Sevierville

Sevierville. The Central Hotel. The Central Hotel opened for business around 1890. Located on the public square, the hotel was a white-clapboard structure with a large double-stacked front porch. A "sample room" was provided at the front of the hotel for traveling salesmen, commonly called drummers, to display their wares. The hotel was also a seasonal home to many milliners who frequented different stores in town creating ladies' custom-made hats. , , The hotel had no running water and rooms were heated by a coal burning grate. In 1923, a fire engulfed the Central Hotel, located on the southwest corner of the Public Square in Sevierville. On the night of the fire, a spectator and frequent salesman guest commented, "surely room #33 is warm for the first time." , , The owners decided to erect a modern brick replacement hotel in the same location. Sanders L. Atchley sketched plans on the back of a post card, which Burden Brothers Construction Company used as a blueprint to erect the new structure. , , In 1951, the hotel was sold at public auction and the name was changed to Hotel Sevier. The hotel experienced many "firsts" for Sevierville including the first television broadcast, the first color television viewed, the first long distance telephone call and the first successful beauty salon. , , The hotel was dismantled in 1968 to make way for Sevier County Bank. In 2018, Michael and Sherry Johnson acquired the historic corner and in 2020 opened the new Centrai Hotel with architectural design providing a nod to the nineteenth century in tribute to the original 1890 structure. , (captions) , In 1890, rhe original Central Hotel opened. It remained in business until it was destroyed by fire in 1923. , , The new central Hotel replacement structure was built of brick. , , Built by local Black contractors, in 1924 the replacement building was erected. , , In 1848, the first long distance call was placed by Mayor Howard from the Hotel.