Historic Detroit

Gabriel Chiera came to Detroit from Chicago following the Fire of 1873 and set up shop, making a fortune with the Parisian Laundry in Detroit and laundries in other cities. He also built and managed the Oriental Hotel, near the old main branch of the Detroit Public Library. On Oct. 22, 1901, Chiera announced he was retiring. Austin E. Morey and Fred Postal Mr. Postal and Mr Morey were business partners and Mr. Postal was president of the MI State Fair Association and, in 1902, acquired a baseball franchise from the American League for the City of Washington DC. Herbert Baker of NYC died Aug. 23, 1900, OD morphine the six-story Chiera’s Oriental Hotel, “with The Finest. Turkish and Russian Baths in the World,”

By 1928, the hotel was listed as the Spa Stag Hotel.