of Hotel Lorlen in the 1928 directory but
beginning in 1930 two ads appear. One of them lists the Lorlen
with nine other hotels - the Broadway, Carleton, Gordon, Grand,
Branigan, Hilton, Park, Radway and Rex. The granddaddy of all
Hotels, the American House, which predated the Bushnell House
by a year, was gone. That beauty was located across the street
from the First Presbyterian Church for many years on the southwest
corner of Broad and Pleasant. Hotel Lorlen maintained its operation
from 1930 to 1961 and in that final year the Beloit Daily News
proclaimed “Beloit Landmark to be Razed.” The site
was to be used for a modern drive-in bank which never occurred.
Often Hotel Lorlen was referred to as grand and elegant and with
a glance at the lady in that 1930 ad it’s not difficult
to believe. Hotel Lorlen was once upon a time the distinguished
lodging “At the Journey’s End.” Though only a
parking lot today, the site itself, over a 110 year span, represents
an abundance of Beloit history that few other sites in town can
match.
