According to local legend , John Drake ( 1826-1895 ) ( the father of this hotel 's founders ) was standing with a hotel owner watching the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 . The owner , seeing his hotel threatened by the flames , offered to sell it for any price . Drake noticed that the wind direction was changing and made an offer and so founded the Drake Hotel . If this were true it would have occurred 49 years before the hotel 's founding . The story is possibly confused with the interim New Tremont House purchase by John Drake , at the time of the Great Fire
Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
Drake Hotel (Chicago)