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During the first three decades of the 20th century, Detroit's Washington Boulevard was transformed from a minor backstreet into a major commercial and social center. Three brothers named Book dreamed that Washington Boulevard would become "the Fifth Avenue of the Midwest." It was through their efforts, as well as those of businessmen like E.M. Statler, that the dream became a reality. The two fundamental developments that anchored this dream were the massive Statler and Book-Cadillac Hotels.

Between the 1920s and 1960s, Detroit's finest hotels fiercely competed with one another for the lion's share of tourist, convention, business, and dining traffic. This book serves as a comparative study of the Book-Cadillac and Statler Hotels of Detroit, and their impact on the development of Washington Boulevard. Here you will find the story of these two legendary institutions, illustrated with over 180 photographs from the Burton Historical Collection, Manning Brothers, the Walter Reuther Library, and private collections.

The Lido Club Hotel officially opened in June 1928 as a swanky oceanfront resort adjacent to the world-class Lido Golf Course. Built by Sen. William H. Reynolds, who previously bought and developed nearby Long Beach, the Lido Club Hotel featured a striking architectural design with twin cupolas and became a playground for socialites, industrialists, and politicians. In 1942, the US Navy requisitioned the hotel as a naval training and separation center. After the war, the Lido Club Hotel was leased to the newly formed United Nations and housed over 500 of its personnel. The hotel returned to civilian hands in 1947 and was once again a fashionable seaside resort with a wealthy clientele. Over the next 30 years, many well-known entertainers such as Sammy Davis Jr. and Barbra Streisand performed in Lido's Starlight Room. In 1980, the Lido Club Hotel was sold to developers and converted into a luxury oceanfront condominium, Lido Beach Towers, that remains a local landmark with a fascinating past.

Included in the National Register of Historic Places, the collection of Greek Revival row houses that make up the Linden Row Inn have played a significant role in the history of Richmond, Virginia, for two centuries. As a child, Edgar Allan Poe played in the private garden that occupied this site, and he later courted his first love, Elmira Royster, among the roses and linden trees. During the Civil War, Linden Row was a meeting place for leaders and supporters of the Confederacy; later, it was home to a prestigious girls' school, whose pupils included Irene and Nancy Langhorne, known in later years as the Gibson Girl and Lady Nancy Astor. In 1922, two of the original ten houses were torn down and replaced by the Medical Arts Building. In 1950, local preservationist Mary Wingfield Scott purchased the remaining houses to save them from the wrecking ball, donating them in 1980 to the Historic Richmond Foundation. In 1988, under the supervision of the foundation, seven of the eight remaining houses were renovated and restored to become the Linden Row Inn, which still welcomes travelers today.