Lookout Inn

Archive

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Picnooga

2020.494.001 Recto: Black and white postcard showing the Lookout Inn
2020.494.001 Recto

Black and white postcard showing the Lookout Inn

Name/Title

Lookout Inn

Entry/Object ID

2020.494

Scope and Content

Three postcards with the front showing photographs of the front elevation of Lookout Mountain Inn atop Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. The Lookout Inn opened in 1890 and was situated just above the top station of the existing Incline No. 2 on the eastern face of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. The steam-powered incline was built as a direct route to the hotel and a connection to the Chattanooga & Lookout Mountain Railway. Open year-round, Lookout Inn was 365 feet long and four stories tall. It had two five-story towers, a huge network of wide porches and verandas, 450 rooms that could accommodate over 500 guests, and was built for $150,000-which is more than $3 million today. The fine-dining hall was 114 feet in length and finished in quarter sawn oak. There were billiards rooms, reading nooks, lounges, and smoking rooms. An 1895 advertisement for the hotel boasted a “liberal plan,” the “finest climate in America” and the “most enchanted scenery the sun ever shone upon.” Modern sanitation systems, drainage, and the abundance of water were all selling features to prospective guests. It was also marketed as “Tennessee’s great health and pleasure resort,” seemingly to appeal to the nation’s popular health craze. Its large ballroom often hosted soldiers in training for the Spanish-American War posted in Fort Oglethorpe. A visiting Prince Henry of Prussia pronounced it the ideal spot he had visited and the scenery more breathtaking than that of the Swiss Alps. Thought to be fireproof, the inn was engulfed in a blaze on November 17, 1908, with the flames and smoke to be seen from downtown Chattanooga. At the time, only a few handfuls of guests were staying in the hotel. Luckily, they all escaped from harm. On the day of the fire, Lookout Inn was under contract for $135,000, with the deal expected to close the same day. The owners had the hotel insured for only $20,000. A defective flue was blamed for the disaster.

Collection

Lookout Mountain Collection

Archive Items Details

Title

2020.494.001 - Lookout Inn Postcard

Description

2020.494.001 - Blue tinted postcard showing the front façade of the Lookout Inn from the street. The postcard also shows the narrow-gauge railway that ran in front of the inn. "Greetings from Above the clouds. Cousin Henry" is written in the gutter on the front of the card. The rear reads "Lookout Inn, Lookout Mountain - Lookout Inn standing on the highest point of Lookout Mountain was erected in 1899, at the cost of about $250,000. The building is four stories high, surmounted by an observatory tower, and is surrounded by elegant porches. It contains nearly 500 guest chambers and is elaborately and richly equipped with all modern conveniences.

Creator

McGowan Cooke Publishing Co., Chattanooga, Tenn

Search Terms

Tourism, Inns, Hotels,

Title

2020.494.002 - Lookout Inn Postcard

Description

Color tinted postcard (a colorized version of 2020.494.001) of the Lookout Inn on Lookout Mountain, TN

Creator

MacGowan-Cooke Printing Company

Title

2020.494.003 - Lookout Inn Postcard

Description

Color tinted postcard of the Lookout Inn in Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. The Inn shows the Narrow-Gauge Railroad by the street and there is a sheep grazing in the front lawn.

Creator

Detroit Photographic Company

Date(s) of Creation

1902 - 1902

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

MacGowan-Cooke Printing Company, Detroit Publishing Company, Lookout Inn

Related Places

Place

* Untyped Place

Lookout Mountain, Tennessee

Copyright

Type of License

No Copyright - United States