Allen County, Indiana Genealogy

Southeast corner of West Jefferson Boulevard and South Harrison Street, Street View photo from Google Maps

Hotel Indiana, Fort Wayne, Indiana, 1941 from the Kat Walker Collection in the The Indiana Album.
"Fort Wayne's Newest and Finest Year 'Round Air - Conditioned / Hotel Indiana / Home of the 'World's Best Beds.' 250 rooms from $2.50. Combination Tub and Shower Bath / Indiana Room, one of the most beautiful rooms in America, includes Cafe, Cocktail Lounge, and Circular Bar. / Famous for foods and beverages - popular prices - music and entertainment - no minimum cover charge." The Curteich production number, 1B - H1073, indicates the postcard was made in 1941.

August 7, 2014 post by Downtown Fort Wayne on Facebook:

#TBT Hotel Indiana (commonly called the Indiana Hotel): Workmen dismantle the fifteen foot high neon sign on the roof of the hotel in October, 1976. The sign measured 40 feet long and its neon letters rose 130 feet above the Jefferson and Harrison street intersection. Photo Courtesy of: ACPL [ Allen County Public Library Digital Collections at the Allen County Public Library]

February 5, 2015 post by The Journal Gazette on Facebook:

Watch Don R. Fruchey Inc., load steal beams into the sixth floor of the Embassy Theatre's Indiana Hotel to create a two story ball room.

February 5, 2015 post by The Journal Gazette on Facebook:

We got an inside look at the sixth floor of the Embassy Theatre's Indiana Hotel today as the sixth and seventh floors are converted into a two story ballroom by March 2016.

Photos by Cathie Rowand

Embassy Theatre: A VISION FOR THE EMBASSY! by fwembassytheatre posted April 28, 2015 on YouTube
Embassy updates A VISION FOR THE EMBASSY! Last summer Weigand Construction began the renovation of the Indiana Hotel. We will be keeping you up-to-date with the project with the help of Punch Films. Here is one our latest videos talking about the challenges of working in a historical faciity.

Hotel Indiana closed in 1971. The 1975 National Register link below lists the name as Indiana Hotel. Designed by Alvin M. Strauss. Hotel Indiana opened in May 1928 at the intersection of Harrison Street and Jefferson Boulevard, on land that was once home to Plymouth Congregational Church. The hotel shared brick wall space with the Emboyd Theatre and is reputed to have opened soon after the theater gave its first show – a spectacular event that included an 11-man harmonica band. In the hotel, each of the 250-300 guestrooms had a sink with hot, cold and ice water. Most rooms offered either a half or full bath, too. Newspaper ads from May 13, 1928, state that the hotel’s box springs were made in Fort Wayne, probably by Wolf Bedding on Clinton Street, and that Eagle Laundry Service (phone number H-4117) would be taking care of the needs of “Fort Wayne’s Newest Hostelry.” Copied from Hotel Indiana: Old charm in a vanishing venue Donations may bring building rich with history back to life. Local News April 2, 2014 on The News-Sentinel newspaper.

1. A grand plan for Indiana hotel Embassy project to cost about $10 million by Dan Stockman published December 28, 2012 in The Journal Gazette newspaper now on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. Fort Wayne, Embassy officials get into swing of renovation by Vivian Sade published July 9, 2014 in The Journal Gazette newspaper.
2. Now part of the Embassy Theatre complex, their Majestic spaces. Exquisite events page referes to the hotel as the Indiana Hotel where the Photography section states: The Embassy Theatre Lobby and Indiana Hotel Lobby. and Building Regulations Decorative Materials states: The National Register of Historic Places recognizes the 1928 Embassy Theatre and Indiana Hotel Lobby.
3. The NPGallery Digital Asset Management System lists the Embassy Theater and Indiana Hotel on their NATIONAL REGISTER DIGITAL ASSETS page with application date September 5, 1975 at the National Park Service. Note that the Embassy Theatre currently spells their names as Theatre - "re" not "er" and Indiana Hotel, not Hotel Indiana as some references spell them.
4. Indiana Hotel rebirth reopened in 2016 after $10 million restoration article by Bonnie Blackburn published March 11th, 2016 in Fort Wayne Magazine
5. Inside Hotel Indiana Jerry Danielson shares photos from a tour of Hotel Indiana, sometimes commonly called the Indiana Hotel, which is attached in the Embassy Theatre in downtown Fort Wayne on The News-Sentinel newspaper.
6. The Emboyd Theatre and Hotel Indiana, Fort Wayne, Indiana 1930-1945 postcard at the Digital Commonwealth Massachusetts Collections Online.

7. October 26, 2022 post by Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne on Facebook:

   Thank you to everyone that joined us for our 100 Year Celebration at the Embassy Theatre! We are so proud of the positive impact of the Community Foundation in our community over the last 100 years!

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