Kingstree's Hotels, Part 2

When last week's post ended, it was 1907, and work on the new Van Keuren Hotel was almost complete. The new hotel was built on the site of the old Coleman House, which had served the community since the 1870s. The man who had leased the hotel from R.H. Kellahan, Herbert Van Keuren, moved to town at the end of March with his wife Maggie and their eight children.

The Hotel Van Keuren, likely 1907.

Although the hotel was not quite finished, on Friday night, April 5, it was "the scene of one of the most brilliant balls ever given in the history of Kingstree." The 40 x 60-foot dining room was converted into a brilliantly lighted ballroom, which "provided ample space for about 35 couples without crowding or jostling." Select members of the Artillery Band at Fort Moultrie provided music for the occasion. At 1 a.m., coffee, chocolate, sandwiches and salad were served before the dancing resumed. The ladies dresses were described. Here are three of those descriptions: Miss Marion Gilland, white organdie, lace trimmings, rubies; Miss Barbara Jacobs, white chiffon, opals, and roses; Miss Mary Van Keuren, white and pink coronation, pearls, and roses. The ball attracted visitors from as far away as Darlington, Florence, Georgetown and Manning. The news story concluded, "It was a sight to do the heart good, innocent youth abandoning itself to the spirit of the dance."

By May, John D. Mouzon had re-established his barbershop in the hotel. His ad noted: Is equipped with up-to-date appliances. Polite service. Competent workmen.

In September, a concrete sidewalk was poured in front of the hotel, adding to its appearance. Eugene Watts, whose father Richard had long run a jewelry store in Kingstree, was advertising a full line of jewelry at the Hotel Van Keuren building.

Herbert Van Keuren's daughter, May, held her wedding to Charles C. Brinkley in the hotel parlor at 7 a.m. on November 6.

At around 9 p.m. on Sunday, January 26, 1908, Herbert Van Keuren was talking to a friend in the hotel's lobby when he complained of feeling ill. He was escorted upstairs to the family's living quarters, and Dr. W.G. Gamble was summoned. However, there was little he could do as the 48-year-old Van Keuren had suffered a stroke and passed away before daybreak. His funeral was held at the hotel the next morning, with burial in the Johnson family cemetery, near Johnsonville. 

His wife ran the hotel for several months, but in late September announced that she was retiring from the business. She, however, remained in Kingstree, eventually building a two-story home on East Main Street. 

R.H. Kellahan considered several potential replacements before leasing the building to J.W. Chandler of Danville, VA. It was first announced that the name would change to the Hotel Kingstree, but before its reopening on November 1 the named had been changed to the Kellahan Hotel. During the month, the hotel was closed, it was refurbished, re-carpeted, and renovated. Chandler was an experienced hotelier and restauranteur. When the hotel re-opened, an article in The State noted, "The rooms are all comfortably large and well-ventilated, and water is supplied from the hotel's private plant. A large sample room, a pool room, bath and toilet rooms leave nothing wanting in the appointments of this up-to-date hostelry."

The Kellahan Hotel.

The County Record approved the name change, noting, "This is as it should be. Mr. Kellahan had public spirit enough to build this fine hotel for the benefit of the town, and it should in years to come remain a monument to his memory."

Twenty guests were registered on the first night the hotel was in operation.

The hotel offered town residents more than lodging and room for social functions. Chandler became an agent for the Sumter Steam Laundry, which allowed residents to take their clothes to the hotel, where they were transported to Sumter for cleaning and returned.

In February 1909, an artesian well was bored at the rear of the hotel to supply the building with water. They struck water at 493 feet, and with a flow of 50 gallons per minute, this was the biggest flow of water produced by any well in town.

But not all was rosy. In March 1909, The County Record noted, "Mr. J.W. Chandler, the urbane host of the Kellahan hotel, had a valuable watch stolen from his vest pocket last Saturday. The garment was hanging on a peg in the hotel lobby, and the sneak thief watched his chance and 'lifted' the timepiece."

A year later, in March 1910, the hotel played a role in a major scandal that shocked the community. Three weddings occurred on Easter Sunday that year, including the marriage of A.W. Phelps, a traveling salesman for International Harvester, to the daughter of a farmer who had recently moved to acreage just outside Kingstree. The couple took the train to Lane that evening but returned to Kingstree Monday morning, as Phelps had suffered a stroke. With no hospital, he was receiving medical care in their room at the Kellahan Hotel. As news of this spread, the Rev. W.E. Hurt, the Baptist minister who had performed the marriage ceremony, began getting calls from residents who knew Phelps from previous visits to Kingstree. They told the pastor that they believed Phelps was already married, based on conversations they'd had with him in the past. Mr. Hurt confronted Phelps on his sickbed. Phelps admitted that he had been married but said he had gotten a divorce. Hurt investigated further, speaking with the attorney Phelps said had handled the divorce. That attorney had no knowledge of such an action. Hurt then contacted the father of the bride, who arrived at the hotel, talked to his daughter and then took her home. 

The County Record noted that this situation had "stirred up the people of our peaceable, law-abiding community." But there were more surprises in store. Several days later, Phelps' wife arrived from Greensboro, NC, and also registered at the Kellahan Hotel. She brought with her evidence of their marriage 12 years before. She stayed for several days but had returned to North Carolina by the end of the month. Williamsburg County Sheriff George Graham had refrained from arresting Phelps while he was seriously ill, but as he began to slowly recover, Graham consulted with Solicitor Philiip H. Stoll, and upon his advice, served a warrant for bigamy and removed Phelps from the hotel to the county jail.

The Williamsburg County Medical Association and other organizations began holding their monthly meetings at the hotel. Also, in 1909, the long distance Bell telephone station was moved from Brockington's Drug Store to the hotel.

In April 1911, The Wee Nee Club hosted an Easter Dance at the hotel that lasted until dawn. The band played for hours longer than its booking called for, but everyone was having such a good time, that the participants only reluctantly left as the sun rose.

Chandler gave up his lease on January 1, 1912, to S.A. Nettles. Mr. Nettles had long managed a hotel in Lane and had recently operated The Nettles Hotel on the second floor of one of Mr. Kellahan's commercial buildings located near the railroad track. (Today this building is known as the Marcus building.) He planned to continue to use the Nettles Hotel to house overflow bookings from the larger Kellahan Hotel.

During Mr. Nettles' tenure, the hotel became known for its banquets. Here is a typical menu from the Knights of Pythias' 1913 District Convention, held at the hotel: Oysters on the half shell, olives, celery, pickles, roast turkey, cranberry sauce, creamed potatoes, chicken salad, Old Viriginia home-cured ham, green peas, sliced tomatoes, cream dressing, lobster salad, cheese, crackers, ice cream, cake, fruit, after dinner mints, coffee, cigars.

In May 1913, The County Record announced that a Candy Kitchen was opening in the old pool room of the hotel. Thomas M. Kellahan and E.J. Azouri were offering a nice line of delicious homemade candies and a lot of tempting fruit. John Mouzon had left Kingstree for North Carolina, and the hotel barbershop was now operated by three white barbers.

Harry Riff, who had worked as a salesman at Saul Marcus' dry goods store before leaving Kingstree, returned in 1914 and opened his own dry goods business in one of the shops on the first floor of the hotel. In 1915, L.A. Hartley ran a 5 and10-Cent store from the hotel for a time before moving into a building on Academy Street. 

In September 1915, W.P. and Lizzie Hawkins took over the management of the hotel. They had run a hotel in Marion and the Halcyon in Lake City before coming back to Kingstree. Hawkins had come to Kingstree years earlier to manage Thomas & Bradham's stables and his wife was a Suttons native so they were no strangers to Kingstree residents. 

A shoe repair store, managed by H. Tuckman was located in the hotel in 1916.

R.H. Kellahan's will, probated in April 1917, has this provision: I give unto my nephew, Tom M. Kellahan, the Kellahan hotel and lot with all furniture and fixtures. 

By 1919, there was a push for a new hotel in Kingstree. Two plans were under consideration. One was to build a new hotel on the south side of West Main Street, approximately where Farmers Furniture is located today. The other was to rebuild and modernize the Kellahan Hotel. In August 1920, Wagner Real Estate and Guaranty Company, as agent for Thomas Kellahan, sold the Kellahan Hotel and the 40-foot lot east of the building to LeRoy Lee, Esq., whom The County Record believed was acting for clients. The sale price was $25,500. The word around town was that a stock company would be formed to modernize the old hotel. It appears from later transactions, however, that Lee was the sole owner of the hotel building.

In November, the hotel closed to the public, and Kellahan auctioned off the furniture and fixtures. The November 18, 1920, issue of The County Record, editorialized: Every day that Kingstree is without a hotel, just that much farther is the Town of Kingstree shoved off the map. Let's get busy and have a hotel. It is really as important to the town as a doctor.

However, the months dragged on, and the hotel remained closed. The newspaper noted that LeRoy Lee was working with a local group. When the hotel was acquired, the national economy was booming, but now it had slowed, and many members of this local group felt it was too expensive to renovate the hotel. Lee, himself, pushed for the renovation, but others overruled him. 

But by April 1921, meetings were underway regarding the possibility of proceeding with the renovations, and by July the old hotel had been thoroughly renovated and was set to re-open as The Kingstree Hotel, to be operated on the European Plan by the Kingstree Hotel Company. 

Note: After last week's post was published, I ran across an ad in the October 21, 1885, issue of The Manning Times. It seems to indicate that Sara "Sally" Coleman had apparently remarried and was still running the Coleman House. The ad read: Coleman's Hotel, Kingstree, S.C., Mrs. S.A. St. John, Sole Proprietress, Board $2 per day. The Hotel has recently been thoroughly repaired and refurnished with all modern appliances of a first class hotel. Saloon, Billiard and Pool rooms and Feed Stables. The proprietress returns thanks for the liberal patronage heretofore bestowed, and will continue to maintain the high character which the Hotel has always enjoyed."