The DeKalb Hotel

The DeKalb Hotel was built in 1889 at the height of Fort Payne's boom period. The three-story Hotel had 125 room running water and electricity and was intended to house New England executives and their families who would be visiting the Fort Payne area. The park across the street from the hotel was named Union Park to make the northern visitors feel more at home. The Boom was short-lived and when the northern investors left town the hotel fell on Hard Tunes and eventually became low rent apartments. In February 1918 a fire started in one of the rooms and the Dekalb Hotel burned to the ground. Today nothing remains of the hotel except one of the French fountains which is displayed across the street in the park. The site of the hotel itself is now better known as the Salvation Army parking lot.