Metropolitan Hotel
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The Metropolitan Hotel and Cafe was a 103-room hotel located at 8-14 20th Street North next to the Union Station on the corner of Morris Avenue in downtown Birmingham. The hotel lot was purchased in 1884 by Moore, Moore & Handley and the hotel opened in 1886.
The Metropolitan was destroyed by a fire caused by an exploding gas boiler in the hotel's basement on February 23, 1900. The guests were all evacuated to safety, but an African American dishwasher named "Tuscaloosa" was lost to the flames. The property was insured and the owners rebuilt the hotel. It later sold for $175,000. The proprietor in 1904 was E. Lesser.
Tenants
- Jacobs Pharmacy, -1900
- Joe Bryan barber shop, -1900
- People's Tailoring Co., -1900
- Talbert Restaurant, -1900
- T. M. Allen dental clinic, -1900
- F. Smith, tailor, -1900