Hale Springs Inn

Last updated

Hale Springs Inn
Hale Springs Inn.jpg
The Hale Springs Inn is located
within the Rogersville Historic District
Location110 Wast Main Street, Rogersville, Tennessee
Nearest city Rogersville, Tennessee
Coordinates 36°24′25″N83°00′24″W / 36.407003°N 83.006583°W / 36.407003; -83.006583
Built1824
Architectural styleFederal
Part of Rogersville Historic District (ID73001787)
Designated CPFebruary 23, 1973

Hale Springs Inn, built in 1824 on the Courthouse Square in Rogersville, Tennessee, was the oldest continuously-operated Inn in Tennessee. It is listed as a contributing property of the Rogersville Historic District.

Contents

Early history

The Inn was originally built in 1824-25 by John McKinney, a local lawyer and businessman, to compete with the tavern operated by the founder of Rogersville, Joseph Rogers. Rogers' Tavern was originally located a few hundred feet off the Great Stage Road that ran through the new town to Knoxville, Tennessee toward the Cumberland Gap. In 1815, Rogers built a newer building directly on the Stage Road; neither building, however, was very substantial, and there were minimal guest rooms.

McKinney's plan was to build a larger, brick inn directly on the road to compete with both of Rogers' buildings. In 1823, he began construction on a massive, three-story, Federal style building that would house facilities for a true tavern bar, but also individual guest rooms on the different floors. The building also featured an impressive balcony over its door that would feature prominently later in its history.

Distinguished guests

During the nineteenth century, the Inn played host to many famous personages as they made their way into the thriving new state of Tennessee. Among them were United States Presidents Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, and Andrew Johnson.

Jackson stayed at the Inn shortly after its completion, while he was still President; he used its balcony to address a crowd of Rogersvillians in a political speech. McKinney, the Inn's owner, saw this as a publicity coup over rival and town-founder, Joseph Rogers, who had also petitioned the President to stay at his Tavern. The deciding factor in Jackson's mind, according to letters from the time, was the balcony over the Inn's main door.

American Civil War

The sign in 2020. Hale Springs Sign.jpg
The sign in 2020.

During the American Civil War, East Tennessee and her citizens were deeply divided over the issues of slavery, States' rights, and secession that ultimately led to Tennessee's break with the Union.

This conflict was reflected by the buildings Rogersville's occupiers chose when they controlled the town. Early in the war, Union forces captured the town, and during their occupation, they set their headquarters in the Hale Springs Inn, which was on the south side of Main Street, but faced north.

When the Confederacy retook Rogersville in early 1863 during the Battle of Big Creek, they established their headquarters in the building across the street from the Inn, the Kyle House—which was on the north side of Main Street, but faced south.

When the inn closed in 1998 it was Tennessee's oldest continuously operated inn. In 2003 the Rogersville Heritage Association purchased the inn and, in cooperation with city government, launched a renovation effort which surpassed US$2.1 million as of early 2009. Completion and reopening of the inn is projected for June 2009.

During the renovation the rear addition, built in 1870, partially fell and was demolished, leaving only the original 1824 main structure. Builders salvaged brick from the 1870 rear addition for use on the exterior of the new rear addition/kitchen under construction in late 2008 and early 2009.

Twentieth century

After the divisive war, the name of the Inn was changed to Hale Springs Hotel, and it began to serve as a stopping point for tourists who were on their way to see nearby Hale Springs Resort, a famous hot mineral springs near Rogersville.

The Inn continued to serve as a hotel until it closed briefly in 1980, when it was purchased, fully restored to its 1820-30s appearance, and reopened as Hale Springs Inn.

Crown jewel

After its owner, Captain Carl Netherland-Brown closed the Inn in 1999, the Rogersville Heritage Association decided to purchase the Inn and continue to operate it as an inn, while discontinuing the function of its kitchen, dining area and garden, focusing on the history of its previous inhabitants as the crown jewel of the downtown Rogersville Historic District.

The Inn is undergoing extensive renovations through a public-private joint venture of the Town of Rogersville and the Rogersville Heritage Association.

The Hale Springs Inn re-opened in 2009 and has since operated as an Inn, with 9 spacious guestrooms, and also houses McKinney's Restaurant and Tavern. Anyone is welcome to stop in and tour the beautifully restored Inn and have lunch or dinner. The Inn is also available to be rented out for Weddings, Reunions, and more.

National Register of Historic Places

The Inn is not listed as an entry on the National Register of Historic Places, but it is recognized as a contributing property of the Rogersville Historic District. As such, it is a historically significant component of the district included on the National Register.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rogersville, Tennessee</span> Town in the United States

Rogersville is a town in, and the county seat of, Hawkins County, Tennessee, United States. It was settled in 1775 by the grandparents of Davy Crockett. It is named for its founder, Joseph Rogers. Tennessee's second oldest courthouse, the Hawkins County Courthouse, first newspaper The Knoxville Gazette, and first post office are all located in Rogersville. The Rogersville Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bean Station, Tennessee</span> Lakeside town in Grainger and Hawkins counties, Tennessee

Bean Station is a town in Grainger and Hawkins counties in the state of Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Overton Lodge</span> United States historic place

Overton Lodge No. 5 is a Freemason lodge under the Grand Lodge of Tennessee. Overton Lodge is located on the Courthouse Square in Rogersville Historic District in downtown Rogersville, Tennessee in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Park House</span> Historic house in Tennessee, United States

The James Park House is a historic house located at 422 West Cumberland Avenue in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. The house's foundation was built by Governor John Sevier in the 1790s, and the house itself was built by Knoxville merchant and mayor, James Park (1770–1853), in 1812, making it the second-oldest building in Downtown Knoxville after Blount Mansion. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and currently serves as the headquarters for the Gulf and Ohio Railways.

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Knox County, Tennessee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Craighead–Jackson House</span> Historic house in Tennessee, United States

The Craighead–Jackson House is a historic two-story, brick house in Knoxville, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The home was constructed by John Craighead in 1818 across the street from the William Blount Mansion. The house is on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bijou Theatre (Knoxville, Tennessee)</span>

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Rogers (pioneer)</span>

Joseph Rogers (1764–1833) was an Irish-born pioneer and settler who, with his father-in-law Thomas Amis, founded the town of Rogersville, Tennessee in 1789.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amis House (Rogersville, Tennessee)</span> United States historic place

Amis House is a pioneer settlement in Hawkins County, Tennessee near Rogersville, built in 1780–2 by Thomas Amis, the father-in-law of Rogersville founder Joseph Rogers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hawkins County Courthouse</span> United States historic place

The Hawkins County Courthouse is the seat of county government for Hawkins County, Tennessee, United States, located in the city of Rogersville. It was built in 1836, it is one of six antebellum courthouses still in use in Tennessee, and it is the second oldest courthouse still in use in the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Price Public Elementary School</span> United States historic place

Price Public Elementary School, now known as Price Public Community Center and Swift Museum, is a former African-American school in Rogersville, Tennessee. It currently serves as a community center and home of the Swift Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rogersville Historic District</span> Historic district in Tennessee, United States

The Rogersville Historic District is a historic district in Rogersville, Tennessee, the county seat of Hawkins County. It is both a local historic district and a National Register of Historic Places historic district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pressmen's Home, Tennessee</span> Former community located in Rogersville, Tennessee

Pressmen's Home is a non-abandoned ghost town and former headquarters for the International Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union of North America from 1911 to 1967, in the Poor Valley area of Hawkins County, Tennessee, United States, nine miles north of Rogersville. It included a trade school, a sanitarium, a retirement home, a hotel, a post office, a chapel, a hydroelectric power production plant, telecommunication utilities, and other facilities designed to make it a self-sufficient community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Marks Presbyterian Church (Rogersville, Tennessee)</span> Historic church in Tennessee, United States

St. Marks Presbyterian Church is a historic African-American church in Rogersville, Tennessee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Netherland Inn</span> United States historic place

The Netherland Inn and Complex is a historic house museum in Kingsport, Tennessee, United States. Built in 1802 to serve as a boat yard for salt distribution, the property was eventually sold, and in 1818 it became the Netherland Inn, serving travelers en route from Middle Tennessee to Western Kentucky. The inn and boatyard is the only place on the National Register of Historic Places that served as a stage stop and a boatyard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Pavilion Tavern</span> Historic site in Brighton and Hove, United Kingdom

The Royal Pavilion Tavern, commonly known as the Pavilion Tavern or Pav Tav and since February 2022 as The Fitz Regent, is a pub in the centre of Brighton, part of the English coastal city of Brighton and Hove. Converted from a house into the Royal Pavilion Hotel in the early 19th century, its original role soon changed from a hotel to a pub, in which guise it remained until its closure in September 2019. It reopened under its new name, but still in the ownership of the Mitchells & Butlers chain, on 13 February 2022. The building was also used as a court for several years early in its history, and prominent local architect Amon Henry Wilds was responsible for its redesign as a hotel and inn. English Heritage has listed the building at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance, and it stands within a conservation area.

Clayville is a former roadside hamlet, inhabited from 1824 into the 1850s, located in Cartwright Township near Pleasant Plains, Illinois, United States. The settlement was never large but was firmly centered on a once-thriving tavern on the main road between Springfield, the state capital, and the Illinois River port of Beardstown. The Broadwell Tavern continues to stand on its original foundation today as a reminder of the once-active frontier settlement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Deery Inn</span> United States historic place

The Deery Inn, also known as "The Old Tavern" or "The Mansion House and Store," is a historic building on Main Street in Blountville, Tennessee. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is considered the "centerpiece" of the Blountville local historic district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birchwood Inn</span> United States historic place

The Birchwood Inn is a historic tavern and inn on New Hampshire Route 45 in the center of Temple, New Hampshire. With a construction history dating to the early 19th century, it is an architecturally important example of how traveler accommodations changed in rural New Hampshire in the 19th century. The inn has been identified as "The Birchwood" since 1892, and was the town's only public accommodation for most of the 19th century. The building, still in use as a restaurant and inn, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. In 1981 the inn and surrounding area were used in the filming of the movie Summer, based on an Edith Wharton novel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tumut Post Office</span> Historic site in New South Wales, Australia

Tumut Post Office is a heritage-listed post office at 82–84 Wynyard Street, Tumut, New South Wales, Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 August 2012.

References