Peabody Hotel
| The Peabody Hotel | |
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| View of the Peabody on Union Avenue | |
| Location | Memphis, Tennessee |
| Coordinates | 35°08′33″N 90°03′07″W / 35.142514°N 90.051944°WCoordinates: 35°08′33″N 90°03′07″W / 35.142514°N 90.051944°W |
| Opening date | 1925 |
| Architect | Walter W. Ahlschlager |
| Owner | Peabody Hotel Group |
| Rooms | 464 |
| Suites | 4 |
| Restaurants | 7 |
| Total floor area | 80,000 square feet (7,432.2 m2) |
| Floors | 14 |
| Parking | 1000+ |
| Website | Official website |
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Peabody Hotel
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| Location: | 149 Union Ave Memphis, Tennessee |
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| Area: | Downtown |
| Built: | 1925 |
| Architectural style: | Italian Renaissance |
| NRHP Reference#: | 77001290 |
| Added to NRHP: | September 14, 1977 |
The Peabody Hotel is a luxury hotel in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee. The hotel is well known for the famous "Peabody Ducks" that live on the hotel rooftop, but which make daily treks to the hotel's lobby in a daily "March of Ducks" celebration.
History
The original Peabody Hotel was built by Robert Campbell Brinkley in 1869, who named it after the recently deceased George Peabody out of respect for his contributions to the South.[1] Located at the corner of Main and Monroe streets, the hotel was highly successful. Jefferson Davis, the former President of the Confederacy, lived there in 1870 when he worked in Memphis as president of an insurance company.[2] It closed in 1923.[1]
The current Peabody Hotel building, on Union Avenue, was built in 1925 on the previous site of the Fransioli Hotel, which looked just like the original Peabody Hotel.[3] Designed by Chicago architect Walter W. Ahlschlager, the Italian Renaissance building holds historical and cultural significance;[4] it has been said that the Mississippi Delta "begins in the lobby of the Peabody Hotel (in Memphis) and ends on Catfish Row in Vicksburg".[5]
Before the mid-1960s, alcoholic beverages were sold in Tennessee only as sealed bottles in licensed liquor stores. The Hotel Peabody had a bar, The Creel, for its patrons on those days. Patrons would bring a bottle, acquired elsewhere, into The Creel, and the bartender would tag the bottle for later retrieval. The bartender would then mix drinks from the patron's bottle on request.
The hotel went bankrupt in 1965 and was sold in a foreclosure auction to Sheraton Hotels. It became the Sheraton-Peabody Hotel.[6]
The Sheraton-Peabody closed in 1973, generally an era of urban blight for many American cities. Isadore Edwin Hanover purchased the hotel from the county in 1975 for $400,000 and sold it to his son-in-law, Jack A. Belz, for the same amount. Belz spent the next several years and $25,000,000 renovating the landmark structure. The grand reopening in 1981 is widely considered in Memphis as a major stimulus and inspiration for the downtown revitalization that followed and still continues.
The Peabody Hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Peabody Hotel Group
The Peabody Hotel Group operates a second Peabody property, The Peabody Orlando, in Orlando, Florida. They operated a third hotel in Little Rock, Arkansas until 2013, when it became a Marriott.[7] They also previously operated properties under the Hilton name in Greenville, South Carolina and Little Rock, Arkansas.
The Peabody Ducks
The Peabody is probably best known for a custom dating back to the 1930s. The General Manager of the time, Frank Schutt, had just returned from a weekend hunting trip in Arkansas. He and his friends found it amusing to leave three of their live English Call Duck decoys in the hotel fountain. The guests loved the idea, and since then, five Mallard ducks (one drake and four hens) have played in the fountain every day.[1]
In 1940, a Bellman by the name of Edward Pembroke volunteered to care for the ducks. Pembroke was given the position of "Duckmaster" and served in that position until 1991. As a former circus animal trainer, he taught the ducks to march into the hotel lobby, which started the famous Peabody Duck March.[1] Every day at 11:00 a.m., the Peabody Ducks are escorted from their penthouse home, on the Plantation Roof, to the lobby via elevator. The ducks, accompanied by the King Cotton March by John Phillip Sousa, then proceed across a red carpet to the hotel fountain, made of a solid block of Italian travertine marble. The ducks are then ceremoniously led back to their penthouse at 5:00 p.m.[8]
Over the years, The Peabody Ducks have gained celebrity status with television appearances (along with their Duckmaster) on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Sesame Street, and The Oprah Winfrey Show. They have also appeared in People magazine.[9]
The position of "Duckmaster" at the Peabody Memphis is one of only three such positions in the world, the other two being the Duckmasters in the Orlando and Little Rock Peabody Hotels. Celebrities have also assumed the role of Honorary Duckmaster from time to time, including Zane Lamprey, Paula Deen, Joan Collins, Molly Ringwald, Kevin Bacon, Peter Frampton, Emeril Lagasse, Patrick Swayze, Queen Noor of Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, Stephen Fry, Rudolph van Veen and Gayle King.[9]
The custom of keeping ducks in the lobby fountain may date back even further than the 1930s. A pre-1915 postcard highlights the ducks playing in the fountain, and one source claims the custom goes back to the hotel's opening in 1869.[10]
However, the Peabody itself claims the duck tradition to have started in 1933, as on December 3, 2008 they unveiled a new "Duck Palace" located on the rooftop, for the 75th anniversary of the duck tradition. The 24 by 12 foot enclosure features granite flooring, ceiling fans, a scale replica of the hotel, a fountain decorated with a pair of bronze ducks, and a large viewing window for guests to see them in their new home. The Duck Palace cost approximately $200,000 to construct.[11]
Design features
The Peabody Hotel's most recognizable features are large red neon "The Peabody" signs atop the Skyway Ballroom and the central elevator shaft.
The top floor, the Skyway and Plantation Roof, offers stunning views of the surrounding Memphis skyscrapers. The rooftop is often used as a space for bands and other musical acts, especially during the Thursday night "Rooftop Parties" in the summer months.[12]
In the elevators, one must press "S" to access the top floor. If this floor were numbered, one would press "13" to reach it, but due to superstitions regarding the number thirteen, management decided to call the top floor "the Skyway."
Radio and Television
The studios of radio station WREC and later its television spinoff WREC-TV (now WREG) were for many years located in the hotel basement.[13] During the Big Band era, the Skyway was a popular night-spot, and the ballroom was one of only a handful of sites in America from which the CBS radio network would broadcast live weekly programs. Regular headliners included Tommy Dorsey and the Andrews Sisters.
Hotel floor layout
13 (S) - The Plantation Roof, Duck Palace, The Skyway Ballroom, The Penthouse (not used)
12 - The Peabody Club, The Presidential Suite, Club Level Guest Rooms
11 - Standard Guest Rooms, Junior Suites, Romeo and Juliet Suites
10 - Standard Guest Rooms, Junior Suites, Edward Pembroke Suite
09 through 08 - Standard Guest Rooms
07 - Standard Guest Rooms, W.C. Handy Suite
06 through 04 - Standard Guest Rooms
03 - The Peabody Executive Conference Center
02 (M) - Mezzanine Level, The Peabody Grand Ballroom, Venetian Room, Continental Ballroom, Louis XVI Room, Forest Room, Hernando DeSoto Room, The Tennessee Exhibit Hall, The Peabody Memorabilia Room, Francis Scott Key Piano, Hotel Kitchens, Banquet Offices
01 (L) - The Grand Lobby, Chez Philippe, Cappriccio Grill, The Lobby Bar, The Corner Bar, Peabody Deli and Desserts, The Grand Galleria of Shops, Guest Registration, Valet, Concierge, Bell Stand
LL - Lower Level (Basement), Administrative Offices, Gould's Day Spa and Salon, Peabody Athletic Club, Shoeshine Parlor, Hotel Pool
At one time Northwest Airlines had a ticket office in the Peabody Hotel Arcade.[14]
References
- ^ a b c d Peabody Hotel History[dead link]
- ^ United States Census, 1870, Tennessee, Shelby Co., 4-WD Memphis, Peabody Hotel, Series: M593 Roll: 1562 Page: 147.
- ^ Fransioli Hotel History[dead link]
- ^ Faragher, Scott; Katherine Harrington (2002-11-18). The Peabody Hotel. Arcadia. ISBN 0-7385-1453-5.
- ^ Cohn, David (1935). God Shakes Creation. Harper & Brothers. and Schmidt, William E. (1986-10-05). "Memphis' Grand Hotel". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-09-11.
- ^ "FindACase | 02/19/74 MEMPHIS HOUSING AUTHORITY v. PEABODY GARAGE COMPANY <!-plsfield:court-> SUPREME COURT OF TENNESSEE". Tn.findacase.com. Retrieved 2012-08-12.
- ^ http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Little-Rock-s-Peabody-changing-to-Marriott-4477055.php
- ^ The Peabody Ducks[dead link]
- ^ a b Peabody Press Release: New Duckmaster Takes the Lead at the Peabody Memphis - May 14, 2007
- ^ baby doll Parfitt, Ginny; Mary L. Martin (2005). Memories of Memphis: A History in Postcards. Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. p. 48. ISBN 0-7643-2288-5.
- ^ Fontenay, Blake. "Gilding the nest: Peabody spares no expense in building a quacktacular rooftop roost". Commercial Appeal. Retrieved 2012-08-12.
- ^ Peabody Rooftop Parties Schedule
- ^ The History Of WREG-TV.
- ^ "Ticket Offices and Phone Numbers." Northwest Airlines. June 13, 1998. Retrieved on November 20, 2012. "Northwest Airlines Peabody Hotel Arcade 149 Union Ave. Memphis, TN 38103"
External links
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