Kingstree's Hotels, Part 1

In these days when it's relatively easy to get from one destination to another, we tend to forget how important the availability of overnight lodging was to those who came before us. In the very early days, Williamsburg County men who were called to serve on jury duty had to be prepared to stay in Kingstree for the week. According to Dr. Samuel Davis McGill in his reminiscences, those who were attending court set up camps outside the town limits. After a day in the courtroom, they'd descend upon the local "grog shop," where they "obstructed the street and thronged the doorway of the store, keeping half a dozen clerks passing decanters and tumblers to the men and receiving the money. ...In the evening, most of the crowd left for camps outside the town limits, whooping, shouting, and brandishing a 'black betty' or two, and attempt(ing) to walk the narrow footlogs extending across the Kingstree branch, while a few plunge(d) through the water, splashing it above their heads."

At least three different hotel buildings sat on this property on Main Street

 in the hundred years between the 1870s and the 1970s.

Kingstree's first hotel was likely either the Staggers Hotel or one run by Philip Heller, father of M.F. Heller. Where they were located is not easily determined from the few references to them. Mr. Heller  operated a barroom in connection with his hotel, and according to Dr. McGill, the Staggers Hotel was built by Robert B. Green, the most prominent house carpenter in Williamsburg County.

In the 1850s, George and Sarah "Sallie" Coleman came to Kingstree from England. The 1860 census notes that George Coleman's profession was that of a "ditcher." In 1862, Coleman enlisted in the Confederate Army. He survived the war and by 1870 was farming in Williamsburg County. We know that George Coleman already owned property on the north side of Main Street in 1873, as he was one of the property owners who suffered losses from the fire that engulfed that side of the street on January 27. Whether or not he was already operating a hotel there is unclear.

The 1880 census notes that he was a farmer and a merchant. His business was The Coleman House hotel, which would become the social hub of downtown Kingstree for many years to come. Living with the Colemans was another Englishman, 51-year-old Joseph Watson, whose occupation is listed as "clerk in bar." Whether he was the bartender at the Coleman House, or whether he worked in another bar is unknown.

The Coleman House was located across Main Street from the Williamsburg County Courthouse, and  one hotel or another occupied that property for almost 100 years. 

George Coleman died in 1883 and is buried in Williamsburg Cemetery. It appears that Sallie Coleman sold the hotel to William J. Lee and R.H Kellahan before she went back to England. She died in England on December 6, 1889. 

George Coleman's tombstone, Williamsburg Cemetery.

Bill and Virginia Lee also ran a very successful mercantile business in Kingstree, which she continued to operate after his death in 1895. A newspaper article published in 1898 about Kingstree's merchants noted that Virginia Lee had also presided over the Coleman House for 10 years.

In 1888, Lee and Kellahan were described as "mine hosts" of the Coleman House in a newspaper article describing Connecticut businessman Edward Malley's hunting trip to Kingstree in February of that year. 

R.H. Kellahan

George Barr took over the management of The Coleman House in 1896. He ran the hotel for two years before establishing Barr's Hotel, just across the street next door to the courthouse on the lot on which the eastern end of the Alex Chatman County Complex now sits. To read more about Barr's Hotel, please click here.

Barr catered to traveling salesmen as he had been a salesmen himself for a time. He renovated The Coleman House in 1897 before R.B. Lyons took over its management on January 1, 1898. At that time, the hotel had 13 rooms and a large, "handsome" dining room. It also had free hack service from the depot to the hotel.

By 1900, Charlotte Jones McCrea Chandler, who had served as Kingstree's postmistress, was the proprietor of the hotel. She had grown up on Main Street, possibly next door to the hotel building. Her father, Daniel Jones, also an Englishman, was a tailor, who, according to Dr. McGill, "occupied a fine store and residence in front of the court house." Her mother, Ann, is listed as one of the property owners who lost their property in the 1873 fire.

We know some of the employees of the Coleman Houses from mentions in The County Record. Jane Bird was one of the cooks there in 1900, when she was knocked down by the Rev. Steele's runaway horses and seriously hurt while walking home from work. Lizzie Brown, "Doctor" Harry Brown's wife, was for a number of years chief cook at the Coleman House, according to Bessie Britton.

The hotel was the scene of numerous dances and other gatherings for the people of Kingstree during its years of operation. Also, a number of businesses were run from the first floor of the hotel. In 1900, E.J. Aosten advertised a bicycle repair shop located at the rear of the Coleman Hotel. John D. Mouzon ran a barbershop from the hotel for several years in the early 1900s. Mouzon was also the leader of a string band, and they played for most of the dances held there in the late 1890s and early 1900s. Dr. R.J. McCabe's early dentist office was located in the Coleman Hotel, and Amelia Scott set up a dressmaking business at the hotel in 1903.

In 1904, W.J. Howard opened a repair shop in the hotel for watches, clocks, bicycles, sewing machines, guns, pistols, and jewelry. Also, in 1904, P.A. Alsbrook ran a grocery store and market on the first floor of the hotel building. 

Charlotte Chandler tombstone, Williamsburg Cemetery.

In December 1904, Charlotte Chandler ran an ad in The County Record announcing that she would have to raise the price of meals served at the hotel from 25 to 35 cents.

By late 1906, the old hotel had seen better days. Mrs. Chandler was ready to move on to other endeavors, and R.H. Kellahan announced that he would tear down the old hotel and build a new one at the same location. Herbert Van Keuren, a native of New York state, would move to Kingstree from Smith's Mills near Johnsonville to run the hotel, and it would be known as the Hotel Van Keuren.

NOTE:  Much appreciation and many thanks to Patty Herbert for finding the Coleman, Jones, and Chandler tombstones.

A Relic Worth Remembering

In October 1956, News & Courier Roving Reporter W.G. Barner filed a story about a razor. Not just any old razor, mind you. Kingstree restauranteur Jack Lybrand's 38-year-old razor was the focus of the story. Here is Barner's feature from the October 7, 1956, News & Courier.

Jack Lybrand admires his then 38-year-old razor.

Source; News & Courier

"Jack Lybrand has had a lot of close shaves in his life.

"But none, he says, as close as the ones he gets with a certain old razor he won for a dime.

"He's been using it ever since the day he took it as grand prize from a punch board. That was in 1918, and now, 38 years later, he still finds it 'the best razor I've ever had.'

"'Its teeth are bent, its edges are wearing thin, and practically all the gold-plated finish is gone, but I still like my old razor,' Lybrand adds.

Jack Lybrand ran a service station before opening the restaurant for 

which he is most remembered.

"Until six weeks ago Lybrand would shave with none other. 'I tried them all,' he says, 'but I always came back to my old razor.'

"Then when his son William presented him with a new safety razor, Lybrand sadly realized his old one was truly beginning to show its age. The new razor gave a better shave than had 'old faithful.'

"But even now he still goes back to it. 'Force of habit,' he explains. 'I like it, even in its beat-up condition.'

"Others have tried the razor and have come away bleeding like a stuck pig, but the old master can calmly tame it into giving him a clean shave without a single nick.

John Wesley "Jack" Lybrand

Courtesy of Jane Lybrand Lambert

"It was on July 15, 1918, that Lybrand won his razor. He was in Swansea, enroute to Camp Wadsworth at Spartanburg for induction into the army, when he took a ten-cent chance and came away with the grand prize.

"The razor was gold-plated, and in its leather case was a tube of shaving cream and a place for both new and used blades.

"It was the first time Lybrand had ever given himself a shave. The razor worked like a charm. And through the years it has continued to, though with a few variations in procedure because of its aging condition.

"Lybrand says he will soon return the razor to the company which made it to have it refinished and put in top condition. Then he'll put it away, only to be shown as a relic worth remembering."

The Lybrand Building as it looks today.

An Aiken native, John Wesley "Jack" Lybrand's name is still associated with the two-story brick building on Longstreet beside Kentucky Fried Chicken where for many years he ran a restaurant. As for the razor, Jack Lybrand's granddaughter, Jane Lybrand Lambert, says that 104 years after her grandfather won it, it's still in the family, now in the care of her brother.

No Trace Remains on Longstreet of the New Warehouse

Despite its name, the New Warehouse was 14 years old when it burned to the ground in a spectacular blaze on March 26, 1960. Chartered in 1946, a seven-member board oversaw the construction of the warehouse. J.B. Alsbrook served as president of the board; C. Emery McGill, vice-president; Dr. W. Gordon Rodgers, secretary/treasurer. Other members were V.G. Arnette, Ralph Gray, Marvin Mitchum, and E.W. Kennedy.

With the Burger King parking lot in the foreground, the New Warehouse was

located where KFC, Cantontown Express and Thomlinson & McWhate are today.

The board awarded Boyle Construction of Sumter the $75,000 contract to build the 53,000 square-foot facility on Longstreet Street between Hinnant Motors and the Greyhound Bus Station located in the Lybrand building. The warehouse was of steel construction with concrete floors and was finished in time for the 1946 tobacco season.

News & Courier Ad for the New Warehouse in 1950.

In 1947 and for several years afterward, Montague H. Jacobs and S. Dave McGill operated the warehouse during the tobacco season. In the off-season, the warehouse was put to other uses. In November 1947, Williamsburg County residents were invited to attend a showcase of labor-saving devices at the warehouse as part of Good Neighbor Week. The exhibits included a model kitchen, with other tips for sewing and laundry, as well as suggestions for making farm work easier.

In the spring of 1948, the warehouse was a drop-off point for contributions. The Town of Kingstree had "adopted" the French village of Fontaine-la-Mallet in Normandy. In September 1944, Fontaine-la-Mallet was almost destroyed by bombing, the worst such affected village on the lower Seine River. It is still a small village, with a 2015 population of 2,649. Kingstree assembled donations of canned goods, clothing, toilet articles, small toys, and cash. These items were collected on Fridays from residents' porches, or they could be dropped off at the New Warehouse on other days of the week. Kingstree families were also able to "adopt" individual families in Fontaine-la-Mallet, corresponding with them to find out their specific needs. They would then send these families regular gifts.

The village square in Fontaine-la-Mallet as it looks today.

Source: Wikipedia

By the early 1950s, the warehouse became the winter home for the Ross Manning Shows, a carnival that worked a 34-week circuit during the spring and summer, concentrating on county fairs during the fall. During the winter in Kingstree, two employees stayed with the equipment, painting, polishing, and reupholstering ride seats.

Also during the 1950s, Montague Jacobs leased part of the warehouse in the off-season where he offered corn-shelling and hay-baling services and also sold fertilizer and other agricultural products. Jarrett's Specialty Company also leased warehouse space to store paper products and off-season merchandise.

A 1958 advertisement for the four Kingstree tobacco warehouses.

Source: News & Courier

On Saturday, March 26, 1960, many Kingstree residents left town early to attend a Boy Scout Lancing Tournament and Rodeo at Scottswood Plantation near Lane. Shortly after 10:30 that morning, they noticed a towering cloud of black smoke boiling up in the direction of Kingstree. In those pre-cellphone days, someone volunteered to drive to town to see what was going on. 

The volunteer discovered on arrival that the New Warehouse was completely engulfed in flames. A smoky haze covered the town, and ashes fell like rain on Main Street. Firemen from Lake City who came to give mutual aid to the Kingstree Fire Department had also seen the clouds of smoke from 16 miles away. 

In an interview, Montague Jacobs told reporter Ann McIntosh that a gasoline motor operating a hay baler exploded, igniting the contents of the warehouse. Although, the Kingstree Fire Department arrived within five minutes, the fire spread rapidly throughout the warehouse. Jacobs and James Hinnant, whose car dealership was next door, broke into the warehouse office and saved the records. However, an estimated 13,000 bushels of corn, 200 tons of fertilizer, two box cars of hay, soda, peas, hog feed supplement and 200 bushels of cotton seed burned. Hay balers and corn shellers were also lost. 

Hinnant and others stored boats in the warehouse during the winter, and these also were lost, along with trailers, stored furniture, stoves, refrigerators, an automobile, and the Rescue Squad's ambulance, owned by the Kingstree Fire Department. 

According to Mary Frances Jarrett, her family's company lost a large number of paper bags and rolls of plain wrapping paper that they supplied to local merchants and stored in the warehouse. They also lost approximately 200 bicycles, cane poles, fishing tackle, coolers, fans, vacuum jugs, and ice cream freezers.

All warehouse equipment––scales, calculators, conveyors, produce loaders, and buggies––also burned.

Hinnant said the heat of the fire caused the roof of his building on the north side of the warehouse to bubble and blister. The intense heat also shattered windows in other stores and businesses along Longstreet. All the windows of Willie Munn's pick-up truck, parked in front of Lybrand's restaurant on the south side of the warehouse, broke as a result of the heat from the fire.

While no trace of the New Warehouse remains, the old Lybrand building still stands on Longstreet.

Traffic was routed around a four-block section of Longstreet until late Saturday afternoon. Firemen stayed on the scene until 1 a.m., spraying a million-and-a-half gallons of water on the debris. However, the next afternoon the fire flared up, and three Kingstree fire trucks returned to wet down the debris again.

Kingstree Fire Chief Bill Horton noted that this fire occurred three years to the day when another fire destroyed Coastal Feed & Seed and Frierson's on Hampton Avenue, damaging McIntosh Feed & Seed. That fire occurred March 26, 1957. And, three years later, on March 22, 1963, Hoke Smith's Grocery on Main, which had recently sold to J.C. Duke, was destroyed by fire. That fire damaged C. Tucker's, with Marcus Department Store and The Ladies' Shop suffering smoke damage.