LOUIS J. RUBIN and the BROADMOOR APARTMENT HOTEL

Long time readers of this blog know that in the past I have written about Howard Street several times.  For those who don't know, Howard Street is the dividing line between Chicago and Evanston, the first suburb north on the shores of Lake Michigan.   Years ago, it was called "Howard Avenue."  The eastern part of Howard Street is very old and sometimes I just like to drive around and try to soak up some of the history of the area.  That happened recently after a trip to Calvary Cemetery in Evanston.  I was heading west on Howard and I decided to drive around the area that used to be called "The Jungle."  I turned North on Bosworth Avenue and then stopped in front of a magnificent structure on the corner of Howard and Bosworth:  The Broadmoor Apartment Hotel.                

I knew virtually nothing about the Broadmoor.  In fact, I wouldn't have even known the name were it not for the plaques set into the wall on either side of the front doors:

Newspapers.com told me that the Broadmoor was developed by a man named Louis J. Rubin.  Before we look further into the history of the Broadmoor, let's see what we can dig up about Louis J. Rubin.

Unfortunately the first item I uncovered about Louis Rubin was the tragic story of his death from the The Edwardsville Intelligencer of October 17, 1930:

Interesting that the obituary mentions The Broadmoor, though not by name.  Let's go back even further to see what brought Louis Rubin to the Broadmoor, and that fateful night near Genoa, Illinois.

Louis J. Rubin was born September 25, 1885 in Lithuania to Joseph Rubin and Etta Marks Rubin (Etta/Ethel Marks/Max/May).  Little is known about Louis' parents other than their names.  They were prolific, however - Louis was one of eight children.  They are:  Mose (1870-1949), Barney (1874-1925), Lena/Mrs. Ben Painkinsky/Payne (1884-1920), Louis (1885-1930), Rose/Mrs. Meyer Berkson (1887-1955), Meyer (1888-1947), Rachel/Mrs. Joseph Goldberg (1889-????), and Bernice/Mrs. Bernard Idelman (1894-1969).  Louis' year of immigration is uncertain.  Some sources show it as 1896, others show 1897.  It appears that the family did not all come to America at the same time.  Mose reported that his arrival was in 1893.     

On September 1, 1910 Louis J. Rubin married Fannie (Fay) Gillis (1892-1966) in Chicago.  The groom was twenty-four years old; the bride was eighteen.  

Fannie Gillis was born February 24, 1892 in Chicago to Sol Gillis (1860-1930) and Rebecca Litman Gillis (1864-1954).  Sol was from Lithuania; Rebecca from Russia.  They had married on June 7, 1889 in Chicago.  In addition to Fannie there was a brother Arthur (1894-1961) and a sister Rose /Mrs. Charles Cohns (1890-1976).  Sol Gillis was an Insurance Agent by trade. 

Louis and Fannie were blessed with two sons:  Jay Gillis Rubin (1912-1985) and Edwin George Rubin who anglicized his name to Edwin George Roberts (1919-1992). 

We don't know how Louis J. Rubin found his way from Lithuania to Salem, Marion County, Illinois (Population 7,200) but he appears to have gone into the dry goods business with a man named H. S. Painkinsky as indicated by this ad from the Marion County, Illinois Republican newspaper from January 11, 1912:

In addition to the Marion County Republican, he also ran an ad in the Kinmundy (IL) Express (Pop 733) like this one from January 18, 1912:

Rubin and Painkinsky ran these ads every week into the beginning of 1913 but Rubin's name kept getting larger and Painkinsky's kept getting smaller.  This is from the Republican from January 9, 1913:

Neither Rubin nor Painkinsky was going bankrupt.  They bought merchandise from bankrupt merchants for pennies on the dollar and resold the merchandise at a tidy profit for themselves. 

By early 1913. Rubin decided to branch out and dabble a little in real estate.  He sold a lot on Madison Street at 42nd in Chicago:

He bought a lot on Halsted Street:

The 1920 US Census finds the Rubin family living at 7608 N. Sheridan Road in Chicago:

7608 N. Sheridan Road, Chicago

The family consisted of Louis J. Rubin (33 years old), wife Fay G. (26), sons Jay G. (7) and Edwin (9/12).  Louis said that he came to the US in 1896 and became a Naturalized Citizen in 1911.  Louis said he had been born in Germany, as had his parents.  He also said Fay's parents were born in Germany.  This, of course, is incorrect across the board.  Louis had been born in Lithuania, and his parents had probably been born there as well.  Fay's father Sol was born in Lithuania; her mother Rebecca in Russia.  He did correctly report that Fay had been born in Illinois.  They also had a Maid living with them, Rosa Morawatz (26) from Bohemia.

The Rubins lived on the top floor of the three-flat.  Louis said he owned the building, but that it had a Mortgage.  Louis listed his Occupation as "Merchant of Dry Goods."       

But by the end of 1921, Louis J. Rubin decided to go for the gold, as reported in the National Hotel Reporter of December 23, 1921:

By February of 1922 the four story hotel that was going to cost $300,000 had become a six story hotel that was going to cost $900,000, as also reported in the National Hotel Reporter:

Rubin knew, like Charles W. Ferguson another subject of this blog, that there was money to be made in the Germania neighborhood.  This was the name given to the neighborhood north of Howard, west of Sheridan, south of Calvary Cemetery and east of Chicago Avenue. Louis J. Rubin had made the big time when his project was headlined in Al Chase's column in the Chicago Tribune.  If you were doing anything in Chicago real estate, Al Chase from the Tribune knew about it - or it was not worth knowing about.  Here's what he had to say on February 4, 1922:

It was the Roaring Twenties - and Chicago real estate was definitely roaring.  Here's the first picture of the apartment hotel from the Chicago Tribune of March 26, 1922:

It was certainly a misnomer to call the corner of Howard and Bosworth "Uptown," but Rubin knew there was no such thing as bad publicity.

Here's a photo of the Broadmoor at about the time it opened:

After putting plans together for the Broadmoor, Rubin decided to expand his empire a little further.  The Chicago Tribune announced on July 12, 1922 that Louis J. Rubin was appointed a director of the "New Howard Street Bank:"

In 1923 the Sixteenth Street State bank was in danger of failing.  The bank was located at Sixteenth Street and St. Louis Avenue in Chicago.  It had been chartered in 1919 by Samuel W. Maltz, a former railroad brakeman who decided to pool his money with that of other brakemen and conductors and open a bank.  The bank specialized in Second Mortgages.  After opening their doors in 1919 the bank prospered - depositors came in droves.  However, Maltz never diversified the bank's investments, continuing to mostly issue second mortgages.  These pay a higher return than first mortgages because they are a riskier investment.  As time went by it became apparent that the bank had overstated the value of its assets including the second mortgages.  The shortage was determined to be in excess of $150,000,  and so the Sixteenth Street State Bank was closed by State of Illinois Bank Examiners on March 20, 1923.

Remember this was prior to the FDIC insuring bank deposits.  If a bank went under the depositors lost their money.  Louis J. Rubin had such a sterling reputation that he was asked to join a panel of ten local bank executives to try to save the Sixteenth Street Bank, or at least to maximize the value of any of the bank's assets. 

The Broadmoor was an immediate success.  Early on, WBBM radio decided to move into the Broadmoor.  In 1925, radio studios for WBBM were built on the main floor of the hotel and the transmitter was installed on the roof. At the same time, the power of the station was increased to 1,500 watts.

If you take a closer look at the photo of the Broadmoor shown above, you can see the base of the radio transmission antenna:

On January 10, 1929 the Chicago Tribune announced that Louis J. Rubin had been appointed Third Vice President of the Howard Trust & Savings Bank:

On July 9, 1929 the Tribune reported that Rubin had refinanced the Broadmoor:

On November 24, 1929, the Chicago Tribune printed an article full of interesting information about Louis J. Rubin and others:

The new building being built would have an address of 1737 W. Howard in Chicago.  It was razed in 1998 to make way for the Gateway Centre Plaza development.

The article also reported that the Washington National Fidelity Insurance Company would be leasing two floors of the new building.  I worked for what became Washington National Insurance Company for 24 years - not on Howard but after the company moved to Evanston in the late 1930s.

In addition to Louis J. Rubin being an officer of the bank, Howard J. Ure was one of the directors.  Howard Ure was of course, the man Howard Street was named after:

https://undereverytombstone.blogspot.com/2012/11/he-was-howard-of-howard-street-howard-j.html

The 1930 US Census, taken on April 5, 1930, would find the Rubin family living at the Broadmoor.  The family consisted of: Louis J. (43 years old), wife Faye (38), sons Jay (17), and Edwin (10).  Also included were the twenty-five people living at the Broadmoor.  Louis indicated that he was the Head of Household.  Remember, in the 1920 Census Louis said that he and his parents had been born in Germany.  For the 1930 Census he said that he and his parents had been born in Poland, but that Yiddish was their native tongue.  He said that he owned the Broadmoor, and that it was worth $500,000 ($9.45 million in today's funds.)  Louis said that he was 23 when he married, and that Faye was 18.  He said he came to the US in 1897 and was a Naturalized Citizen.  He listed his Occupation as "Manager-Mortgages."

Louis J. Rubin was killed at 6:10 PM on the evening of October 16, 1930.  It was a dark, rainy and foggy night.  Rubin had left Genoa, Illinois and was driving alone in his big Lincoln sedan up Route 23 toward Marengo.  After his business in Marengo he intended to drive back home to the Broadmoor.  Fog and mist obscured his vision.  He approached the crossing of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad.  The crossing has no gates but has a warning signal, consisting of a flickering red light.  The country is open prairie and the view of the tracks unobstructed.  Here is a photo of the crossing today:

Just after the train passed through the crossing, Mr. Rubin ran his sedan into the side of a baggage car.  A huge dent in the side of the baggage car revealed that he had hit the train with his heavy automobile at an estimated 50-60 miles per hour.  The train stopped immediately and the crew hurried to render first aid only to find that Rubin was dead with a broken neck.  His sedan was wrecked.  Not even a wheel remained intact.  Both arms were crushed and his chest was terribly mangled.  Death was instantaneous.     

News of the sudden death of Louis J. Rubin appeared in newspapers all over the country.  Here's a typical writeup from the Des Moines (IA) Register from October 17, 1930:

Of course the local newspapers went into a lot more detail, as in this from the Chicago Tribune of October 17, 1930:

Here is his Death Notice, also from the Tribune of October 18, 1930:

As mentioned in his Death Notice, Louis J. Rubin is buried in Rosehill Cemetery.  The Rubin Family Plot is in Section U:

Louis J. Rubin - retailer, banker, hotelier - may he rest in peace.



The Rest of the Story

Louis J. Rubin's widow Fay Gillis Rubin never remarried.  She died in Seattle, Washington on January 14, 1966 at the age of 73.  She is buried next to her husband in Rosehill Cemetery.

Louis and Fay's eldest son Jay G. Rubin worked before World War II as a Salesman for Glenmore Distilleries, a Wholesale Liquor Company in Chicago.  After the war he was assigned Army Port Captain for the Port of Honolulu, Hawaii.  He moved to Portland, Oregon in 1967 where he worked with the Portland office of the Military Sealift Command until retiring in 1972.  He died February 1, 1985 in Portland, Oregon at the age of seventy-two.  He was Buried at Sea. 

The Rubin's younger son, Edwin spent his life in retail after receiving a MBA from the Harvard School of Business.  He was President at various times of Franklin Simon Department Stores, J. L. Hudson and the May Co.   He died in his home in Westwood, California on October 7, 1992 at the age of seventy-three.  He is buried in Westwood Memorial Park:

   

The Broadmoor Apartment Hotel still stands supreme on the northwest corner of Howard and Bosworth in Chicago.  This six-story building was one of the most luxurious buildings of its day. It had 90 apartments and 7 stores, which were accessible from the lobby and the street. From 1924 to 1927, WBBM radio station (there are many explanations for these call letters, including ‘‘We Broadcast from the BroadMoor”) broadcast live jazz and big band programs from its ballroom.  The ballroom included an elegant restaurant and a dancing area. The lobby floor was laid with terrazzo tiles and the ceiling was decorated with Roman and French style ornamentation. A 1982 Tribune article is quoted as saying “The Broadmoor’s charm kept her 90 apartments occupied most of the time, and on Saturday nights, women in silks and furs and men in top hats and tails flocked to her ballroom to dance.” The outside of the building was clad with terra cotta. The Sopcic family acquired the building in October 2007 and recently completed the renovation of the interior, including the lobby and other common areas and the rental units.  The Broadmoor currently has 27 units over six stories.