Editing Merchants' Hotel

{{Infobox Building
|image=GilbertHotel1939.jpg
|caption=The hotel, by then named the Gilbert Hotel, in 1939
|name=Merchants' Hotel
|location=Southwest corner of [[Government Street|Government]] and [[Palafox Street]]s
|architect=
|client=
|engineer=
|owner=[[Jacob Kryger]]
|construction_start_date=
|completion_date=c. [[1882]]
|renovations=
|date_demolished=[[1970]]
|cost=
|structural_system=
|style=
|size=Three stories
|mapcode=
}}
'''Merchants' Hotel''', also known as the '''Gilbert Hotel''' and the '''DeSoto Building''', was a commercial building located on the southwest corner of [[Palafox Street|Palafox]] and [[Government Street]]s, on [[Plaza Ferdinand VII]]. For most of its life, the building was home to a hotel.

==Merchants' Hotel era==
The hotel was opened by [[Jacob Kryger]] circa [[1882]] as Merchants' Hotel. It is noted with illustration on the [[Wellge map]] of [[1885]].

In 1892, Kryger added the [[Bijou Saloon]] on the ground floor of the hotel. 

A [[1905]] business directory indicates that the hotel was in operation beginning in at least [[1882]]:
:''MERCHANTS HOTEL – Has a capacity of 42 guests. Rooms rent at the rates of $2.50 and $3.00 per day. Mr. [[Jacob Kryger|Jacob KRYGER]] has conducted the house for over 23 years and is assisted by his chief clerk, Mr. [[Clifford J. Bell|C. J. BELL]].''

In the years before the [[San Carlos Hotel]] was constructed, Merchants' Hotel was one of the preeminent hotels in the city. Famous guests included [[Wikipedia:Sarah Bernhardt|Sarah Bernhardt]], [[Wikipedia:John Drew Jr.|John Drew Jr.]], and [[Wikipedia:Richard Mansfield|Richard Mansfield]].<ref name="demo">[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32237332/desotomerchant_hotel_demolition/ "Historic DeSoto Will Be Destroyed"]. ''The Pensacola News''. October 30, 1970. p. 14. Retrieved June 4, 2019 – via [[Wikipedia:Newspapers.com|Newspapers.com]]</ref> 

==Gilbert Hotel era==
The hotel's name was changed to the Gilbert Hotel in 1934 after it was sold.

==Demolition==
The building was demolished beginning on [[October 31]], [[1970]]. City officials had condemned the building, by then in a state of disrepair, after owner Ollie Delchamps refused to renovate it.<ref name="demo" />

The site is currently occupied by a parking lot.

==Other images==
<gallery>
File:MerchantsHotel.jpg|Illustration of the Merchants' Hotel from the [[Wellge map]].
File:GilbertHotel.jpg|Building as the Gilbert Hotel
</gallery>

==References==
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[[Category:Palafox Street buildings]] [[Category:Demolished structures]] [[Category:Hotels]]