Hotel DeSoto -- DeSoto Hotel, Main Parlor, Savannah Ga. U.S.A.

Keystone View Co. Meadville, Chicago, & Kansas City

Copyright 1893 by B. L. Singley

Hotels -- Georgia -- Savannah.

Historic buildings -- Georgia -- Savannah -- Pictorial works.

Savannah (Ga.) -- Buildings, structures, etc.

Architecture -- Georgia -- Savannah.

Black and white stereograph card of the Hotel DeSoto's main parlor, with the double image affixed to peach colored paper. Publisher and title information is printed on front of card and back is left blank. In the 1880’s, Savannah was an important stop in Florida’s burgeoning tourist trade. A railroad to Tybee Island was opened in 1887 with the idea of promoting the beach and Tybee as a resort area. Rail and steamship lines were well in place between Savannah and points north and south. It was hoped that Savannah would become a destination rather than a stopover. A major luxury hotel was the element missing that would draw people to stay in the city. Construction on the Hotel DeSoto began in 1888. It was a Richardsonian Romanesque style building designed by Boston architect William Gibbons Preston. The hotel building took up an entire city block and was constructed of terra cotta, brick, and shingle. Part of the hotel was five stories and the rest was six stories. It had 206 rooms and also housed solariums, a barbershop, drug store, lunchrooms, coffee shops, and a restaurant. There were separate entrances for ladies and gentlemen and large piazzas with rocking chairs. The many brochures in the collection boast of a swimming pool, 18 hole miniature golf course and proximity to tourist attractions, hunting, and fishing.

The publisher of this stereograph card was the Keystone View Company, a major distributor of stereographic images, located in Meadville, Pennsylvania. The company began 1892, producing and distributing educational, comic, and sentimental stereograph views and stereoscopes. By 1905 it was the world's largest stereographic company. They also worked with stereoscophalmic equipment for eye training and therapy. In 1963 the department producing stereographic views was closed. Keystone continued to manufacture stereoscopthalmic products as a subsidiary of Mast Development Company.

251 appears before title on front of card.

Scholars wishing to cite this item should include item title, Savannah Stereoview Collection, MS 018, Jen Library Archives and Special Collections, the Savannah College of Art and Design, and the item's url.

Image

Stereograph

3 1/2 x 7 inches

Albumen print

MS 018 Savannah Stereoview Collection, Jen Library Archives and Special Collections, the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Though this item is believed to be in the Public Domain, copyright may have been retained by the authors or creators of items in this collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.