The Oldest Hotels in the USA and What you can find there

In this post, we have listed some of the oldest Hotels in the USA. For someone who loves history, the go-to destination in mind for a good visit will always either be a library or a museum. Historical books and artefacts are available for browsing to satisfy one’s appetite for history.

But what if you’ve visited every library or museum in the area, and have exhausted all the interesting information and trivia offered by those places, where else can you go?

Some may suggest dropping by landmarks, churches, fortresses, and heritage sites, but have you considered visiting hotels for a dose of history? It might seem unusual, but some of the oldest hotels saw America over the years, and have witnessed historical events too.

So, go ahead and take a trip to the oldest hotels in America. You might surprise yourself with the bits of history those buildings keep.

Listed below are a few of the Oldest Hotels in the USA that we highly recommend for you to check out:

The Peabody in Memphis

Having opened in 1896 at the corner of Main and Monroe Streets, the Peabody Hotel is one of the oldest hotels in the United States. The hotel founder Col. Robert Campbell Brinkley named the building in memory of George Peabody.

The hotel was a success from the very start, with well-known dignitaries such as Robert E. Lee and Pres. Andrew Johnson booked their stay in The Peabody. But during the Yellow Fever epidemic in 1875, The Peabody served as a hospital for yellow fever victims.

It relocated to another venue in Memphis in 1925, bannering an Italian Renaissance aesthetics and style, with terracotta detailing. One of the attractions of the Peabody is the March of the Peabody Ducks, where a group of Mallard ducks strut from the hotel’s rooftop, passing through the lobby, and all the way to the hotel’s marble fountain. This parade of ducks has become a huge tradition in the hotel since the 1930s.

Trivia: This is the hotel where music icon Elvis Presley had his senior prom!

Admiral Fell Inn in Baltimore

Before the Admiral Fell Inn became the 80-room hotel it is today, it was a bustling seaport founded by the Fell family, Quakers from Lancaster, England.

It saw the exports of Maryland tobacco and grain, and imports from Europe and the West Indies, as it was also a shipbuilding center.

By the 1900s, it was developed by The Port Mission as a dormitory and recreational center that catered to the influx of seafarers in Fell’s Point, Baltimore.

The dormitory, known before as the Anchorage, was at the center of the seven-building structure that comprised the Admiral Fell Inn.

Trivia: Each guest room in the Admiral Fell Inn is named after known personalities who contributed to Baltimore’s rich history. There are also Ghost Tours being offered in the hotel as it is also considered one of the most haunted hotels in America. Will you dare go on such a tour to get a few goosebumps?

The Omni Homestead Resort

Built in 1776 by Capt. Thomas Bullitt, the Omni Homestead Resort started as an 18-room wooden hotel. It suffered a huge fire that started in the hotel’s pastry shop in 1901, but thanks to the restoration efforts of its succeeding owner, it bounced back into business and even expanded.

Over the years, the resort underwent several more expansions, with more halls, wings, and a tower added to the whole structure. By 1993, it’s outdoors were developed to include a ski area, a shooting clubhouse, a miniature golf course, and outdoor pools and a waterpark.

Trivia: The 300-acre land area of the Omni Homestead Resort housed several natural hot springs back then, including the Jefferson pool. One of its famed guests is former President Thomas Jefferson, who was said to have spent three weeks soaking himself in one of the natural hot springs.  Hence, that particular hot spring was named after him. 

Beekman Arms and Delamater Inn

Hudson Valley’s popular Beekman Arms and Delamater Inn is a tavern originally owned by the Traphagens, and was relocated to the crossroads of the village of “Ryn Beck” in 1766. Since it opened, it hosted a number of well-known leaders of the American Revolution, which includes George Washington, Philip Schuyler, Benedict Arnold and Alexander Hamilton.

In 1802, the inn changed ownership when Asa Potter bought the property. Since then, it became a very important venue for the political and social life of the community.

A notable example would be the infamous duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, which started from an exchange of insults and ended in Hamilton’s death. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was a regular guest of the inn, gave speeches on the front porch of the inn at the conclusion of both his gubernatorial and presidential campaigns.

The Inn underwent expansion and development to include a ballroom and a greenhouse room.

Trivia: Did you know that the 1935 novel “Of Time and The River” was inspired by the frequent visits of the author to the inn? Thomas Wolfe, the novelist, was a friend of Olin Dors, the son of Tracy Dors who assumed ownership of The Beekman Arms in 1918.

Also, read:

Best Boutique Hotels in the World