When I first saw the big pink apartment building on the east corner of Edgewater and Bryn Mawr at 5555 North Sheridan Road, I knew it was a historic building, but I didn’t know the story of the building.
There is also a great story behind the Edgewater Beach Apartments, which were built in 1928 apartments once part of the Edgewater Beach complex and its is the rest of the building. Once a famous Chicago hot spot, it was the most popular hotel in the twenties, 30s and 40s. A decline in part-time business and hard times hit in the 50s with Lake Beach Drive from Foster Avenue to Hollywood Avenue, and The hotel closed its doors permanently in 1967.
John Tobin Connery and James Patrick Connery owned a hotel that served famous guests such as Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Babe Ruth, Marilyn Monroe, and Nat King Cole. Currently, Edgewater Apartments is part of the Brywn Mawr Historic District where many other buildings can be found.
Sources
Edgewater Apartments, ebachicago.com/outside_home.asp
The Edgewater Beach Hotel: Magic by the Lake, wttw.com/main.taf?p=1,7,1,1,13
Edgewater Historical Society, edgewaterhistory.org/articles/index.html?v08-2-3.html
