The numerous historic hotels in Meridian, Mississippi, provide insights into the city's growth and expansion, both in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and into the modern age. Many hotels were built in downtown Meridian in the early 1900s to provide lodging for passengers of the railroad, which was essential to the city's growth at the turn of the 20th century. Two of these historic hotels–the Union Hotel, built in 1910, and the Lamar Hotel, built in 1927–have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Others, including the E.F. Young Hotel, owned and operated by an African-American entrepreneur, have been recognized as contributing properties to the Meridian Downtown Historic District. Today, most hotels in the city are located in post-World War II suburban developments. Urban activists are working to establish a downtown hotel to aid in revitalizing the city's core and support the theater. The Threefoot Building, a former office building, has been considered for renovation and adaptation as a hotel.