Historical Places: Winnfield Hotel, 1908, Winn Parish, LA. ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** Submitted by Greggory E. Davies, 120 Ted Price Lane, Winnfield, LA 71483 From: July 16, 1980 Winn Parish Enterprise News-American Hotel Brings Prominence To Winnfield Once tagged as the finest hotel in North Louisiana, excluding the Bentley in Alexandria, the 72 year old towering three story Winnfield Hotel has brought prominence to Winnfield once again. Bearing the scars of age, the L-shaped hotel became the first Winnfield historic landmark to be officially entered into the prestigious National Register of Historic Places, according to a telegram from the Louisiana Congressional delegation last week. One of only a few hotels in the state to receive such designation, the solid structure joins other edifices worthy of preservation and restoration while becoming only the second Winn Parish building to receive a historic name tag. Thanks to research and hard work by two Winnfield ladies, the downtown City Hotel, also known as the Colvin Hotel, built of gray compressed brick with its beautiful stone finish, and broad, high plate glass windows has come alive. Abigail Hahn, a community planner and a craftsman, and Mary Margaret Cherry Shuman, a historian, both of Winnfield, contributed many volunteer hours to this research project. Ms. Shuman is active in the field of history and archaeology. She has worked extensively with local records in Louisiana and Texas and accomplished archaeology efforts in Louisiana, Texas, and France. Ms. Hahn was the prime mover for the Natchitoches Courthouse Square rehabilitation on project, cited as a state model project. She was also responsible for raising some $1 million toward the renovation, with further preservation work in rail depot conservation, plantation cabins as tourist centers and currently promoting international conservation practices in area preservation and working with other teams promoting for the first time in Louisiana and documentation of a complete inventory of all historic districts and properties in the state. Early accounts describe the New City Hotel as: "The building is composed of gray compress brick, three stories in height, and presents a most attractive appearance with its beautiful stone finish and broad and high plate glass windows. "On the ground floor are located spacious lobby, office, baggage room, reading room, dining room, and kitchen, besides elegant barber shop and three roomy store departments, and a handsomely lighted sample room. "On the second floor is a tastily furnished alcove parlor with carpet, wicker rocking chairs, piano and other conveniences for comfort, pleasure and social entertainment. There is also a linen room, bridal chambers, and thirty bedrooms, twenty of which are supplied with private baths and other conveniences. "The third floor is nearly a duplicate of the second and each story is finished with sanitary closets." The description went on to include details of the artesian well in the rear of the hotel as "clear, pure, and healthful." The stopover place for such notables as General Patton and Marguerite Clark, the famous silver screen actress of the roaring twenties, "the hotel has seen births, marriages, deaths, suicides, and murders," according to proprietor John Johnson. Ms. Clark and her husband, a Louisiana man with timber interests in the area, often frequented the Hotel in the 30s. The records show also a Mr. Jim Carter as a guest in one of the Tuerett Rooms. Designed and built by William T. McIntosh the old Winnfield Hotel holds a significance for its prime facia architectural style and construction. McIntosh was a resident of Winnfield and advertised in the paper as an "architect-engineer-superintendent of the building. Besides the Hotel, he was the successful bidder and builder of almost all the major brick construction for the city at the time. He built the old courthouse, since destroyed for a newer facility, and the school, later the high school and now closed up, almost extensively remodeled and its future unknown. The Winnfield Hotel remains the one complete example of his work. Before the boom as early as 1889, there was a hotel located on the site of the present Winnfield Hotel. It was originally built to serve the early timber buyers, and was called the "Tremont Hotel" for the owners of large blocks of timberland in the area. The Colvin family bought the hotel, probably a log building, in the 1890s and later built an extensive frame hotel, the City Hotel. At the height of the boom, in 1907, after a fire damaged the frame building, Mr. John A colvin decided to build a brick hotel whichwould be more in keeping with the new cosmopolitan atmosphere of the City. Ground was broken in May of 1907, and by February, 1908 of the following year , the new City Hotel was receiving guests. The train, Arkansas Southern, later called the Rock Island, was the first train throught Winnfield and the historic hotel site was located one half block from the depot. The trains ran not just daily, but several times a day. Free tickets were offered to people in the outlying areas to ride in for a days shopping in the "city." The City Hotel, located as it was just one half block from the Arkansas Southern (Rock Island) depot, competed successfully with other boarding houses, hotels of the town for the numerous "drummers, buyers, and speculators," who arrived on each train. Legend has it that a famous song and dance man, yet extent, used to "work" at the Hotel and probably was also associated with the early dance era at the Hotel.* The Hotel was built of brick, at least some of which came from the large Winnfield Brick Works then in production. It was designed by the same architect who designed the Bentley Hotel in Alexandria, but no evidence has come to light to support this idea. All the news accounts when the Hotel was being built, give Mr. William T. McIntosh as the builder. Visual Documentation There exists a 1925 picture of "Trade Days" in the City of Winnfield, organized by Alvin S. Hahn, partner in the Ford dealership at that time, which is a view south down Main Street. Also seen in the picture is the city hall building designed by McIntosh. The highly altered city hall building of today is visible. It is then noted in the picture by its impressive gothic bell tower a feature which has since been dismantled. Also, it appears there were large bottom floor archway type doors and windows, which have also been altered. The Hotel, of course, has somewhat suffered with the years and is sorely in need of historic restoration. "...Winn was 'Boom' Area in Virgin Timber Era from 1900 to 1915" is an article written by John Teddlie in the Special Centennial Edition of the local newspaper, which further attests to the energy of the frontier boom town. Huey Long opened a law office up the street from the Hotel, about two blocks, upstairs over the now old bank building in the year 1915. This was six years after the City-Winnfield Hotel was opened in 1908. His opening of an office in Winnfield indicated, obviously, his belonging to the groundswell that gave rise to the energy that produced the boom frontier town and continued as an important political arena. The Long Dynasty Connections Like all other things happening at once, the building of the new hotel was an opportunity. It bought materials from the new brickyard and the new lumber mills, and it offered work. One of the laborers who carried water for the bricklayers for that summer of 1907 when the hotel was under construction was sixteen year old Huey Long. The land on which the Hotel was built was part of the original Long estate, and besides Huey's use of it in later years during campaigning, and the large obtrusive rockers on the Hotel porch were favorite vantage points for Earl [Long, Huey's younger brother] and friend Harley Bozeman in the late years of their lives. The fascinating political and cultural backdrop of the Long dynasty is intertwined interestingly with the Hotel. The use of the hotel as a bailiwick during the campaigning of Huey and Earl, feuding brother against brother is referred to in The Times Picayune appearing around 1930. Huey used the hotel frequently during campaigns and other forays into the area. As one citizen reminisced: "Huey used to come and shake our hands, and he stayed at the Hotel overnight, he always had a group with him, he was getting votes all along..." Myrtle Calhoun, one of the present residents of the Hotel, recalls as a school girl before Huey became governor, he was on the steps of the Hotel porch with a bunch of men around him, he was railroad commissioner then, and in later years she recalss the men and women sitting on the rockers on the porch. "Huey used to have all his meetings there when he was running for governor. He worked on the Hotel...O. K. Allen used to meet with Huey at the Hotel...It was during their political rallies when they would meet at the Hotel, have open house...It was the center of the social functions..." Judy Colvin Beville of Kilgore, Texas, one of Mr. Colvin's granddaughters further stated that Mr. Colvin, the owner and founder, would wear black silk suits, and always got his suits from New Orleans. At the height of the boom, guests almost filled all three floors in the new hotel. A 1911 map indicates conclusively under "Specials," the City Hotel, some three years after it was officially opened in 1908, an interesting electric ground floor arrangement; it consisted in order west to east, a confectionary in the northwest corner turret bay room, a hotel office, a millinery shop, a barber shop, tailoring shop, water closet, dining room, kitchen, laundry, storage room, and of course, the wide open expanse of the lobby. Pauline LaCroix, It was common knowledge among Winnfield folk in the 1950s and 1960s that the late Cab Calloway worked at the old Winnfield Hotel during his younger days. http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/winn/photos/wfhotel.txt