In 1864 E. Gaynor built the Gaynor House hotel, which he renamed the Ludington House in 1871 after lumberman Nelson Ludington. In the late 1880s proprietor John Christie enlarged the hotel and renamed the establishment the New Ludington Hotel. An advertisement in the 1893 Michigan Gazetteer and Business Directory read, “New Ludington Hotel-The Largest and Only hotel In the city having Baths, Steam Heat and Electric Call Bells-$2.00 per day.” The hotel exemplifies Queen Anne resort architecture, popular in the 1880s and 1890s.
Plaque via Michigan History Center