On Friday, March 1, 1907, a “disastrous fire” tore through the Lawrenceburg Hotel and the Saloon of Mr. S.R. Howser, located within the hotel. The two-story frame building, built in 1881, was destroyed by the blaze, causing more than $25,000 in losses. By 1908, however, a new, brick building, with stone accents, stood on the site of burned building, and the Lawrenceburg Hotel, conveniently located next to the Cincinnati Southern railroad tracks, was back in business.
The Lawrenceburg Hotel, as seen in December 2017.
Another revival is way overdue for this handsome building – the last hotel guests checked out some time ago. At some point the building was converted to apartments, with retail establishments on the ground floor, but it appears that for a few decades, the only activity in the seemingly-vacant building has been slow deterioration.
The hotel in 1981.
The Lawrenceburg Hotel was first listed on the Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation‘s Eleven Endangered List in 2003 and again in 2009. This list seeks to highlight threatened historic and significant buildings and sites across the Bluegrass Region.
A detail of the cornice of the hotel.
The hotel is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, as part of the Lawrenceburg Commercial Historic District, which means that any qualified restoration work on the building would qualify for historic tax credits (both federal and state).
The entry doors to the hotel.
The brick and stone facade, with arched openings and corbelling, features many architectural characteristics found on other buildings constructed by C.E. Bond, a contractor and native of Lawrenceburg. The builder and one-time president of the Lawrenceburg National Bank possessed a shrewd eye for real estate investment.
Detail of the central block of the hotel.
In the first few decades of the 20th century, Lawrenceburg, the county seat of Anderson County, was a regional shipping center for livestock, grain, and bourbon. The area around the depot and railroad crossing was therefore a hot property – and Bond oversaw construction of both the current hotel and the Opera House (no longer standing).
Section of the 1909 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, showing the Lawrenceburg Hotel.
When I look at the handsome facade of the Lawrenceburg Hotel, I imagine what the building could become given a little time and investment. Countless historic buildings across Kentucky have been restored and adaptively reused after spending more time vacant and under-utilized than this example.
Looking from the railroad tracks toward the hotel in 1981.
The St. Asaph Hotel, a downtown establishment of similar vintage in Stanford, Kentucky, has been renovated into modern lodgings, using the original hotel rooms. It is an asset to downtown Stanford, a town continually expanding its cultural tourism base. With bourbon tourism continuing to grow, the Lawrenceburg Hotel could cater to tourists seeking authentic and historic accommodation as they explore the Bourbon Trail and Anderson County.
Advertisement from the March 19, 1918 edition of the Interior Journal in Stanford, Kentucky.
The renovated Lawrenceburg Hotel wouldn’t have to be single use – just look at what occupied the hotel in 1909 – a restaurant, bar, the hotel proper, a grocery, and a theater. A renovated building would be most successful catering to both residents and visitors to Lawrenceburg.
Even if the bustling age of passenger rail travel is lost to Central Kentucky, this building doesn’t have be another statistic of demolition by neglect. It could be, with some hard work and imagination, an asset once again to the community.
Great stuff!! As usual.
Janie,
Great post about the Lawrenceburg Hotel!
I grew up in Lawrenceburg and remember that building well. My high school home economics class had a mother/daughter dinner there many years ago, but I can’t remember who provided the food!
Always enjoy your posts!
Mary Jean Kinsman