The origins of the Nachusa House date to 1837, when John Dixon and other early settlers petitioned the State Legislature for a charter to establish the Dixon Hotel Company. Funding was secured and the foundation was completed in 1838, but was subsequently halted by the ongoing Panic of 1837. The Nachusa House is one of the oldest and longest-running hotels in the country. The hotel had its opening day announcement on December 3, 1853. The announcement was written by proprietors Denlinger & Miller, who claimed that the location was: "--in the most pleasant and elevated part of the town, commanding a beautiful view of the surrounding country." The original proprietors owned the building until 1866 when it was sold to Dorr & Appleton. The new team "thoroughly renovated" the interior, added a fifth story, demolished the original side gable roof, and rebuilt it with a mansard roof. The hotel continued to operate until 1988, and over the next decade, the building fell into disrepair, with the threat of demolition looming in 1997. The building was then purchased by the Illinois Housing Development Authority in partnership with a private developer and renovated into affordable housing for senior citizens. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In the nomination, the following list of notable guests is included: Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, General Leonard Wood, Stephen Douglas, Cassius Clay, Helen Keller, and more.