The City Hotel as Landscape Artifact and Community Symbol

Hotels, or their precursor, the tavern, were cornerstones of urban development on America's settlement frontier. As a landscape artifact the hotel marked the early business and social core of cities; it also symbolized community progress and achievement, as well as investment opportunity. The hotel evolved from a democratic social institution into a grand central-city palace that showcased technological innovation while gradually yielding its democratic character to entrepreneurial expedience. The modern convention hotel mirrors some aspects of the 19th century hotels, but it has not recaptured its democratic connection to the local community.