Look ahead for a tall, six-story corner building made of red brick and Indiana limestone, topped with a decorative cornice and arched windows at the very top-with a metal fire escape climbing along one side and big glass storefront windows on the ground floor.
Welcome to the legendary Hotel Arthur! Picture yourself stepping into Aurora over a hundred years ago-the air is electric with the clang of trolley bells and the hustle of travelers coming and going. Right now, you’re standing outside what was once the grandest building in the city, built in 1905 by John Knell, Sr., a beer wholesaler from Germany with big dreams and, let’s be honest, a bigger mustache. When Hotel Arthur was finished, people would crane their necks just to see the top, because it was the tallest building in Aurora-until its rival, Hotel Aurora, went and stole its thunder in 1917.
But the Hotel Arthur didn’t mind. It still had bragging rights: it was the only hotel on this side of the Fox River, and with its Renaissance Revival design-those crisp limestone bands above and below the windows, lively brickwork, and fancy cornice with dentils-it was as fashionable as a hotel could get. Eugene Malmer, the architect, made sure it had some real flair, and John Knell chose to name the hotel after his brother Arthur. Now, if your brother hasn’t named a six-story building after you, you might want to have a word-just saying!
Let’s move into the roaring 1910s. Picture crowds of commuters and families, suitcases bumping along the sidewalk, with streetcars coming to a screeching halt right outside. In 1915, the Hotel Arthur got a new nickname: the Traction Terminal Building! The Aurora, Elgin and Chicago Railroad moved in as their headquarters and made the first floor into a bustling waiting room and diner-the place became the beating heart of the town’s travel scene. While folks waited for trains, they grabbed a bite to eat and swapped stories with travelers from all directions.
Upstairs wasn’t just for sleeping anymore. Doctors, insurance agents, and all sorts of professionals set up shop, hoping the luck of the Hotel Arthur would rub off on them. Later that year, the building passed to John Knell, Jr., who headed up the All-Steel Equipment Company for a whopping forty years, showing that hard work and a touch of family legacy can keep a roof over your head-literally.
Even as the decades rolled on, the building kept evolving. The big glass storefront windows you see at ground level today? Those arrived in 1937, brightening things up for the next wave of businesses. Through the 1950s, the place buzzed with activity; but as highways grew more popular and the trains slowed down, things quieted. By the 1960s, the upper floors sat abandoned, and by 2003, the last business on the ground floor had packed its bags. But you know how buildings are-they either fade away or spring back to life. Today, the Hotel Arthur is getting a new chapter as a condominium complex, and those old hardwood floors and limestone details will soon be home to new stories.
So next time you walk by, remember: some buildings wear their past proudly. Hotel Arthur has welcomed travelers, housed entrepreneurs, and watched Aurora grow-and if these walls could talk, you’d probably have to buy them a beer first!
