Divine Lorraine Hotel (Lorraine Apartments and urban legends)

The building at 699 North Broad Street opened in the 1890s as the Lorraine Apartments, designed by architect Willis G. Hale, and later became known as the Divine Lorraine after ownership by Father Divine in the mid-20th century. It was widely noted for its early practice of racial integration in housing and for its prominent decorative façade. After decades of vacancy and redevelopment cycles, the building became the subject of urban legends and local ghost-story narratives that are commonly referenced in popular accounts of the property.