Nashville, much less Tennessee in general, is rich with interesting history. Just look at the old Maxwell House Hotel. (If you read Did You Know This Coffee Empire Began When a Traveling Salesman Walked Into This Hotel?, you know Maxwell House Coffee was named after it.)
The Building
Construction on the Maxwell House Hotel began in 1859. Nashville was growing, and John Overton, Jr., decided the city needed a major hotel, so he hired architect Isaiah Rogers to design one. The initial building was done by slave labor, but before it could be finished, The Civil War erupted, suspending construction. In 1862, the city fell to the Union Army, which used the unfinished hotel as a barracks, prison, and hospital. When the war ended, construction to finish the hotel resumed. Finally, in the fall of 1869—and at a cost of $500,000 to build—The Maxwell House Hotel opened for business.
Did You Know…
- Massachusetts-born architect, Isaiah Rogers, served as the Supervising Architect of the United States from 1863-1865.
- The Maxwell House Hotel was named after Overton’s wife, Harriet Maxwell Overton.
- Local citizen’s called the unfinished hotel “Overton’s Folly.”
The Amenities
When the Maxwell House Hotel opened, it was the largest hotel in Nashville. It had a total of 240 guest rooms and a bath on every one of its five floors. The hotel also featured steam heat and gas lighting. Eight Corinthian columns surrounded the front entrance. Guests walked past them to enter a lobby showcased with Mahogany cabinetry, brass fixtures, gilded mirrors, and ornate chandeliers. The ground floor also held billiard rooms, shaving “saloons,” barrooms, separate parlors for men and women, and even a jewelry store, G.R. Calhoun & Co. A large ballroom—also used as a dining room—occupied the second level, accessed by a grand staircase ascending from the lobby.
Did You Know…
- A Maxwell House Hotel room, including meals, cost $4/day.
- The hotel’s main entrance was in the “Men’s Quarter.” The hotel had a separate entrance for women.
Hotel Guests
The height of the hotel’s popularity was from the 1890s through the early twentieth century. Presidents, celebrated entertainers, illustrious politicians, and notable businessmen all stayed at the Maxwell House Hotel when in Nashville.
Did You Know…
- The hotel’s famous guest list included seven U.S. Presidents: Andrew Johnson, Rutherford B. Hayes, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, William McKinley, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson.
- Other famous hotel guests included “Buffalo Bill” Cody, Sarah Bernhardt (actress), Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse, Henry Ford, Annie Oakley, William Sydney Porter (a.k.a O. Henry), and Cornelius Vanderbilt (money behind Vanderbilt University).
- Part of the hotel’s fame came from its Christmas dinner, which featured a number of unusual delicacies, including leg of Cumberland black bear, calf’s head, and Tennessee opossum. (Mmm mmm good.)
Resident Ghosts
During the Civil War, two brothers assigned to guard the unfinished hotel building were dating—unbeknownst to each other—the same Southern belle. It came to light on a tragic night when one brother snuck the young lady into the building. The other brother discovered them on an upper floor in a compromising position. Jealous rage flared into a violent argument. One man drew his knife and sliced the other’s throat before stabbing him in the chest. He then turned the knife on the screaming girl when she tried to intervene. Realizing what he’d done, the remaining brother tried to hide the two murders. He wrapped the woman’s body in a blanket and dragged her down the temporary staircase before returning to get his dead brother. Halfway back down, the stairway collapsed, and the living brother fell to his death beside the bodies of his brother and their sweetheart.
Guests staying at the hotel often reported hearing two men—supposedly the brothers—arguing on the upper floors. Others claim to have caught a glimpse of a beautiful young woman—allegedly the Southern belle searching for her beaus, the brothers—before she disappeared into thin air.
End of an Era
After nearly one hundred years in business—the last years spent as a residential hotel—Nashville’s Maxwell House Hotel burned to the ground on Christmas night in 1961.
Did You Know…
- Six years after the fire, a new building, the ServiceSource Tower, stood where the hotel once reigned supreme. At the time of its opening, this new tower was the second tallest building in Nashville.
- The twenty-first century brought a new Maxwell House Hotel to Nashville. The Millennium Maxwell House Hotel was named in honor of the original, prestigious hotel.