Tremont House, first hotel with indoor plumbing
The Tremont House was a hotel in Boston, Massachusetts, that opened in 1829 and was considered one of the most advanced of its time. Built from Quincy granite, it featured a circular entry hall with a domed ceiling, a Doric entrance portico, and guest rooms with private parlors, lockable doors, and running water.
The hotel opened on October 16, 1829, with Boston's Mayor Josiah Quincy among the guests at the opening celebration. It stood for over 60 years before being demolished in 1895 to make room for an office building.
The Tremont House set a new standard for what a hotel could offer its guests, making private and comfortable lodging a normal expectation rather than a luxury. The lockable doors and private parlors gave travelers a sense of personal space that had rarely been available before.
The original building no longer stands, as it was located at the corner of Tremont and Beacon Streets in downtown Boston. Two columns from the original structure survive and can be seen at Institute Park in Worcester, which is a good starting point for anyone interested in tracing what remains.
Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth both stayed at the hotel in the years before the Civil War, without knowing how their lives would later become connected. The same building also welcomed Charles Dickens, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Alexis de Tocqueville at different points in time.
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