Hotel Yancey (Grand Island, Nebraska)

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Hotel Yancey
Hotel Yancey from SW.JPG
Hotel Yancey seen from the southwest in 2010
Location123 N. Locust St., Grand Island, Nebraska, U.S.
Coordinates 40°55′28″N98°20′23″W / 40.92444°N 98.33972°W / 40.92444; -98.33972
Arealess than one acre
Built1917–1923
ArchitectFrancis W. Fitzpatrick, of Bankers Realty Investment Company
Architectural styleLate 19th And Early 20th Century American Movements, Renaissance
Restored1985
NRHP reference No. 84000504 [1]
Added to NRHPDecember 13, 1984

The Hotel Yancey, also known as The Yancey Motor Inn, is an 11-story hotel building in Grand Island, Nebraska, U.S. Built from 1917 to 1923, it was the tallest building in Grand Island until 2007. It was named after its investor William Yancey. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. [1] In addition to providing lodging to guests with its 150 rooms, the original first-class hotel featured a billiard room, telegraph office, pharmacy, cigar stand, coffee shop and sample rooms. [2] [3] It also housed KGEO, which was Grand Island's first radio station and in 1976 it housed the Piccadilly Dinner Theatre. [4]

Contents

History

Hotel Yancey was originally announced in 1917 as a ten-story hotel building by the North American Hotel Company. It would be the tallest building in Grand Island. [5] Construction began the following year. However, due to material shortages around World War I, construction was delayed by several years. In 1922, William Yancey, proprietor of the Magnus Hotel in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, purchased the lease on the hotel, and the hotel was later named for him. [6] Construction resumed the following year, and Hotel Yancey officially opened as the Yancey Motor Inn in 1923. [7]

The hotel was purchased by Lincoln Benefit Life Co. on auction on December 11, 1975. By 1982, Lincoln Benefit Life Co. failed to pay utilities, and the hotel closed in December of that same year. [8] Two years later, in June 1984, it was announced that a group of several companies based in Lincoln purchased the hotel. Renovation of the hotel to turn it into condominiums began the following month, and were completed the next year. [9] Hotel Yancey was officially registered on the National Register of Historic Places on December 13, 1984. [10]

Architecture

Hotel Yancey was designed by Francis W. Fitzpatrick and reflects the Renaissance Revival architecture. [3] The hotel was built with concrete post and beam construction, brick veneer exterior walls with limestone and terracotta trim. [11] [12] The hotel is eleven stories tall and was the tallest building in Grand Island until being surpassed by St. Francis Medical Center's hospital tower in 2007. [13]

Second-floor balconies on front (west) side of Hotel Yancey at 123 N. Locust St., Grand Island, Nebraska; seen from the southwest on January 8, 2010. Hotel Yancey W side floor 2.JPG
Second-floor balconies on front (west) side of Hotel Yancey at 123 N. Locust St., Grand Island, Nebraska; seen from the southwest on January 8, 2010.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. ↑ THE HISTORICAL MARKER DATABASE (January 30, 2025). "The Yancey". THE HISTORICAL MARKER DATABASE. Retrieved April 27, 2025.
  3. 1 2 Mckee, Jim (August 27, 2016). "Jim McKee:Yancey Hotels live on but not as hotels". The Lincoln Journal Star. Retrieved April 27, 2025.
  4. ↑ Korbelik, Jeff (June 21, 1998). "Final Curtain Grand Island theater ends its 22-year run". The Lincoln Journal Star. pp. 5–6.
  5. ↑ "SKYSCRAPER GOING RIGHT ON". The Grand Island Independent. December 6, 1917. p. 3. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  6. ↑ "NEW HOTEL IS NOW LEASED". The Grand Island Independent. November 6, 1922. p. 5. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  7. ↑ "New Grand Island Hotel Is Formally Opened". Omaha Daily Bee. November 17, 1923. p. 5. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  8. ↑ "GI's Yancey Hotel will remain closed". Nebraska Journal. December 16, 1982. p. 29. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  9. ↑ "Lincoln Group Will Purchase Grand Island's Yancey Hotel". Omaha World-Herald. June 15, 1984. p. 46. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  10. ↑ "Landmark Hotel Enters the Condo Era". Omaha World-Herald. March 10, 1985. p. 105. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  11. ↑ Virginia F. Duncan (August 1984). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: The Hotel Yancey / The Yancey Motor Hotel". National Park Service . Retrieved August 7, 2016. with three photos from 1984
  12. ↑ Architect and engineer. San Francisco Public Library. San Francisco : Architect and Engineer, Inc. 1905.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  13. ↑ firespringInt (October 29, 2022). "The Black doorman at Grand Island's Hotel Yancey". Nebraska State Historical Society. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
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