Hotel Charles

"Shelby's Leading Hotel--Fireproof. Well known

for homelike atmosphere and excellent food

and service."

 

The building that housed Hotel Charles, known as the Blanton Building, dates from the 1890s. As well as a hotel, it also housed the First National Bank. From the National Park Service:

 

"The bank offices were located in the Warren Street corner of the building, then called the Blanton Building. The building also contained the finest of Shelby's four hotels--the Central Hotel--the lobby of which opened on the north end of the building, and the upper floors contain the hotel rooms. On August 28, 1928, the eve of the Depression, the hotel caught fire, killing three people and causing substantial damage. The bank temporarily relocated to a building on West Warren Street where a cave-in caused by the excavation of an adjacent building tragically killed six more people. By 1929, the Blanton Building was repaired and remodeled with a simple corbeled cornice and stuccoed, and the hotel reopened as the Hotel Charles. First National Bank returned to the building, where it is still located today."

 

 

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