The Maxwell House Hotel was once the center for political and social life in Nashville. Construction began in 1859 using slave labor and was halted during the Civil War. Completed in 1869, the luxury hotel had five stories, 240 rooms, and cost $500,000 to complete. Corinthian columns lined the main entrance on Fourth Avenue. This notorious part of the notorious Men's Quarter was not considered proper for a lady to enter, so women had to use a separate entrance. Local lore says that Theodore Roosevelt once stayed at the Maxwell House and commented that the coffee was "good to the last drop," thus creating the slogan for Maxwell House Coffee, the nation's first blended coffee. The hotel burned down on Christmas night 1961.
Maxwell House Hotel
36.16355, -86.779583
Description
The Maxwell House Hotel was once the center for political and social life in Nashville. Construction began in 1859 using slave labor and was halted during the Civil War. Completed in 1869, the luxury hotel had five stories, 240 rooms, and cost $500,000 to complete. Corinthian columns lined the main entrance on Fourth Avenue. This notorious part of the notorious Men's Quarter was not considered proper for a lady to enter, so women had to use a separate entrance. Local lore says that Theodore Roosevelt once stayed at the Maxwell House and commented that the coffee was "good to the last drop," thus creating the slogan for Maxwell House Coffee, the nation's first blended coffee. The hotel burned down on Christmas night 1961.