Spring's Inn Hotel
The Spring’s Inn Hotel was listed in the Green Book as “Spring’s Inn, 103 Chestnut St.” under “Hotels” from 1954-1955 and as “Spring’s Inn Hotel — 103 Chestnut St.” from 1956-1957 and in 1959. The hotel was listed in the section for Lumberton, NC.1
The Spring’s Inn Hotel was listed in the Green Book from 1954-1959 in the section for the city of Lumberton, NC. Research conducted to date has not yielded any records for this business and neither the hotel’s address (103 Chestnut St.) nor business name were found in available city directories for the city of Lumberton. A business called “Mineral Spring’s Inn” in Louisburg, NC was advertised in The Carolinian (an African American newspaper) during this time period. No street address is included in the advertisement so it is unclear whether the city name for this entry in the Green Book was a typo and should have been listed as Louisburg.2
While this site may actually be Mineral Springs Inn, it is important to note that there were dozens of inns and resorts tied to mineral springs throughout North Carolina during this time period.3
Essay by Brandie K. Ragghianti, 2022
Notes
1. Victor Green, 1954 Green Book, 53; Green, 1955 Green Book, 53; Victor Green, 1956 Green Book, 46; Green, 1957 Green Book, 46; Green, 1959 Green Book, 52; Green, 1960 Green Book, 73.
2. Baldwin’s 1948 Lumberton City Directory; Nelson’s 1956 Lumberton City Directory; “Mineral Spring’s Inn” (advertisement), The Carolinian (Raleigh, NC), September 20, 1958, p. 11, accessed from https://newspapers.digitalnc.org.
3. Ralph Hardee Rives, “Spas Were Once the Seat of Health and Fashion in State,” The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC), May 16, 1965, p. 10-J, accessed from www.newspapers.com. Mineral Springs Inn was owned by Frank W. and Alice B. Leonard. It was frequently included in ads with two of their other businesses, Blanche Beauty Shop and F&A Music Company, in the 1950s and 1960s: “Blanche Beauty Shop” (advertisement); The Carolinian (Raleigh, NC), September 26, 1959, p. 9, accessed from https://newspapers.digitalnc.org; “F&A Music Co.” (advertisement), The Carolinian (Raleigh, NC), October 8, 1960, p. 9, accessed from https://newspapers.digitalnc.org; “Blanche Beauty Shop . . .” (advertisement), The Carolinian (Raleigh, NC), October 2, 1965, p. 13, accessed from https://newspapers.digitalnc.org. If you have any information about Spring’s Inn please contact the NC African American Heritage Commission.