"For more than three decades, the Hotel Irvin Cobb in Paducah was the center of civic, business and social life for the entire region of Kentucky between Owensboro (100 miles northeast) and the state's far western boundary defined by the Mississippi River. Since its completion in 1929, the Cobb Hotel has ranked among the most substantial buildings in Kentucky west of Louisville, and its architectural qualities render it the honor of being Paducah's downtown landmark.
Paducah is the seat of McCracken County, and is the unofficially recognized "capitol" of the Jackson Purchase, a region encompassing eight counties in Kentucky's far west. Despite this status, Paducah's development has been slow and gradual. Its strategic location at the point where the Tennessee River empties into the Ohio has been an outstanding influence. The Illinois Central Railway located its repair shops there, so Paducah has had the claim of being both a river and a railroad town. Despite its advantages, however, the city has grown little since 1930 when its population numbered 33,451 (Bureau of Community Service, "Paducah: An Embryonic Metropolis,' unpublished study , University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, 1952, p. 3).
Adolph Weil, for whom the hotel was built, was a member of one of Kentucky's leading Jewish families. Weil hired Walter Alschlager of Chicago to design the building. Alschlager had previously been responsbile for the famed Peabody Hotel in Memphis, and he came to Weil with high recommendations from the Peabody Hotel Corporation which leased the Cobb for many years (The Sun-Democrat, Paducah, January 12, 1969).
The building was constructed between 1927-29 during the era of a rollicking economy at a cost of $400,000. During its period of operation, the Cobb drew more state conventions than any other place in western Kentucky before the development of state park resort centers at Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake (The Courier-Journal, Louisville, October 29, 1974). Due to its reputation as one of the South's finest hotels, all Paducah civic clubs met there for many years, and the eighth-floor's Governor's Suite played host to numerous theatrical and political figures. Even during the Depression, the Cobb Hotel prospered. At its peak, formal attire was required for the evening in the dining room, and during warm weather renowned orchestras provided music for roof terrace dances—crowds gathering on the streets below for listening pleasure." - National Register Nomination Form