Four Seasons Hotel and Sanatorium

Call Number

2016.037

1 Hollinger box (.4 linear feet)

The Four Seasons Hotel and Sanitarium was established in 1892 on the site that would later become Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee. Known for its lavish accommodations and prominent guests—including Cornelius Vanderbilt and Mark Twain—the hotel operated only briefly before financial difficulties led to its demolition in 1895. A few years later, General Oliver Otis Howard selected the site for the founding of Lincoln Memorial University, an institution committed to honoring Abraham Lincoln's vision of education in Appalachia. The sanitarium component of the hotel would later evolve into Grant-Lee Hall, one of the university’s historic dormitories. This collection documents the architectural, operational, and cultural legacy of the Four Seasons Hotel and its role in the university’s early development.

Biographical Note

The Four Seasons Hotel and Sanitarium was built in 1892 on what is now the campus of Lincoln Memorial University. The owner of the hotel spared no expense in furnishing the hotel and providing its guests with the best possible stay.  During the course of its short life, the Four Seasons had many famous visitors including Cornelius Vanderbilt and Mark Twain. In 1895, the hotel had to be demolished due to bankruptcy and the contents and property were auctioned off.  A few years later, Oliver Otis Howard marked that plot of land for the site of Lincoln Memorial University. This would become a college which would honor the memory of Lincoln and uphold his ideals about producing a better educated community in the Appalachia region. This collection contains articles about the Four Seasons Hotel and Sanitarium, as well as photographs of the Four Seasons. The sanitarium would later become Grant-Lee Hall, a dormitory on Lincoln Memorial University’s campus.

Biographical Sources: Hess, Earl, Lincoln Memorial and the Shaping of Appalachia, Knoxville: University of Tennessee, 2011.

This collection documents the history, development, operation, and legacy of the Four Seasons Hotel and Sanitarium, later known as Grant-Lee Hall, and its transformation into Lincoln Memorial University. The materials span from 1891 to 2006 and provide insight into the architectural, social, and institutional aspects of the site.

The collection includes a rich variety of formats: original black and white photographs, sketches, floor plans, typed and handwritten correspondence, newspaper clippings, articles, and ephemera. Photographic materials depict exterior and interior views of the Four Seasons Sanitarium and Hotel, including frontal, side, distant, and close-up views, as well as architectural and interior details such as the parlor. Sketches and floor plans offer visual documentation of the hotel’s layout and design, including room arrangements and the names of notable 19th-century New York-based suppliers.

Correspondence includes a 2006 letter from Ben H. Whiteaker, whose great-uncle helped build the hotel, which adds a personal, intergenerational narrative to the institutional history. Related materials include a copy of the hotel’s parlor photograph and floor plans referenced in the letter.

Printed materials include both contemporary and retrospective newspaper articles and magazine features (original and photocopied), highlighting the hotel's operation, its impact on the local region, and its eventual role in the founding of Lincoln Memorial University. An envelope from 1894, a labeled museum artifact tag, and a keyring with period keys offer tangible, three-dimensional evidence of the hotel's historical presence.

Legal and administrative documents, such as a deed from 1891 and a property description, trace the official origins of the site, while a guest list of physicians from 1892 illustrates its function as a working sanitarium. The inclusion of museum text and later historical articles further emphasizes the continued interest in and significance of the Four Seasons site well into the 20th century.

Overall, this collection provides a multidimensional portrait of the Four Seasons Hotel and Sanitarium, its architectural and operational history, its cultural significance, and its enduring legacy as part of the founding narrative of Lincoln Memorial University.

The collection is arranged into 14 folders primarily by format and subject content, reflecting both the physical and intellectual organization of materials related to the Four Seasons Hotel and Sanitarium, later Grant-Lee Hall and eventually Lincoln Memorial University.

• Folders 1–2 contain photographic materials, including various black and white views of the Four Seasons Sanitarium (later Grant-Lee Hall), and an interior photograph of the hotel parlor.
• Folder 3 houses a personal letter from a descendant of one of the hotel's builders, including contextual materials such as a photograph and reference to architectural plans and newspaper clippings found in other folders.
• Folder 4 includes original floor plans of the Four Seasons Hotel and a list of contemporary suppliers.
• Folder 5 contains unsigned artistic sketches of both the hotel and the sanitarium.
• Folder 6 consists of a historical article detailing the founding and closing of the hotel and sanitarium, and its role in the formation of Lincoln Memorial University.
• Folder 7 holds original ephemera: a dated envelope from the Four Seasons Hotel featuring its logo and illustration.
• Folder 8 provides contextual museum labeling about an original stone wall from the hotel, now located at the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum.
• Folder 9 comprises various photocopied articles and images that document the public history and legacy of the hotel and sanitarium from the late 19th to mid-20th centuries.
• Folder 10 includes a newspaper article from the *Blue and Gray* detailing the hotel's transformation into a university.
• Folder 11 presents a partial description of the hotel's property, including land measurements.
• Folder 12 contains a guest list of doctors who stayed at the sanitarium in 1892.
• Folder 13 includes a deed from 1891 transferring land for the development of the hotel and sanitarium.
• Folder 14 holds original physical artifacts: a keyring set labeled to the Four Seasons Hotel, including four keys and a wind-up mechanism, likely from the hotel's operational period.

This arrangement seeks to preserve the original order where evident, while grouping materials to support ease of access for researchers interested in architectural, social, and institutional history related to the Four Seasons Hotel and Sanitarium.

[Identification of Item], Four Seasons Hotel and Sanatorium, Archives and Special Collections, Lincoln Memorial University, TN, USA.