The Eldridge Hotel at 701 Massachusetts Street is Lawrence's landmark building and one of the most historically loaded spots in a historically loaded town. The current building, a handsome six-storey brick structure from 1925, occupies the site where the Free State Hotel was attacked by pro-slavery settlers in 1856 and later burned by Quantrill's Raiders in 1863.
Today it's a comfortable boutique hotel with a ground-floor restaurant and bar that are open to non-guests. Even if you're not staying, the lobby is worth a look — display cases hold artefacts and photographs from the hotel's turbulent earlier incarnations. The location on Massachusetts Street puts it in the middle of everything.