The Olympia Hotel and Bath House
by Nelly D. Longstaff
(excerpted from Centennial History of Mount Clemens, Michigan, 1879-1979. ©1980 by Mount Clemens Public Library. All rights reserved).
One of the handsomest bath houses to be built in Mount Clemens opened its doors on June 1, 1903. Called the Olympia and located on Cass Avenue next to the Fenton Hotel, it was of enameled white brick with stately white columns. Charles H. Parsons and Thomas B. Matthews were the proprietors. In February, 1910, the Olympia Hotel Company was capitalized for the purpose of purchasing the Hotel Fenton. The hotel was completely renovated and a new brown brick front added. A Japanese tea room was a feature mentioned in the 1914 Cutter's Guide.
In 1925, the Elkin family (father Samuel, sons Max and Joseph) purchased the Olympia. Samuel Elkin had come to Mount Clemens in a wheelchair about 1907; he was yet another visitor who remained to go into business. He began with a small boarding house on Church Street and later ran the Elkin Hotel at 37 South Gratiot Avenue. He added a third story to that building and also bought the nearby Rudolph Hotel. The Rudolph was originally called the New National Hotel and was built in 1900 by M. Schaaf. Later it was operated by Julius Lichenstein and Maurice Sanft, two of Mount Clemens's early Jewish citizens, who renamed it.
The Olympia Hotel and Bath House were purchased by Samuel Kraemer about 1936. Prior to this, he owned establishments at 25 South Avenue and 89 Cass Avenue and had been associated with Leon Mandell at the Elkin Hotel after the Elkins left. The Kraemer family operated the Olympia until 1955, when it was purchased by the city of Mount Clemens and torn down to make a parking lot.
For more information about the Olympia Hotel and Bath House, we recommend:
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