North Carolina’s impact, presence, and sway is more far reaching than within the 53,819 square miles it encompasses. And even though a Macon County connection is not always obvious, anyone who has lived in N.C. for very long holds some affinity and dedication to the state, which was not only one of the original 13 colonies, but also the first state to instruct its delegates to vote for independence from the British crown during the Continental Congress. Thus, this series spotlights some little-known people, places, general facts, etc. to broaden readers’ state-related knowledge.
During a trip last fall through Virginia to Washington, D.C., the great state of North Carolina factored often and unexpectedly into art, architecture, and history. For example, North Carolina figures prominently in the ceiling of a historic hotel in Washington, D.C. called the Willard.
Situated in the heart of the nation’s capital on Pennsylvania Avenue, just across from the White House where the president of the United States resides, is the Willard InterContinental – a hotel with a history that is as significant as the generations of guests who have stayed there. The luxury Beaux-Arts architectural style hotel was known for many years as simply “The Willard,” and it is both charming and opulent within and without. In the lobby is lush leather seating, exquisite polished mahogany woodwork, and stunning chandeliers.
Visitors need not stay at the Willard to become saturated in its lavish carpets and colors, elaborate windows and wrought iron railings, or its towering Corinthian columns and hand-painted ceilings. Such elements are viewable in the lobby, bar, meeting rooms, and Peacock Alley. And, that is where North Carolina comes in.
Visitors can look up at one of the trey ceilings in the sumptuous lobby and view our state’s seal surrounded by decorative floral moldings and set off by an octagon lighting medallion. The lobby, in fact, is a feast for the eyes, and well worth a peek next time a trip to Washington, D.C., is involved in travel plans.
Just walking through the lobby and halls, glancing into the ballrooms, and spending time in the small museum, reveals an enriching history lesson that involves North Carolina and its decades of legislators (and three N.C.- born presidents) who have worked on our state’s behalf.
In fact, the hotel has been deemed the “Residence of Presidents” due to so many presidents staying there – pre-inauguration, of course. In the original Willard lobby is where the term “lobbyist” was coined by Ulysses S. Grant in 1869, and in the current lobby is where Martin Luther King Jr. completed his momentous “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963.
When Abraham Lincoln entered the original Willard in January 1861, prior to his inauguration and establishing residency in the White House, it was to secure “a suite of rooms …” (Team of Rivals) as close to the White House as possible.
The Willard has also hosted such literary greats as Walt Whitman and Charles Dickens.
Although it is now a 335-guest-room/69-suite hotel, the Willard as a hotel in that spot has undergone many “lives” since its establishment in the 1800s. Expansions, modern renovation/restoration projects, a fire, and more have impacted the Willard.
Currently, its towering 13-floor facade is noteworthy and noticeable from many perspectives on the Hill, which may be why American author Nathaniel Hawthorne commented in the 1860s: “The Willard Hotel more justly could be called the center of Washington than either the Capitol or the White House or the State Department.”
Pop in, look up, and take pride in the fact that in one of this country’s most iconic hotels, North Carolina is represented.