Francis Marion Hotel celebrates 100 years in Charleston
By Andy Brack 

More than 150 people gathered Wednesday night for drinks, dinner, dessert and dancing as Charleston’s grand dame, the Francis Marion Hotel, celebrated 100 years at the epicenter of the Holy City.

“When it opened during the Roaring ‘20s and the Charleston Renaissance, the Francis Marion Hotel was the largest and grandest hotel in the Carolinas with 312 guestrooms, the Gold Ballroom and the Sky Terrace Ballroom,” co-owner Steve Dopp said in a welcome. “Notable guests over the years have included President Dwight Eisenhower, Jack Dempsey, Babe Ruth, Doris Day, Bob Hope and Elvis Presley.”

Among those in attendance Wednesday were several members of the Rotary Club of Charleston, whose predecessors raised $50,000 in stock in 1922 as part of the seed capital to fund the hotel’s construction. Dopp said that amount would be the equivalent of more than $1 million today and helped “to finance the construction of the hotel and then [they] met here for over 50 years.”

Read the full article here.