Markers of History

Cannonball Trail
Monticello Hotel, 1898

Location: Corner of City Hall Ave & Granby St, Norfolk, VA 23510

Visited: July 3, 2009, 2:10pm

Transcription of marker: The Monticello Hotel, which opened at the cor­ner of City Hall Avenue and Granby Street on September 27, 1898, was the largest and finest hotel in Norfolk for over 60 years. By 1885 Town Back Creek had been filled to Granby Street. Construction of the hotel spurred addi­tional devel­op­ment along the new City Hall Avenue. The hotel suf­fered a dev­as­tat­ing fire on January 1, 1918. In addi­tion to the flames, fire fight­ers had to deal with bit­ter cold and ice. When it reopened in 1919, two addi­tional floors had been added, includ­ing a large din­ing room and horseshoe-shaped ball­room known in later years as the Starlight Room. This became a favored loca­tion for balls, dances, and com­mu­nity events. The grandly appointed mahogany bar dou­bled as a bil­liards par­lor dur­ing Prohibition. During the 1933 hur­ri­cane, the hotel and a broad area of down­town suf­fered con­sid­er­able flood dam­age. The Monticello Hotel was the first build­ing in Norfolk to be imploded in January 1976 to make way for the Norfolk Federal Building now on this site.

My impres­sions: Well, we have quite the ele­men­tal story here: fire, ice, wind, flood­ing, and implo­sion! I love some ways of gloss­ing past some­thing. When they say the “bar dou­bled as a bil­liards par­lor dur­ing Prohibition,” that seems to me to be a sly way of say­ing tha the bar had a bil­liards par­lor cover, but you could still get your drinks. I could be wrong, but that’s how it reads to me. This is also one of those times I’m glad I’m young, because no event described on this marker took place after my birth (although I’m not sure when the con­struc­tion of the fed­eral build­ing was completed).

Markeroni sta­tus: Direct-logged.