Maxwell House Hotel

Maxwell House Hotel
Map
General information
Coordinates36°9′49.7″N 86°46′45.5″W / 36.163806°N 86.779306°W / 36.163806; -86.779306
Construction started1859
Completed1869
Demolished1961
Design and construction
Architect(s)Isaiah Rogers

The Maxwell House Hotel was a major hotel in downtown Nashville. Because of its stature, seven US Presidents and other prominent guests stayed there over the years. It was built by Colonel John Overton Jr. and named for his wife, Harriet (Maxwell) Overton. The architect was Isaiah Rogers.[1]

Former Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest was inducted into the Ku Klux Klan in this hotel in 1866. The first national meeting of the KKK took place at the hotel in April 1867. It later became the namesake of Maxwell House coffee. It was demolished in 1961.

  1. ^ Ophelia Paine, "Maxwell House Hotel," The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, online edition 2002, accessed November 12, 2011.