The “New Ridgeway Hotel” has been featured before in this column, but I found a fascinating article in the May 24, 1917 issue of the Ridgeway Journal that I wanted to share. This article detailed the construction costs, materials and rooms of the hotel. The cost of the construction and furnishings was $20,000 ($418,000 in today’s money.). The hotel measures 34 x 100 ft and was built of “pressed brick with Batesville marble trimmings”.
The entire basement was built of “extra-heavy” concrete and included a 20 x 32 foot barber shop with connected baths. There were two well-lighted sample rooms for traveling salesmen to display their wares as well as the vegetable cellar, furnace room and coal room.
The main floor included the lobby with an open fireplace, a 23 x 32 ft dining room able to seat 125, parlor and parlor bed room, kitchen “equipped with labor saving devices” and sleeping areas for the help. The upstairs featured 15 sleeping rooms which averaged about 10 x 12 ft and had lavatories in each room with hot and cold water. The two “leading’ rooms had a bath and toilet.
The building was heated with “vacuum steam” and lighted with electricity. All the rooms had first class beds and furniture and no expense was spared. A large porch, 10’ by 34’, “extends across the front of the building, furnished with hickory rockers, for the convenience of guests.”
The building was owned by the “New Ridgeway Hotel Company” and was under the management of C. G. Brayton. It was designed by Ridgeway residents W. Leroy Perkins and built by Lincoln Bent of Maryville.
