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The new Atlantic Hotel on Arendell Street in Morehead City opened on June 21, 1880. The old Atlantic Hotel in Beaufort was destroyed during a storm the previous year. It was believed that the Morehead City location was better protected from such disasters. Indeed, the hotel stood fast against the elements until it was destroyed by fire in 1933.
The hotel was constructed with modern conveniences such as gas lighting, telephones, and running water. The building housed its own barber shop, telegraph express, store, bar, billiard room, and “ten pin” alley. The grand ballroom was one hundred feet square with a sixty-three foot ceiling and balconies overlooking the dance floor. The main dining room seated three hundred.
By 1883 families were flocking to the resort from as far away as New York, Louisiana, and Alabama. North Carolinians appreciated the Atlantic Hotel, as well, and it was for years called the “summer Capital” because of the gatherings of influential politicians at the compound. Its draw was not limited to politicians and wealthy families, however, for in 1887 many of the state’s teachers convened at the Atlantic Hotel for a two week conference out of which formed the Teachers Assembly, later the North Carolina Association of Teachers. That group continued to meet at the hotel until 1900. The North Carolina Bankers Association was formed at the facility in 1897.
References:
Virginia Pou Doughton, Tales of the Atlantic Hotel, 1880-1933 (1994)
Billy Arthur, “100 Years Ago at a Seaside Assembly,” The State, (May 1987), 20-22
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