Hotels at the Depot Rail travelers could often step out of the depot and find a hotel across the street or close by. Below are some examples. Atlanta's Kimball House stood on Pryor Street between Decatur and Wall streets, on the north side of the Union Station of 1871. Built in 1870 by entrepreneur Hannibal Kimball, it was then the city's largest building. The first Kimball House was destroyed in an 1883 fire. It was replaced on the same site with this 1885 structure which stood until its demolition in 1959. For a view of this site in 2015, click here. Also adjacent to Union Station was the Markham House. It stood at the east end of Wall Street on Central Avenue (then Loyd Street). Built in 1875, it burned in 1896. (Image from Wikimedia Commons). Brown's Hotel in Macon stood on Fourth Street (today's Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.) at Plum Street, across from the Union Passenger Depot; both were built around 1856. The hotel burned in 1878 but was rebuilt the same year. This postcard view shows the Brown House on the left, the Union Depot on the right, and Macon streetcars in the center. Augusta's Plaza Hotel (right) faced Barrett Plaza, as did the city's Union Station. The statue of Patrick Walsh is still there on Telfair Street, but the station and hotel are gone, replaced by a post office and the federal bankruptcy courthouse. Brunswick's 1888 Oglethorpe Hotel stood on the northwest corner of Newcastle Street and F Street. Behind it was the waterfront and the Southern Railway/Atlantic Coast Line passenger station. A few yards north of the hotel were the passenger and freight depots of the Atlanta, Birmingham & Atlantic. Postcard image of the passenger station and hotel. View is to the east. The front of the hotel. To the right is the Atlanta, Birmingham & Atlantic depot. View is to the north. The hotel was torn down in 1958. The Phenix Hotel in Waycross is now an office building, but it has retained its original appearance. The view is from Waycross Union Station. Here's the view of Union Station from the hotel. A small triangular park stands between the two buildings. Chattanooga's commodious Read House hotel was directly across Ninth Street from the city's Union Passenger Depot, where the traveler could board a Western & Atlantic train to Atlanta. Shown above is the 1871 hotel structure; it was replaced in 1926 by the present 10-story Read House. Ninety miles down the old W&A from Chattanooga is Cartersville, where the Park Hotel once stood a few steps from the depot. By the time that the image above was made, the establishment's name had been changed to Hotel Braban and the W&A had been leased to the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis. Also on the former W&A is Marietta's old Kennesaw House hotel, which still stands across Depot Street from the former passenger depot. The hotel is now the Marietta Museum of History and the depot is the city's welcome center. The Winona Hotel in Fort Valley was directly across E. Main Street from the passenger station. The hotel was demolished in the late 1960s, but the station is still there. The 1889 Richland Hotel stands diagonally across Broad Street from Richland's Union Depot (below). Seaboard Air Line Railway trains once ran from Richland north to Columbus, south to Tallahassee, east to Savannah, and west to Montgomery. The 1912 Hotel Estelle in Millen was on the southeast corner of N. Gray St. and E. Winthrope Ave., on the block across Cotton Ave. from the passenger depot. It was torn down some years ago; the depot still stands. Tifton's former Myon Hotel, built in 1906, is located about a block from the former passenger station, a 1916-17 structure. The Myon now houses City Hall along with residential and commercial units, while the passenger station houses the local chamber of commerce. Gainesville's Dixie Hunt Hotel was a block from the Gainesville Midland depot, an easy stroll compared to walking to the Southern Railway station eight blocks south. Both depots and the hotel building are still standing. The Gainesville & Northwestern Railroad has been gone from Clermont since the 1930s, but the old Clermont Hotel remains a landmark in town. It is now the Clermont Venue. The Cliff House hotel was across the Tallulah Falls Railroad tracks from the depot. Although the hotel has long been gone, the depot remains in the little town of Tallulah Falls. Visitors to the north Georgia town of Chatsworth might notice a train depot behind the 1910 Wright Hotel. The L&N depot, which originally stood about a block farther away, was moved to its present location to preserve it. The photo above shows the hotel building with the depot and a caboose behind it. The Hotel Dalton was at Crawford and Depot streets, across from Dalton's passenger station. The station is gone but the hotel structure, now called the Landmark Building, still stands. Across a side street from the reconstructed Warm Springs depot is the 1907 Hotel Warm Springs, now a bed-and-breakfast inn. Travelers on the Greene County Railroad could find lodging at the Susie Agnes Hotel in Bostwick. (Read more about the town's history here.) Trains of the Atlantic, Waycross & Northern Railroad, later the St. Marys Railroad, once rolled alongside the 1916 Riverview Hotel in St. Marys. The tracks are gone from the historic downtown, but the hotel remains and still welcomes guests. Similar in design to the Riverview Hotel, Folkston's McDonald House was conveniently located for Atlantic Coast Line passengers. The building is still there at the corner of Main and Depot streets, although it is no longer a hotel. Kingsland's depot was a block or so west of the Camden Hotel (above). It's now about the same distance, but to the east, having been moved a few years ago. The depot is now a welcome center and the hotel is City Hall. Interior photos. RailGa.com. Georgia's Railroad History & Heritage. © Steve Storey Railroad History | The Depot List | Locomotives On Display | Odds & Ends | Sources & References | Home