Manufacturer: Syracuse China
User: Cleveland Hotel
Date of plate: April 1928
Notes: In 1812, Phinney Mowrey built a tavern on Cleveland Public Square, Cleveland, Ohio. It was then bought and operated as the Cleveland Hotel until it was destroyed by a fire in 1840. Rebuilt, it became the Forest City House and for six decades the building was a social, commercial and historical center for the city.
By 1915, the landmark structure was a sad reminder that much of the downtown activity had moved uptown. In an attempt to revitalize the Public Square area, investors closed the old hotel and built the new 1,000 room, 11-story Hotel Cleveland at a cost of $4.5 million in 1918. In the 1920s, the Van Sweringen Brothers acquired the hotel as part of their Terminal Complex and reinforced the structure and started underground construction for the rapid transit project, instead of tearing it down.
In 1958, the hotel was acquired and renamed the Sheraton-Cleveland and a $5.2 million ballroom was installed. Within years the hotel began to falter and by 1976, an investor group rescued it and began restorations. Managed by Stouffer Corp., the refurbished hotel reopened in 1978 as the Stouffer's Inn on the Square.
Later renamed the Stouffer-Tower City Plaza, Renaissance International purchased the hotel in 1993 after a brief period of ownership by Nestle International. After a $40 million restoration, it became the Stouffer Renaissance Cleveland Hotel. In early 1996, the hotel dropped the Stouffer affiliation and became simply the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel with 491 rooms. In 2010, the hotel is a Marriott Hotels & Resorts property owned by Marriott International, Inc.
White body, 10.25" service plate. Black line, gold band, black line on rim. An image of Moses Cleveland in long coat, breeches, and green stockings, holding a rod. General Moses Cleveland, a surveyor, founded Cleveland, OH, in 1796.
For related info:
Cleveland Hotel by Bauscher Brothers
Cleveland Hotel 2 by Syracuse China
ID contributed by dbstoneware