King Edward Hotel (Jackson, Mississippi)

The King Edward Hotel, built in 1923 as the Edwards Hotel, is an historic hotel in downtown Jackson, Mississippi. The second of two buildings located on the site at the corner of Capitol and Mill Streets, it was closed and vacant for nearly 40 years before renovations began in 2006. The hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976,[1] and declared a Mississippi Landmark in 1990.[2] It was restored from 2007-2009 as a combination of apartments and the Hilton Garden Inn Jackson Downtown, which opened on December 17, 2009. It features the King Edward Grill, King Edward Bar, Pavilion Pantry convenience mart, Seattle's Best Coffee shop, and a fitness center.

For the King Edward Hotel in Toronto, Canada, see King Edward Hotel (Toronto).
Edwards Hotel
Mississippi Landmark
King Edward Hotel in Jackson, Mississippi
LocationJackson, Mississippi
Coordinates32°17′59″N 90°11′25″W
Built1923
ArchitectNolan, William T.
NRHP reference No.76001096
USMS No.049-JAC-0095.1-NR-ML
Significant dates
Added to NRHPNovember 7, 1976[1]
Designated USMSNovember 14, 1990[2]

History

The original hotel on the site, known as the Confederate House, was built in 1861 by "Major" R.O. Edwards.[3] It was destroyed in the Civil War in 1863. Major Edwards built a new hotel on the site, the Edwards House, which opened in 1867. This structure was replaced in 1923 by the present building, a 12-story beige brick structure, designed in the Beaux-Arts architecture style by New Orleans architect William Nolan. The hotel opened as the Edwards Hotel on December 29, 1923,[3] and was the center of Jackson society and politics for over forty years.

The restored lobby today

A room at the hotel was used by Okeh Records to record a number of important blues sessions in December 1930.[4]

In 1954, the hotel was purchased by R.E. "Dumas" Milner, a wealthy automobile dealer and businessman. Milner renovated the hotel in the popular modernist style of the day and renamed it the King Edward Hotel.[3] Many of the original details were obscured in the renovations. The hotel closed in 1967 after years of declining occupancy rates.

Standard Life bought the building in 1976 and got it placed on the National Register of Historic Places. They sold to private developers for half a million dollars in 1981.[5] While a number of attempts to restore the building had proven ineffective and demolition of the building continued to be considered by Jackson city leadership,[6] a workable plan was finally agreed upon. The former Mayor of Jackson, Harvey Johnson Jr., called the renovation of the hotel the "linchpin" in attempts to revitalize the downtown of the city.[7]

In December 2006, Watkins Partners, former New Orleans Saints running back Deuce McAllister and Historic Restoration Inc. of New Orleans formed a partnership to restore the King Edward. It reopened its doors as the Hilton Garden Inn-Jackson Downtown in December 2009 with 186 hotel rooms, 64 luxury apartments, a signature restaurant, bar coffee shop and some retail space. The interior renovation of the historic hotel, designed by Thomas Hamilton & Associates of Richmond, Virginia, incorporates Hilton brand design requirements into the existing hotel, while preserving some of the original historic architectural elements as part of the hotel project. The renovation began in November, 2007 and was completed in December, 2009, at a cost of $90 million.


References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. "Mississippi Landmarks" (PDF). Mississippi Department of Archives and History. May 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 9, 2010. Retrieved May 12, 2009.
  3. "Property Solutions : History of the King Edward Hotel" (PDF). Hri.propertysolutions.com. Retrieved 2015-03-13.
  4. Steve Cheseborough (2003-02-26). "Cotton Is King". Jackson Free Press. Archived from the original on 2006-05-18. Retrieved 2006-12-15.
  5. "King Edward Hotel: 'uniquely positioned to take advantage of the new telecom center and future convention center,' says DJP president. Anonymous. The Mississippi Business Journal. Jackson: Aug 26, 2002.Vol.24, Iss. 35; pg. 28
  6. Adam Lynch (August 3, 2005). "Grand Hotel: Does the King Edward Have a Glorious Future?". Jackson Free Press. Archived from the original on October 25, 2006. Retrieved 2006-12-15.
  7. "Renovating King Edward Hotel 'linchpin' to saving downtown Jackson." Jeter, Lynne, Wilbanks. The Mississippi Business Journal. Jackson: Aug 17, 1998.Vol.20, Iss. 33; pg. 22
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