Pullman Plaza Hotel is a late modern architecture building completed in 1975, designed by Bryce Cann and David Termohlen (Cann - Termohlen) located in downtown Huntington, West Virginia. The hotel has operated under different titles but has remained a local landmark for 40 years. The hotel has operated as a DoubleTree by Hilton since early 2019, making it the first DoubleTree by Hilton in West Virginia.
The Frederick Hotel opened in 1906 and was one of the most elegant hotels in both Huntington and all of West Virginia. The luxurious Edwardian Renaissance style building contained 150 guest rooms, 65 office spaces, and a host of amenities. The Frederick Hotel hosted many prominent visitors over the years including President Richard Nixon, musician Liberace, and comedian Bob Hope; Sid Hatfield was arrested here in 1920 for his involvement in the Battle of Matewan. The hotel closed in 1973 and the building today houses offices, apartments, and retail stores. The first floor of the Frederick maintains its original appearance, displaying artifacts and ornamentation from the hotel's glory days. The Frederick was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 as part of the Downtown Huntington Historic District.
The Morris Building is a historic seven-story building on the southwest corner of 4th Avenue and 9th Street in downtown Huntington. Opened as the Hotel Farr in 1918 by businessman John S. Farr, it became a favorite amongst business travelers at the time. The building has changed owners and purposes several times since its construction: it operated as the Hotel Governor Cabell from the 1930s until 1965, when it was leased to the government and renamed Cabell Hall. The Morris Building acquired its current title in 1972, when it was purchased by Helen Morris. It housed offices, apartments, and businesses until an early morning fire in 2014 forced the building to be vacated. Until the owners of the Morris Building restore the structure and install a sprinkler system, it will not be allowed to reopen, and currently remains unoccupied. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Downtown Huntington Historic District.
In Huntington’s early days, several busy hotels were clustered along the downtown portion of Ninth Street. One of these hotels was the Adelphia Hotel, which opened in 1893. The hotel was originally located at the corner of Ninth Street and Sixth Avenue, before it was destroyed by fire on July 2, 1901. After the building burned, the owners decided not to rebuild at that location, and instead relocated the Adelphia to the northwest corner of Ninth Street and Fifth Avenue. Another hotel, the Hotel Huntington, later opened in 1910 at the Adelphia’s original location. The Adelphia Hotel became a familiar part of the downtown landscape over the years, flourishing during the city’s early twentieth-century heyday and even surviving a fire on Christmas Day of 1950. By the 1950s, however, the Adelphia had become a primarily residential hotel, and shut its doors not long after. The hotel was demolished in 1977 to make way for construction of the Cabell County Public Library.
Located at the southeast corner of Fifth Avenue and Ninth Street, the Fifth Avenue Hotel was one of several hotels clustered in downtown Huntington during the early twentieth century. The hotel was built at the site of Huntington’s first church, the First Congregational Church, which was constructed in 1874. After the congregation moved to a new location in 1908, businessman Hansford Watts purchased the property, demolished the church, and erected the Fifth Avenue Hotel, a three-story building with a red brick exterior. The hotel, which opened for business in 1910, had over one hundred rooms along with commercial spaces on its ground floor. The hotel’s basement also housed several restaurants over the years, including Bailey’s Cafeteria and Snaks Fifth Avenue. Economic and demographic changes over the second half of the twentieth century led the Fifth Avenue Hotel, along with many other downtown hotels, to lose business and eventually shut down. After the hotel closed during the 1980s, it was repurposed into an apartment building, which is currently called Fifth Avenue Apartments.
The Hotel Prichard was built by Frederick C. Prichard in 1926, and was one of Huntington's leading hotels until it closed in 1970. The 13-story Neoclassical hotel was designed by architect Henry Ziegler Dietz and had 300 rooms, a ballroom, and a fine dining restaurant. John F. Kennedy and his campaign staff lodged at the Prichard during his 1960 presidential campaign. When the hotel closed in 1970, it was converted into apartments and office space. After developing a reputation as a haven for drug crime, the Prichard was briefly rebranded as a drug rehabilitation facility called Hope Tower in 2014 before being closed for building code violations in 2015. In 2016 it was announced that Christ Temple Church had acquired the Prichard and building renovations are ongoing. In 2007 the Prichard was added to the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Downtown Huntington Historic District.
The southeast corner of Sixth Avenue and Ninth Street was once home to the elegant Hotel Huntington. It was the second hotel to be built at that location, after the Adelphia Hotel burned down in 1901. When it opened for business in June 1913, the Hotel Huntington was one of the city’s grandest hotels, featuring a restaurant, a ballroom, and a barbershop, along with a glass-enclosed balcony over its front entrance. Over the years, the hotel hosted a variety of guests, from hundreds of draftees during World War II to John F. Kennedy during his 1960 presidential campaign. The Hotel Huntington did not retain its prominence, however, as new hotels drew business away and caused the aging hotel to struggle financially by the 1970s. It was closed in 1973 and demolished in 1976. The site of the former hotel is now home to the Huntington C&O Credit Union.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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This short tour offers a glimpse into the past and present of downtown Huntington as a destination with stops at former hotels that were some of the largest and grandest in the state and one hotel that has recently been remodeled and is open for business.
