Carolina Inn
Helper Hotel (before the Carolina Inn)
The Carolina Inn
Dates: First constructed as a store in 1848. Purchased in 1855 by
Hanson Pinkney Helper and remodeled into a thirteen room hotel. Purchased
around 1901 by the Sloan family and operated as a boarding house and weekend
rooming house for visiting college girls. Purchased by the college in 1946.
Used in the 1950s and 1960s as a Teen Canteen. Renovated in 1971. Designated
as a Charlotte Mecklenburg Historic Site in 1977.
Quote: In reference to the addition of a widow’s walk on the roof of
the inn: “We give you a Fresh’s description of what a ‘what-you-may call-em’
lately built by one of our citizens. His philosophy was that ‘Mr. H. had no
place for a flower garden in front of his residence, so he put it on top of
the dwelling.’ Another Fresh corrected this statement by the assertion that it
was either a ‘cupillary’ or an ‘observery’ he didn’t know which.” Davidson
College Monthly, March 1872:40.
For more information see Around the D blog: Underneath the Carolina Inn.
Related Entry: Carolina Inn (History)