Washington Hall

Washington Hall (originally the Golden Ball) was a hotel and meeting house located on the corner of Greensboro Avenue and Broad Street in Tuscaloosa from 1831 to 1865.

The two-story brick building, the first of its kind in Tuscaloosa, was erected on the site of Lovel's Tavern by John Pass and William Toxey in 1831. Billy Dunton operated the "Golden Ball" inn and tavern on the upper floor, above Pass & Toxey's store. Over the ensuing years the original building was enlarged to the north and given the grander name of "Washington Hall". A life-size portrait of General George Washington holding the bridle of a gray horse was mounted to a brick pier outside and served as the inn's sign. A saloon and dining room shared ground floor space with the hotel's lobby. The second-floor auditorium was used for meetings, stage productions and balls.

In 1835 Charles Patterson bought the property, and soon passed it to William Clare, and then, in 1839, to Matthew Duffee. Duffee prospered as a hotelkeeper and even rented the meeting rooms to the Alabama State Legislature during the time that Tuscaloosa served as the State capital. Postmaster William Gould operated the city's post office from the building, which also housed attorney's offices and a barber shop.

Duffee sold his Tuscaloosa property in advance of the Civil War and moved to Blount Springs. The hotel was used as a Confederate prison, then as a hospital, and finally as a Federal barracks before being burned during Wilson's Raid in 1865. The site was later used for the First National Bank building.

References

• Sulzby, James Frederick (1960) Historic Alabama Hotels and Resorts. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press ISBN 0817353097
• Davis, Paul (April 22, 1969) "Hotels, Inns Flourished" The Tuscaloosa News
• Ball, Marie (April 22, 1979) "Histories recalled with fond memories" The Tuscaloosa News