December 17, 1924. The biggest thing that had ever happened to Hickory came that day. Folks celebrated in the street. A somewhat spontaneous parade broke out with a local cavalry troop at the head. A movie star “flew over the city with live sparks trailing in the plane’s wake, which was declared to be ‘a beautiful sight’.” Sirens rung out all over town, as did every available bell.
The excitement came with word that citizens had pledged over $300,000 (the equivalent of $5.5 million today) for the construction of a new state-of-the-art hotel. Plans called for a one hundred room, eight-story building (the largest in town) to be constructed on the corner of 1st Avenue and 2nd Street Northwest. At the time, it replaced the J.F. Abernethy house. Today, its location is the downtown site of Wells Fargo Bank.
Not since the Hickory Inn (back in 1888) had there been such excitement over a hotel in town. In 1924, the rails still brought most people to the city, which meant they needed accommodations. The new edifice, dubbed the Hotel Hickory lavishly served that purpose. However, it was also designed to do a lot more. Local folks used the “spacious and beautifully decorated” meeting rooms for civic and business events. A restaurant, a coffee shop, a soda shoppe and a barber shop also attracted customers. Later, Hickory’s first radio station beamed signals from its roof. The grand opening came in the summer of 1926 and Hotel Hickory instantly became the center of activity in town and remained the hub for over 40 years.
Then came another date. On March 12, 1971, 350 people gathered to dance the night away at the Hotel Hickory. Sponsored by the Hickory Arts Council (currently Arts Culture Catawba), the party was to say goodbye to the “Grand Old Lady” of Hickory. Everyone dressed as though they were part of the opening, not the closing, attired in styles reminiscent of the “Roaring Twenties.” Yet, the habits of America had changed. By then, the widespread use of automobiles reduced the need for a centrally-located hotel. The First National Bank of Catawba County bought the property with plans to seat its corporate operations there. They wanted the downtown site, but not the building.
Hotel Hickory stood silent, waiting for the end, until the summer of 1972. On an early Sunday morning, estimates of as many as 10,000 people got as close as they could to the old landmark and waited. Just before 8:00am, sixteen muffled blasts could be heard as dynamite removed the foundation of Hotel Hickory and the entire building imploded. The collapse took just 8 seconds. The huge cloud of dust that came from the explosion billowed out, taking much longer to settle, as it covered everything, including the crowd. A 25-foot high pile of rubble remained for clearing until the old was swept out and a replacement slowly followed.
Think of all the Christmas presents you once had, which at the time were so anticipated and precious. After a while, they no longer held the same luster and eventually met the same fate as the Hotel Hickory, a great memory but no longer part of the landscape.
Photo: The Hotel Hickory in its hey-day. This image is from a popular postcard. Notice how it resembles the new apartment buildings in town.
