1930’s Hotel Schroeder Milwaukee, Wisconsin Hotel Room Key #1919 Fob
POSTCARD INCLUDED
Hotel Key Fob Made by:
W.W. Wilcox Mfg. Co.
Chicago
Hotel Schroeder (now Hilton Milwaukee), 1928
Walter Schroeder
Walter Schroeder (May 19, 1878 – July 18, 1967) was an American hotel and insurance magnate, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Walter Schroeder
Born
May 19, 1878
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Died
July 18, 1967 (aged 89)
Milwaukee, hotel owner, insurance agent
Years active
1899–1967 (insurance), 1915–1967 (hotels)
Schroeder was born in Milwaukee, the son of German immigrant Christian Schroeder, who founded the insurance company Chris. Schroder & Son in 1888. Walter Schroeder's formal education ended with the eighth grade and he began working at age 14 as a clerk in the Office of the Milwaukee Register of Deeds. Shortly after beginning work at the deed office, Schroeder also began working as a staff member of the Milwaukee Daily Reporter. Schroeder launched a competing paper two years later, the Daily Abstract, and later bought out the Reporter. When Walter's older brother, William, died unexpectedly in 1899, he gradually left the newspaper business to join his father's company in his place.
Hotelier
In 1912, Chris. Schroeder & Son was asked to help finance construction of the Hotel Wisconsin, the largest of its kind in the state at that time, upon which Walter Schroeder decided to enter the hotel business. After relocating his father's insurance firm relocated to offices in the State Bank of Wisconsin building in 1913, and following Christian Schroeder's death two years later, Schroeder took the reins of the company and branched off into hotel management.
Over the next fifteen years, Schroeder spearheaded the construction or acquisition of several properties in Wisconsin and Minnesota. The Hotel Astor, near downtown Milwaukee, was completed in 1921, followed by the Hotel Retlaw in Fond du Lac in 1922. The Hotel Loraine in Madison opened in 1924 and was expanded just a year later. The Hotel Duluth in Duluth, Minnesota, Hotel Wausau in Wausau, Wisconsin, and Hotel Northland in Green Bay, all opened in 1925.
The Hotel Schroeder, was completed at the corner of 5th and Wisconsin Ave, Milwaukee, in 1928, becoming the largest hotel property operated by the firm and the largest hotel in the city. In addition, Schroeder purchased and renovated existing hotels, including the Hotel Calumet in Fond du Lac and Hotel Vincent in Benton Harbor, Michigan. The Hotel Wisconsin was also brought under the direct management of Schroeder through the Hotel Wisconsin Reality Company in the early 1920s and would remain in his possession for the following decades despite an operating deficit, suspicion of illegal transactions, and allegations of tax evasion made by the IRS in 1930.
Many of Schroeder's hotels were designed by architects Martin Tullgren and his son Herbert W. Tullgren (Astor, Retlaw, Loraine, Northland), while the Chicago-based firm Holabird & Roche was responsible for designing hotels Wausau and Schroeder.
Faced with declining health, Schroeder sold most of his hotels to investors and chains uring the last years of his life. The Hotel Schroeder, for instance, was acquired by Sheraton Hotels and Resorts in 1964.
Hotel Astor, Milwaukee, 1921
Hotel Astor, Milwaukee, 1921
Hotel Retlaw, Fond du Lac, 1922
Hotel Retlaw, Fond du Lac, 1922
Hotel Loraine, Madison, 1924
Hotel Loraine, Madison, 1924
Hotel Wausau, Wausau, 1924-25
Hotel Wausau, Wausau, 1924-25
Hotel Northland, Green Bay, 1925
Hotel Northland, Green Bay, 1925
Hotel Schroeder (now Hilton Milwaukee), 1928
Related Items:
1930's Hotel Barlow "Down Where The Watermelones Grow" Matchbook Match Cover
$32.15
Vtg 1930s Hotel Henry Hudson New York Matchbook Vtg Matches Advertising
$5.44
Photo:Hotel Regal Street Scene 1930s Cars Downtown Main Street
$13.49
