Old West Hotel: "Celebrate Your Heritage Day", May 11, 1991
Historic Commercial Community Members Civic Event
The Old Hotel was built in 1879 after Uncle Tom's Cabin burned down. On May 11, 1989, Sugar Grove held an event at the Old Hotel, which was 112 years old at the time: "Celebrate Your Heritage". The Old Hotel was located on the northwest corner of Cross Street and the Railroad tracks. Bill Johnson and Minnie Yearton were honored guests. Click on the first image to open a PDF with a compilation of photos.
Old West Hotel: Carriage House 4-12-1993
The Carriage House was located behind the Hotel.
Hotel West / West's Hotel / Old Hotel: Advertisement
"Hotel West. Twenty-seven years of continuous service for Sugar Grove. The following is printed from a Catalogue of Sugar Grove School 1895: 'Wm. West, our able hotel man, the owner and proprietor of 'Uncle Tom's Cabin,' furnishes table board from Monday noon to Friday noon inclusive, at only $1.62 per week; and the whole seven days (21 meals) fro $2.62. Formerly 'Uncle Tom's Cabin.' Wm. West, Proprietor, Sugar Grove, Illinois" The ornate building that served as a boarding house for student scholars called Uncle Tom's Cabin burned downed in 1879, only 3 years after it was built. It was a great loss as Thomas Judd “Uncle Tom” had no insurance. However, he then built a new hotel on the same site. Since there was no insurance on the original boarding house, the community came together with labor and materials, and rebuilt it using the stacked lumber method for the outside walls. The hotel was later purchased by W.M. West and came to be known as Hotel West. During the first half of the 1900s, Kitty Lorah owned the building. Sundays found automobiles with license plates from as far away as Wisconsin and Iowa parked in front of the hotel where Kitty served family style meals, all of which were cooked on two gigantic cast iron cook stoves in the basement kitchen. Her dining room was filled with families on Sundays and railroad personnel at noon during the week. Kitty continued to operate her restaurant and manage the apartments in the hotel, well into her later years. She could be found seated outside early on summer mornings, shelling a bushel of peas or stinging a like amount of beans, which were headed for her huge kettles and the dinner plates of diners. After many years of housing students, guests, and residents, the Old Hotel West was torn down in 1999. It became the site of Veterans Park on the west side of Main Street just north of the railroad tracks. Source: "Sin-Qua-Sip: A History of Sugar Grove Township, Kane County, Illinois" by Patsy Mighell Paxton.
Carriage House behind the Old Hotel - Hand dated 1936 - 1938
Site of demolished Old Hotel - Print dated April 9, 1999
Old Hotel Demolition - Print dated April 9, 1999
Site of demolished Old Hotel - Hand dated May 26, 1999
Handwritten on the back: 5-26-99 Looking N.W. of Main St.
Handwritten on the back: 5-26-99 Looking N.W. off of Main St. at R.R. Tracks
Site of demolished Old Hotel - Print dated April 13, 1999
Site of demolished Old Hotel - Print dated April 10, 1999
Site of demolished Old Hotel - Print dated April 15, 1999
Site of demolished Old Hotel - Print dated May 3, 1999