The Dixon Hotel at the southeast corner of 12th and Baltimore in downtown Kansas City was built in 1912 and expanded to the south of Baltimore in 1917. The corner came alive under the control of John G. Kling, president of the Kansas City Blues and Chicago Cubs catcher in the early part of the century, and Bennie Allen, pocket billiard champion of the world.The popular billiard rooms of Kling and Allen were on the second and third floors of the Dixon and later in the hotel's basement. Later the billiard rooms were converted to hotel rooms and by the 1950s the operation was all hotel. The Pennant Cafe operated in the hotel's basement from 1911 to 1918. The legend on the back of the promotional post card, mailed in 1932, reads: Dixon Hotel, 12th and Baltimore, Kansas City Mo. 250 rooms with baths. Located in the heart of the theater and shopping district. Newly equipped with Simmons beds and Sealy mattresses. The hotel was a popular stopping place for livestock buyers and sellers at the Kansas City Stock Yards. Elizabeth and Arthur Chandler, hotel guests, mailed the card here on the way to a Denver stock show to Mrs. Anna Marsh of Russell, Kan. Today the hotel operates under the name Dixon Inn. Kansas City Star, April 2, 1977.
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