
The Inn was initially met with great popularity and opened for the season with a grand ball each year. Prominent guests who were purported to have stayed at the Inn included Theodore Roosevelt, Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, and even European royal Prince Henry of Prussia. The popularity of the Inn did result in a bitter rivalry with the aforementioned Point Hotel, due to some lingering resentment over land ownership on the mountain. Point Hotel was built just below the property of a Mrs. Colonel James Whiteside, a widow who was protective over her late husband’s estate and disapproved of the nearby hotel. In fact, Mrs. Whiteside would go on to invest in The Lookout Inn, clashing so greatly with the Point Hotel that she even had the steps leading to Lookout Point removed so that the Point Hotel guests could no longer easily walk to the scenic summit.
Unfortunately, The Lookout Inn was often in financial trouble, and a little over 10 years after opening, the hotel began staying open year-round to bring in more money, as well as underwent renovation to add an on-site billiard hall and casino. Management of the Inn was also taken over by Sam Read, operator of The Read House downtown.
Beautiful as it may have been, the story of The Lookout Inn sadly ends in a blaze. Just as the RMS Titanic had claimed to be “unsinkable,” so The Lookout Inn claimed to be fireproof; a windy evening in November of 1908, however, proved that it was not. Though everyone in the hotel was successfully evacuated, the successes ended there. No one on the mountain was able to call for help, as the telephone exchange was inside the burning hotel. The old fire hoses brought from the station burst when high-pressure water was pumped through them. In only two hours, the hotel had burned to the ground, along with four nearby houses, a store, and sections of the forest. No official cause of the fire was ever determined – while some blame a faulty flue, others claimed that exposed telephone wires were the culprit.
Despite the popularity of the hotel, it had been pending sale at the time of the fire and was never rebuilt. It really is a shame, given how few Gilded Age hotels still remain in operation across the country. A historical loss, to be sure.
Hope this helps!
Hamilton Bush
Resident History Hound
Chattanooga, Tennessee