Lakeview Hotel
The Lakeview Hotel was a resort hotel constructed by the Elyton Land Company at Lakeview Park, the terminus and major attraction for its Highland Avenue Railroad on the slopes of Red Mountain in Birmingham's Southside.
The 60-foot by 250-foot wood-framed hotel opened on July 12, 1887. In addition to its 72 guest rooms the hotel featured a spacious lobby and dining room, several parlours, a ball room and a billiard room. The hotel was furnished throughout with electric lighting and bells, and with steam heat.
Linscott and Davids took over as managers on April 1, 1888. An addition of sixty rooms was planned for that summer.
On June 12, 1891 a hot air balloon being demonstrated by Charles Swinney landed on the roof of the hotel.
The hotel is said to have been visited by Presidents Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison in November 1888 and April 1891, respectively.
The hotel burned to the ground on December 6, 1893.
References
- North Alabama (Illustrated) (1888) Birmingham: Southern Commercial Publishing Co.
- Sulzby, James Frederick (1960) Historic Alabama Hotels and Resorts. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press ISBN 0817353097