Construction on The Monterey Hotel, 5 South High Street, began in the late 1920s and was finished during the Great Depression: In addition to its 150 hotel rooms, it included a barber shop, beauty shop, a restaurant, and a cigar store. Performing at the opening gala was Ted Corey and His Cotton Pickers playing over a WMAQ radio broadcast. An eight-course dinner at the hotel cost $8.50. Many famous Janesville visitors stayed at this hotel including Eleanor Roosevelt, John F. and Jacqueline Kennedy, Henry Luce, Harold Stassen, and Louis Armstrong.