Carolina Hotel takes guests back in time

Photos courtesy of the Tufts Archives

The majestic hotel brought 250 more guest rooms to Pinehurst to meet the growing need for accommodations.

After Pinehurst’s first hotel, the Holly Inn, opened in 1895, more visitors began traveling to the area. As the Village continued to flourish, construction of the Carolina got underway in 1898.

When the four-story Colonial Revival opened on Jan. 1, 1901, it was the largest frame hotel in North Carolina.

“This will remain a memorable incident in its subsequent history,” wrote The Pinehurst Outlook, the newspaper of record at the time.

The exterior of the Carolina Hotel has always inspired awe.

Back in 1901, the exterior was painted in Colonial colors, yellow with white trimmings. The building’s signature cupola was the talk of the town.

“The double cupola is noticeably delicate and fine in its effect without a trace of those regular turrets and towers, which along the seaboard seem to strive to advertise themselves by mere size and height,’ wrote the Outlook.

It took more than a year to prepare the hotel grounds. Despite its January opening, roses, pansies, pinks and English violets were still in bloom.

“The grounds appropriated exclusively to the hotel are extensive and are laid out in walks, bordered with trees, shrubbery and flowers,” the Outlook wrote.

The inside was equally as lavish with rich furnishing and a variety of amenities including telephones in each room, electric lights, steam heat, elevators and velvet carpets. The writing, smoking and reception rooms were finished in oak.

“The interior appointments are as complete and luxurious as money, skill and taste could make them,” wrote the Outlook.