Name/Title
Under the Brow of Point LookoutEntry/Object ID
2020.183.001Description
A postcard with the front showing a photograph of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. The (Lookout) Point Hotel is seen just below the point of the Mountain.
Built in 1888, the Point Hotel was quite strikingly modern in appearance, with four levels of wraparound balconies that rounded at the corners and gave visitors an awe-inspiring panoramic view of the river valley and Chattanooga. The 58-room hotel sat strategically just below Point Lookout and the property of Mrs. Col. James A. Whiteside, who would later become an investor in the nearby Lookout Inn. Mrs. Whiteside was protective of her husband’s estate. Competitive feuding became so ruthless between the two hotels that she had the stairs leading to the point removed to keep Point Hotel patrons from easily reaching the summit of Lookout Mountain and the popular point.
Visitors would reach the Point Hotel by the 4,360-foot-long steam-powered Incline No. 1 to its west façade and upper station. The narrow-gauge railway from the east could also take patrons on excursions to Sunset Rock and the popular Natural Bridge. Room rates ranged from $2.50 to $4 a night, and day visitors could ride the Incline, have a nice dinner, then return to St. Elmo for an inclusive price of $3. Hotel amenities included a billiard room, barbershop, running water in each guest room, and a bathhouse.
In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt visited the hotel.
The dismantling of Incline No. 1 at the turn of the last century in favor of the newer Incline No. 2 and overall increased competition would eventually close the hotel. Although, briefly, new investors considered converting the former hotel into a music hall.
The Point Hotel would sit empty and abandoned before being demolished in 1914. A small plaque commemorates the old hotel near the bottom of the stairs from Point Park, and artifacts like stone steps and bits of the foundation are still visible to hikers.Subject Person/Organization
Point HotelSubject Place
* Untyped Subject Place
Point Lookout, Point Park, Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military ParkCollection
Lookout Mountain CollectionPostcard Details
Place Published
* Untyped Place Published
Chattanooga, Tennessee*Date Published
circa 1907 - circa 1915Copyright
Type of License
No Copyright - United States
